Everyone loves a convertible

Best manufacturer reductions Best fuel prices SUMMER is still the season when a driver's fancy turns to the convertible. Traditionally, prices would go up in the summer months and the canny used buyer waited for winter and paid less. But, according to dealer advisors Glass's Guide, prices tend now to remain fairly static all year round.

Although cabriolet sales are higher during the spring and summer months, motorists are no longer looking to abandon them simply because autumn and winter sets in, says Jeff Paterson, senior Glass's editor, citing modern leak-free hoods and efficient car heaters and air conditioning as the chief reasons for a shift in buying trends.

Perma-fashionable cabriolets hold their values exceptionally well.

According to Glass's, the best selling Renault Megane retains around 75 per cent of its value after a year while its hatchbacked relation returns just over 68 per cent. At the prestige end of the market, BMW's 3 Series convertible preserves a staggering 97 per cent of its new value against an already impressive 83 per cent posted by the MG has launched Sprint versions of the MG TF 135 and MG TF 160 open sports cars that offer savings of up to pounds 1,100. With extras that include leather trim, uprated suspension, special wheels and ABS brakes, the MG TF 135 Sprint equals pounds 2,375-worth of options for pounds 1,250 over the MG TF 135. Similarly, the MG TF 160 Sprint has pounds 1,275-worth of extras for pounds 500 over the MG TF 160.

Skoda has introduced two Fabia models that offer pounds 1,000 worth of extras for pounds 360 more than the Skoda Fabia Classic 1.4 MPi on which they are based. The Fabia Blackline and Silverline feature alloy wheels and leather trim. In addition, the Silverline has front electric windows, remote locking and silver metallic paint while, in place of these, the Blackline has an electric sunroof and black metallic paint.

saloon, proving that vanity and value can go hand in hand.

For used buyers power hoods have become must-have features. They take all the effort out of sun seeking, and can positively affect prices, between pounds 500-pounds 1,000 on some models.

Check the operation and condition of a convertible's hood (leaving one folded wet is its biggest destroyer).

Hood repairs can be expensive, as are new replacements. For instance, a Megane hood is pounds 1,072, while a VW Golf hood retails at pounds 907. There are cheaper aftermarket alternatives but they can devalue the car, so be careful.

Check the interior for dampness and musty smells, too.

Cabrios are fun whatever the weather. What they lack in versatility against their more sober-suited relations they make up in fun per mile, and generally they hold their value better than their more prosaic tin-topped brethren.

The only other potential disadvantages are that open-topped cars are easier to break into, and that, inevitably, makes them more expensive to insure.

If you live in an area with a high crime rate, it's worth checking with your insurer to find out just how much extra you'll have to pay.

Unleaded Asda Bugsby Way, SE7 71.7p Sainsbury Clapsgate Lane, E6 68.4p Tesco Hoe Street, E17 72.3p BP Harrow Manor Way, SE2 72.7p BP Kidbrooke Park Rd, SE3 72.9p Liquid Petroleum Gas Sainsbury Wandsworth Road, SW8 36.9p Diesel Asda Bugsby Way, SE7 72.8p Sainsbury Clapsgate Lane, E6 69.2p Figures courtesy of

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