15 August 2026 · all prices verified live, delivered to DE22
Target £250–£300 · pre-owned via idoodirect
28 litres. 2400W. Element iQ, which steers power between elements per function instead of just running a fan — the reason Sage bakes properly and budget boxes don't. Toasts nine slices, roasts a 6kg turkey, takes a 23×33cm pan.
Fourteen functions, and none of them are filler:
It is the only machine on the market that is simultaneously a real oven, a real air fryer, and genuinely multifunctional. It browns hard, which is exactly what pairs with the circulator you already own. And it's built to still be working in ten years, which is the whole basis of the used-S-Class rule.
| Machine | Functions | Cost | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sage SOV905 XL | 14 | £250–300 | Buy this. Real oven, real air fryer, premium build, browns hard. |
| Sage Combi Wave 3-in-1 | 3 categories 19 presets | £31–196 | Adds a microwave you don't have. But its owner sold one because the grill is its weakest feature, and the air-fry pan holds two portions. |
| Ninja DT200UK | 10 | £55–120 | Good oven, cheap. But it's a stopgap, and you don't want a stopgap. |
| Sage SOV860 | 10 | £216 | No dehydrate, no proof, no slow cook. Costs nearly the XL, does less. |
| Anova Precision Oven 2.0 | 12 | £1,020+ | Sells on sous vide. You own a circulator. Demoted. |
| HYSapientia 24L | 10 | £100–124 | New entry-level. Exactly what the S-Class rule says not to buy. |
You said you'd punt, and it's your call, so the number is £50 delivered, absolute maximum — bid once at 19:54:30, never before.
But the honest recommendation is to pass. It isn't what you want, its grill is poor by its own owners' accounts, it'll need cleaning, and every pound spent tonight is a pound not in the Sage fund. Gemma doesn't want the microwave anyway.
On eBay: saved search for SOV905 and BOV905, notifications on. Then follow the seller idoodirect — they are the Sage-authorised refurbisher and the ones who sold an XL at £279.99 on 13 July.
On idooka.com: back-in-stock alert on the SOV905 XL page. £379.99 with a 12-month warranty when it lands.
Having compared every photograph on both cheap listings, this is the clean one: no rust, indoors, all accessories, and photographed running at 200°C. The grease film on it is the easy kind. Best Offer is enabled, so £55–60 offered now very likely ends it before Wednesday and takes it off the board.
Budget a Saturday morning and about £15 of consumables to bring it to spotless — full method below.
idoodirect's live listings and idooka's stock page. Five minutes. One of them will have an XL within weeks — they clearly cycle through.
Grade decoder for idoodirect titles: * Very Good Refurbished · - Good Refurbished · # Pre-owned · ^ significant scratches and dents. Buy * or -. Never ^.
If nothing used has appeared by then, Sage discount heavily in November. A new XL with full warranty at £300–330 is a perfectly good outcome and only £30 above the used target.
I looked at every photograph on both cheap listings. They are not equivalent, and the difference is the kind of dirt — not the amount.
| Listing | Delivered | What the photos show | Call |
|---|---|---|---|
| £49.12 · 0 bids desi_6814, 330 fb 100% ends Wed 12:55 |
£55.00 | Photographed indoors on a worktop. Rear vents show normal heat yellowing, no rust, label intact. Interior has a light golden grease film on the cavity walls, door glass and rack rails. Main photo shows it running at 200°C. All racks and trays present. | The one to buy |
| £42.30 Buy It Now 1 watcher |
£48.18 | Photographed outdoors on garden pebbles. Rust staining across the rear vent slots. Auction-house barcode and adhesive residue on the lid, scratched top. Interior has heavy dark carbonised deposits over the fan cover, back wall and floor. | Avoid |
| Item | Cost | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Bicarbonate of soda, large tub | £2 | Made into a paste, it lifts baked grease without abrading. The workhorse. |
| White vinegar, 5L | £3 | Cuts the bicarb residue and finishes glass streak-free. |
| Astonish Oven & Cookware Cleaner | £2 | Non-caustic paste. Safe on the trays where bicarb alone won't shift it. |
| Melamine foam pads (magic erasers) ×6 | £3 | Used damp and gently — the only thing that properly clears the inside of the door glass. |
| Microfibre cloths ×10 | £5 | You'll go through more than you expect. Separate ones for degreasing and finishing. |
| Non-scratch sponges (blue, not green) | £2 | Cavity walls and trays. |
| Nylon detail brush + cotton buds | £3 | Rack rails, the fan grille, and the vent slots where grease hides. |
| Plastic scraper (or an old bank card) | £0 | Lifting softened deposits. Never metal. |
| Stainless steel cleaner/polish | £4 | Exterior only. Brings the lid and door surround back properly. |
| Nitrile gloves | £3 | Obvious. |
| Total, buying everything | ≈£27 | Realistically £10–15, since you'll have the bicarb, vinegar and cloths. |
| Stage | Hands-on | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Strip and soak evening before | 5 min + overnight | Unplug. Remove both wire racks, air fry rack, roast tray and crumb tray. Fill the sink with hot water and washing-up liquid, submerge the lot, leave overnight. This does most of the work while you sleep. |
| 2 · Accessories | 35 min | Non-scratch sponge and Astonish paste on anything the soak didn't lift. Detail brush along the wire welds. Rinse, dry thoroughly — any moisture left on the racks will rust them. |
| 3 · Cavity | 50 min + 30 passive | Bicarb-and-water paste over the walls, roof and floor. Leave 30 minutes. Wipe out with damp microfibre, then a vinegar-damp cloth to neutralise. Cotton buds around the fan grille and the element brackets. Repeat once on stubborn patches — do not be tempted to scrub. |
| 4 · Door glass the worst bit | 25 min | Inside face carries the heaviest film. Damp melamine pad, light pressure, small circles. Finish with vinegar on microfibre. This is the stage that decides whether it reads as spotless. |
| 5 · Rails, seals, vents | 20 min | Nylon brush along the rack rails, cotton buds in the door seal channel and the rear vent slots. This is where a machine looks clean but smells otherwise. |
| 6 · Exterior | 15 min | Degrease the lid and door surround, then stainless polish with the grain. Control panel with a barely damp cloth only. |
| 7 · Burn-off | 2 min + 20 passive | Empty, 200°C, 20 minutes, window open. Clears any residue and any lingering smell of someone else's kitchen. Do this before you cook in it. |
| Total | ≈2h 30 + overnight | Split it: soak Friday night, do stages 2–7 across a Saturday morning. Spotless by lunchtime. |
You set the rule yourself: a well-kept S-Class beats a new Corsa. The corollary is that you have to be willing to wait for the right S-Class rather than buy three Corsas while you look.