Thanks but too big and too expensive. Besides it's a chavettes' car innit?

Horses for courses - the Juke has an unusual style that is not bland.

A Juke with a better boot would be a Nissan Note wouldn'it? A very under-rated car. We had one of the first and I'd have another. There's also the Clio Sport Tourer or the Captur, all with the same basic mechanicals I'd have thought. I saw someone loading up a Juke yesterday, the boot is indeed tiny isn't it.

Someone will be along soon to say that the Citroen Berlingo would be ideal for Happy Pink's needs: so it would, although I have a suspicion that it doesn't have the image that she's looking for....

If she likes the Captur, then that could be the answer. Skoda Yeti as suggested or Golf SV: I wouldn't normally suggest anything with DSG but if it on a 3-year lease at 7,000 miles a year she shouldn't have a problem. Probably a bit more expensive than the Captur.

Mini Countryman? Punishingly ugly, but then so is the Juke. There's a new Mini Clubman about to come out with four proper side doors and the same pseudo-retro double back doors - could be worth a look.

Audi Q3 is about the same size as the Evoque (and Cashcow) so may be too big. I looked at a Mazda CX-3: no spare wheel available nor anywhere to put one, so no go for me.

She'd have bveen an ideal candidate for the old A-class, what had everything she now needs. It was very stupid of Mercedes to lose that market: the B-class is quite a bit bigger, although I suppose worth a look as it's perhaps not too much bigger than the Juke.

I think Mazda are shooting themselves in the proverbial foot at present - they're making some really good cars across the board - good looking, handling and reliable, and yet, all for saving that 0.5mpg or 2-3kg/CO2, they change the (ok) space-saver spare for a tube of glue...this coming from a very satisfied Mazda owner of 9.5 years standing.

Even if its available as an 'optional extra', charging twice what most others do for changing from space-saver to full size spare really stinks in my view. I also think the (Mazda2-based) CX-3 is over priced (I believe the Mazda3 (and the CX-3'scompetition) is cheaper, but bigger all-round - the only thing its better at is 0-60mph [only a bit] as its smaller/lighter).

Mazda - get the space saver wheel back (all vehicles) as standard, and drop the price of the CX-3 by at least a grand (especially with the [larger] Honda HR-V round the corner at a similar price), then you might sell a few, otherwise...

Haven't looked at the cars in detail yet, but thought the Q3 was smaller than the Evoque (which is more Q5 size??).

Yeti - I would love one - Happy Pink is a snob and won't have a Skoda....... If they made a Seat or VW version then things might be different.

Will keep you informed of what we do. I can guarantee it will be an out of the box decision [sigh]

Smileyman, you are just like me. I don't read every post in a thread. If you had with this one, you'd have read a Skoda has already been rejected.

Well we went to have a look at the Jeep Renegade and a Mini 5dr as well as the Countryman today. The Renegade seems to hit all the right spots, in terms of space, style and comfort. A short test drive gave it fairly high marks.....but......then we consulted the brochure and compared it with the Juke and found that it was much more expensive as we needed to add in various options to bring it up to the same level of specification. Basically a £18,500 Juke in 2013 would require £25,000 today for a Jeep. Not sure I see the logic there.

We looked at the Mini 5dr, but it is too low and too small. The Countryman was rejected as being ugly (I agree) and too messy internally. There is a new Clubman coming out shortly, which may meet all the requirements, but it won't be cheap will it??

We also saw two Mazda CX3s on the road, but they were rejected as being dull (pity I like them, although Telegraph Cars says they are a bit tight in the rear). Therefore Suzuki Vitara and Mitsubishi ASX were also immediately ruled out for the same reason, as were all Kias and Hyundais (I told you she was a snob). Despite being in the same showroom as Fiats, she also rejected the 500X and the 500L Trekking and the Audi Q3 because - well just because! I think we sat in one a while back when I was looking and we decided it was a too small.

Finally, I looked at a top of the range Captur, with the same 0.9L engine as in my car. With absolutely every conceiveable extra on it as standard, it is only £18,590. Now we know the car is slightly smaller than the Renegade, and has a smaller engine, but its not so small or so weak that the Renegade is worth over £6,000 more.

So, as we have a couple of months before we need to make a decision, we are putting it to one side for a while to mull over. I think there is a reason why I see so many Capturs on the road - it does offer good value for money in a stylish body with a high driving position and lots of space. Whether she wants two of them on the drive will be a moot point.....

Or a Kuga?

I forgot to include Fords B- and C-Max: if the rest of the family liked your S-Max as much as you did, these might be worth adding to the mulling-over process.

Remembering that she wanys an automatic, I'm not sure how well this goes with the little 3-cylinder engines in the Fords and the Captur. I think some bigger engines are available - 1.6 in the Fords and 1.2 in the Renault.

Am I alone in thinking that Ford is dragging it's heels regarding the fitment of an automatic box in the B Max? The current 1.6 petrol / auto. box combination seems a bit dated and inefficient these days.

As is well broadcast hereabouts my 1.2 Yeti DSG finds favour and is a treat to use. If VAG can use a reasonably modern and vaguely efficient system such as this then surely Ford need to look again at the engine/transmission options in the B Max.