This 268bhp Volkswagen Arteon Could Be Yours For Less Than A Polo

There’s very little wrong in getting yourself the keys to a brand-new Volkswagen Polo. The hatch is getting on a bit now, but it’s pleasant enough to drive, comes with a reasonable amount of kit and of course, you’ve got the peace of mind of a new-car warranty. What if we told you that, for a little less than a Polo though, you could grab yourself a rather tasty Arteon?

With the saloon on its way out, now feels like as good a time as any to bring a spotlight to the Arteon. Admittedly, it was never the most popular thing, but we’re fans of it at CT - it looks great, drives well and has some pretty punchy engines on offer.

It’s one of those engines in this 2019 Arteon R-Line. Equipped with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder, there’s 268bhp and 258lb ft of torque which is delivered to a 4Motion all-wheel drive system through a seven-speed DSG. It’ll cover 0-62mph in 5.6 seconds and (if you’re on the Autobahn) it’ll hit 155mph.

Being an R-Line, it’s nicely specced out too. There’s a full leather interior, adaptive cruise control and VW’s earlier rendition of the Virtual Cockpit digital instrument cluster. Granted, you will get an updated version of the latter on the new Polo as standard, but the rest carries a premium.

Obviously, the caveat is this is a near-five-year-old car now and not one that’s exactly lightly used with 49,286 miles on the clock. There’s a slight red flag too, with only three services on record at that time, despite the recommended service interval for an Arteon being every 12 months or 9,300 miles. You’d also be the third owner.

At £18,990 though, it undercuts a base-spec Polo by almost £2,000 and will surely have reached its steepest depreciation curve by now. Feeling brave enough?