BMW X4 vs Porsche Macan

What will they cost me?

These two cars are priced within a couple of hundred pounds of each other, but you can haggle almost £4000 off the price of the X4, whereas Porsche dealers don't offer any discounts.

On the other hand, it was the Macan that returned the better fuel economy in our True MPG tests, and it's expected to retain 64% of its value over three years, compared with the X4's 51%. In fact, if you add up all of the costs that owners are likely to face, it's actually the Macan that works out cheaper.

The tables turn back in favour of the X4 if you're buying on PCP finance or planning to run one of these two as a company car, although the differences are small enough that they're unlikely to worry anyone who can afford either car.

Whichever you choose, you get 18-inch alloy wheels, climate and cruise control, four electric windows, an electric tailgate, automatic headlights and rain-sensing wipers, front and rear parking sensors and a DAB radio. However, the X4’s list of standard equipment also includes xenon headlights, keyless entry and start, and heated front seats.

Neither car has been crash-tested by safety organisation Euro NCAP, but both get six airbags and a tyre pressure-monitoring system as standard. The Macan offers the chance to add rear side airbags, but the X4 comes with a system that will help avoid collisions with cars and pedestrians at low speeds by applying the brakes automatically.

Both also come with an alarm, and received the full five stars from security firm Thatcham for their resistance to being stolen, as well as four stars for their resistance to being broken into.