We’re pleased to tell you that Autoquake.com has secured £6million of venture capital and venture debt financing. The money will be used to fund Autoquake’s ambitious growth plans for the future.

Why should you care? Because this investment will help us deliver a better service to our customers. Autoquake is about focusing on what customers want when they are buying a used car. In the past six months we’ve taken big steps forward in terms of operational excellence. We now have a great foundation and are gearing up for the next stage of growth with this new investment. We are pleased to have the continued support of Accel Partners and Highland Capital Partners behind us, providing the venture capital. We’re also delighted to welcome Kreos Capital onboard as providers of venture debt.

While Autoquake grows, we don’t intend to lose sight of what has made us the UK’s largest online used car retailer. We’ll still offer you cars which cost 10% less than you might pay at a traditional dealer or car supermarket. We’ll still show 40 photos of every car we stock, with no-nonsense, honest descriptions. We’ll still make it easy to buy the right used car from the comfort of your home.

Right now, more than 90% of our customers would recommend Autoquake.com to a friend or family member. With this new investment, we hope to improve that percentage even further.

Any Autoquake.com used car is good value, but go to the last chance section to find the cheapest of the cheap.

These are the cars which, for or one reason or another, have been in stock for longer than usual. We’re keen to find them new homes, so prices have dropped to the floor.

Take the Volkswagen Passat 2.0 TDI SE at our Leeds handover centre. This 2006 car has covered a high-mileage, which is reflected in the rock-bottom price of just £5,363. You’ll struggle to find a diesel Passat of this age at a comparable price anywhere.

Hatchbacks are more popular than saloons with British buyers, which may explain why a 2004 Ford Focus 1.6 Ghia automatic saloon hasn’t sold quickly. However, if you’re as happy with a boot as a hatch, this car is very well equipped, good to drive and practical. With a price of just £3,999, it’s an absolute steal.

If you’re looking for a car with a prestige badge, how about a Lexus IS220d SE? We have a 2008 car priced at £13,900. That’s more than £10,000 less than the list price of a new example.

These cars won’t be around forever, though. Last chance means just that…

Used car buyers are sometimes put off by high-mileage cars. Don’t be. Find a car that’s been well looked after, like the Ford Mondeo Estate we have in stock at the moment, and you’ll enjoy a bargain.

The Ford Mondeo Estate 2.0 TDCi 115 LX is four years old, and has covered 111,578 miles. It may be on its fifth lap of the world, but that’s reflected in the price of just £3,663. That’s around a fifth of what this car would have cost new.

You don’t need to worry about buying such a high-mileage car from Autoquake, because our detailed listings tell you everything you need to know. Click on the vehicle condition viewer, and you’ll see this car is in good order given its age and mileage.

No four-year-old car is blemish-free, but with more than 40 pictures of the inside and exterior, it’s clear that this Ford has been cared for. There’s hardly a mark on the wheels, and the cabin looks like that of a car with half the mileage of this long-distance Mondeo. The photos show that the cloth upholstery is in remarkably good nick.

It’s a pretty safe bet that any car of this age with so many miles on the clock has spent most of its life on the motorway. This kind of driving, at a steady engine speed and with few gearchanges, causes much less wear and tear than stop-start traffic: it’s another reason to seek out high-mileage cars rather than avoid them.

If you’re still nervous, don’t forget that you can buy an Autoquake.com Warranty for added peace of mind, and that if you buy a car like this one and find it isn’t for you simply take advantage of Autoquake’s 7 day money back guarantee.

You’ll struggle to find a roomier, more practical car for under £4,000 than this Mondeo Estate.