VW's reincarnation of the best-selling Beetle has been officially imported in left-hand drive since 1998, with right-hand drive cars arriving in early 2000.

Early adopters are bailing out of the 'Bug' - it's become far too mainstream for them - so prices have fallen due to oversupply. A 99V LHD car with 15,000 miles is just £7k at a non-franchised dealer.

Private sales offer useful savings: £12k for a RHD 2.0 model on 01Y with just 8000 miles looks fair value against a £14,000 list price. An entry-level 1.6 model was added last year; we found an optimistic VW dealer offering a 13,000-miler for £11,500. Current list price is only £495 more!