Petrol or diesel seven seater?

I've recently retired and I have a 57 reg Ford C-max 1.6 TDCI 110 Zetec with just shy of 50k on the clock.

This weekend mentioned a cost of £1600 for a new particulate filter. Should I sell now or keep the car until it dies? What would you recommend as a replacement? I do about 12,000 a year now, mixture of shopping and long journeys. Wouldn't mind 7 seats, definitely need some load room. Probably not smaller than Focus size, but economy and all round cost of ownership is important.

Asked on 7 November 2011 by Rickshaw

Answered by Honest John
I can only go by what comes in from readers. DPF, DMF, EGR and turbo problems seem to plague diesels once they are out of warranty and repairs cost more than the saving in fuel over a petrol. There are some MPVs with decent chain cam small turbo petrol engines: Meriva, Scenic, Touran.
Dear Honest John,

Please help me choose my next car. I would like it to have:
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