Try, Buy, Dream – January 2024

Trying a car has never been easier - lots of car brands now offer subscription services on a monthly basis, with no down payment or exit fee so you can swap in and out of different models with minimal notice. Or you can lock in for longer, on a leasing deal, which still means you just pay a monthly amount and hand the car back at the end of the deal.
Then there’s the buy choice, whether it’s paying for the car with cash or signing up to a fixed term finance deal with the option to buy the car at the end. These are cars that make good long-term sense. And finally our fave section, for dreamers everywhere. The new luxe stuff, the wishlist option or the treat-yourself splurge, depending on how big that imagined windfall might be. Enjoy this month’s offerings!

Range Rover Evoque

The Evoque is the baby of Range Rover’s line-up, but it proves that good things come in small packages, especially this updated version. The main change is around the touchscreen, which now contains all your features, from temperature to volume. The result is a super-smooth interior with flowing surfaces and minimal clutter, which is surprisingly effective for de-stressing after a hard day at work.  Choosing the plug-in hybrid option will give you a taste of what charging and running an electric car could be like and you can do up to 40 miles before the petrol engine takes over. Once you get to grips with this you may even decide to swap the Evoque for the fully electric Range Rover when it arrives later in the year.     The Pivotal scheme offered on Jaguars and Land Rovers gives you the opportunity to change your car as regularly as every six months. It also gives the flexibility to pause after three months if your circumstances change. The headline monthly figures might initially look a bit steep, but they include insurance, tax, and servicing so you won’t have the cost or hassle of sorting those individually.    Read our full expert review here  

Lexus LBX

Lexus has condensed its experience of making large luxury cars into the bijou LBX, the smallest and most affordable Lexus yet. It offers refined, classy Japanese design and is an alternative to other compact crossovers like the Audi Q2   and Mini Countryman. Nimble, easy to drive and it looks great too. The rose gold ‘Sonic Copper’ paint paired with a black roof is particularly smart and adds to the sense of luxury, meanwhile inside feels equally as premium. With a starting price of just under £30,000, the LBX should be on your shortlist of good-value cars that no one else has thought of.      Read our full expert review here  

Dream

 

EQS SUV

Ultra-luxurious and mega in size, the all-electric EQS SUV is a beast of a car, and one that doesn’t even look like an SUV, but instead channels a sort of futuristic blob, which will please those who dislike the boxy design of traditional 4x4s. Packed with massive screens, ambient lights in every colour and safety features such as augmented-reality satnav, it has party tricks a-plenty. It comes as a seven-seater and even those sitting in the third row have a comfortable amount of space, heated seats, and USB ports, which gives you some idea of the scale of this thing.     However, the starting price of over six-figures might be a sticking point, which is why the EQS SUV is perhaps one to dream about rather than buy.    Read our full expert review here

Try, Buy, Dream – December 2023
Try, Buy, Dream – November 2023 Try, Buy, Dream – October 2023