Engines too big for me mate and the reviews arent exactly the best to say the least.

I totally agree condition is king at this age and mileage but if you drove a Mercedes the others would be also rans.I personally think all four are rubbish as a vehicle unless you have a special job for one,There are two wheel drive vehicles that will offer far more versatility and be much more economical to buy and run. The. Nissans suffer from expensive engine failures the Hondas suffer clutch and rear drive problems cannot comment on the Toyota never had anything to do with them.

Cheers Avant!

From reading up I was going to always go for a petrol as they do seem have a lot of problems with the diesels.

The ML350 from this period has terrible reviews wherever I have looked, it gets a 2 on this website for instance, and build quality seems to be terrible from this period. I dont see why anyone would buy it apart from for the badge on the front personally.

I run a 2.5 petrol X-trail. I went for petrol because of the (probably exaggerated) tales of diesel woe. It was bought to tow a horse trailer which it does quite happily and I've been glad of the 4x4 system on several occasions already.

Overall, it's a good car but fuel economy is a lingering issue. That said, I'm not complaining: I have a low annual mileage; diesel is currently 8-9p more per litre; I paid significantly less for a used petrol than for a used diesel and I'm not concerned that a turbo might go pop at any moment.

You pays your money and you takes your choice...

I do very little milage wise, 2000 or so as I work abroad for half the year, and my wife wont be using it for commuting either, itll be for purely social driving. So fuel economy doesnt come into it too much.

Im leaning towards the X-Trail but all options seem to be pretty equal, so we'll just have to test drive all three and see what we think!

Thanks for all the help everyone!

Driving through Dijon last summer I stopped behind a very striking Geneva-registered 1950s-vintage Rolls Royce (Silver Wraith??), yellow over v. dark green, white-wall tyres, perfect chrome and absolutely immaculate.

The only occupant in the rear was a piebald Great Dane who seemed to be enjoying the ride, although he was slobbering copiously over the open windows (it was HOT). His humans were squeezed into the chauffeur’s compartment at the front…he looked very comfortable (he had enough space to sit up in it).

My BiL has a 65kg Swiss Mountain Dog who until recently was transported in the rear of a Legacy Spec B. BiL is an “enthusiastic” driver – to the point at which my sister insisted he think about a more sensible dog wagon. She was thinking an SUV, or maybe a big Mercedes. He bought an Audi RS6..... I think Juvé (the dog) will need a padded suit in the back of that.

BTW, on topic, as Happy Blue says, a Forrester XT isa hoot to drive and won't let you down. That said, the rear of a Forrester is smaller (in terms of m2) than a Legacy / Outback (a squeeze for two Lab-sized dogs), probably OK for a Dane or similar because it has good head room. Sadly, even a Legacy is too high now for my two oldies to jump into (16 and 17 years old) - worth remembering that when considering an X-trail or similar.

I was happy with 29mpg from my deceased Vectra 3.2 so I'm considering an X-trail amongst others. What can I squeeze into my budget of up to £2500, with leather, to tow a caravan? A lot of the heavier cars and 4x4s in petrol guise seem to come nowhere near the Vectra on economy.