Smileyman, it's hardly worth it on a car this age, I'd have thought?

pd, that's very helpful, thank you. I'd imagine a Mondeo would be the best bet all told. I might be able to stretch the budget to 1500, but we're still looking at the same cars really.

1st generation Mazda 6, made from 02-07.

TS trim and above have cruise control as standard.

Similar size to the avensis, and pretty cheap now as the Mazda 6 is into its 3rd generation.

Had one for 2 years and 45k miles. Good workhorse

For clarity. Cruise would be for motorway work. Ali is fine in traffic, but the constant holding down of the gas is the problem.

Mazda is a good idea. We had a diesel Mazda 6 before the Avensis, but the clutch was too heavy for Ali.

If we do go down the Mondeo route which engines/years are to be avoided/sort after?

Yeah, my Focus is nice and light too. I gues we'll go try a couple and see.

A Mondeo shouldn't really have a heavy clutch. If it has, it is usually a sign that it is worn.

The late Mk 3's from 2005-2007 ish are very cheap and are pretty good cars. A well looked after 1.8 LX/Ghia with Cruise should do the job OK for not a lot of money.

Alternatively, IIRC the T-Spirit Avensis has cruise so if you like the current car you could look out for one of them.

A Mondeo shouldn't really have a heavy clutch. If it has, it is usually a sign that it is worn

Clutch was not warn, always heavy. Sold with only 36,000 miles on it. Others we tried were exactly the same.

Some good food for thought here. Another Avensis was the first thought, but couldn't find anything close to budget. I think we'll have what we get on the current one to spend so close to Christmas which might rule an Avensis out, but a Mondeo as a stopgap could work. There are dozens locally to choose from too.

I've found a few Mazda 6's to try too.

I'll also ask Toyota about retro fitting cruise.

Thanks for all your help, guys.

Thanks, but I don't want a French car. They're made out of old horse carts by artisans and styled by dadaists. okay, the 407 is alright, but I don't trust them after a few dodgy ones.

My Yaris 2012 has a hatch five seats and cruise control as standard equipment for the T-Spirit. So CC is making it's way to smaller and smaller cars...you'd be surprised. Thing I love most about it is the auto dimming rear view mirror. Thats so nice.

We tried a Mazda 6 and the clutch was as stiff as the diesel version so that's out of the equation. Ali tried a Mondeo too and really liked it, but was triubled by the height of the brake pedal. Are they all set-up the same? She struggled because it was quite a bit higher than the gas pedal.

Shame. We tried a Xsara Picasso today. Ali really liked it and I couldn't find much to fault it, but the suspension was a question. It went over a pothole and didn't sound great. I understand that this can be a problem with these?