Well, he was about to buy a German car with a Skoda badge. Anyhow that aside, what about a four wheel drive Vauxhall Insignia? They ride well, handle well, have plenty of kit and you can buy a four wheel drive in diesel or high performance petrol. A very smart looking car.

The Citroën C-Crosser is also another interesting 4x4, they ride reasonably well are very practical, it's essentially Mitsubishi Outlander 2 as the car was developed in partnership with the PSA group. The 4WD version of the DS5 would have deserved a mention - if it didn't ride so badly.

Don't overlook The Land Rover Freelander II, they are much more reliable than other Land Rover products drive really well and are very well equipped, the Range Rover Evoque is slightly less practical (it the same car underneath) but the interiors are pretty special for the class.

I can understand a person not buying a German or Japanese cars or products but Skoda as already stated is a German company producing cars in a German owned factory with German machinery and over 80% German content in the product.There are not many cars availabe that do not have some German or Japanese involvement like it or not, I would think Malaysian companies are the best bet Ford,Volvo,Vauxhall andJaguar have high German involvement perhaps French cars from Renault or PAS would fit the mark Italian cars are obviously ruled out not really a lot to chose from not even Rolls Royce or Bentley.

Fair enough - we all have our reasons and this is obviously important to him. Let's hope he likes the XC60 as this could be ideal for him in many ways.

I hope you'll continue to let us know how it goes. An XC60 is one possibility for me when I retire, on the grounds that I would expect to buy something outright and keep it long-term: thus a car that is easy to get into as we get older would make sense. But I still enjoy driving and will need a long test drive to see if it comes anywhere near being fun to drive.

If I remember right, Happy Blue, your current S-Max was the result of finding an XC90 boring. If I'm wrong, apologies to you and it!

Avant - Well remembered.

I still get a cold shiver thinking about driving the XC90. The S-Max still does it for me. I suspect that the XC60 with the right engine is a far superior beast than the XC90, although it is of course a lot smaller and more modern. I will keep you abreast of news hot off the driveway.

SofaSpud - he will have no idea that Volvo is owned by the Chinese and it will make no difference to him. It is not about logicality. If it was, would we buy anything from anyone, even the UK? Would black people buy from us because of the slave trade?

Talking about the XC90 - people bought it because it was a well designed seven seat 4x4 and therefore acquired by lots of yummy mummies. Surprisingly the latest X5 also has seven seats, but doesn't seem to have the name in the market for that use, despite being a far superior vehicle. People still buy the XC90. A colleague has just got one as a courtesy car. Brand new, it sounds like a tractor.

He had a 2011 Santa Fe for a couple of weeks last year when someone bumped into his Outback. His main complaint was the light steering as a reason not to buy one, but I suspect he would well to look at the latest version.

My mother-in-law has had two Kia Sedonas. The first with the dreadful 2.9l engine and the second with the new 2.2 engine that is in the Santa Fe. The difference in the driving is remarkable. It turns a clumsy old beast that I thought unsafe into something you might actually want to drive.

Edited by Happy Blue! on 19/11/2012 at 12:35

Not if you only deal in tax.