Hi all,

Well I had intended to change both cars in the next year, but swmbo has decreed that spare money must be spent on the house. So what was going to be a reliable petrol MPV for her and an economical but fun commuter for me now has to serve both of our purposes.

So I need something big enough for a baby and toddler (plus piles of accessories), occasional bike carrying, 40mpg+ over 12k miles semi-rural commuting per year, some driving pleasure and performance and with the least unexpected costs over the 5 years I want to keep it. I have upto £6.5k to spend but would prefer to go below £6k.

At the moment I am undecided between a C-Max 2.0tdci with 45k miles selling at £5.5k and several Ocatvia 1.9tdi pd estates with 75k+ miles going for £6k to £6.5k. I'm aware of the respective reliability reputations of these cars and engines, but there seems like there is a big compromise to be made in terms of mileage, performance and purchase price. If I bought the Ford (swmbo's favourite) I could bank some money to offset future repairs - but £500 to £1000 won't go that far!

I've also considered Mondeo and Accord estates, but again the mileage would be a lot greater than the Cmax for the same budget.

Any ideas?