We wish to buy a car and have found that the Volvo V70 D5 suits us well for holidays with dogs, kayaks, luggage etc on long trips to Scotland with no lack of performance whatever it has in it. We are aware that diesel engined cars are not suitable for short trips, which we would be doing between our longer holiday journeys, but Volvo no longer produce a petrol V70.

Is there some recommendation for a long trip every month or so for instance to burn off the particulates that may have built up in the short three to six mile trips? Our annual mileage will be in the region of 15,000 miles per year. What would your suggestion be for us with a budget of between £20,000 and £25,000?