As mentioned above the cheapest (and greenest!) option is to keep the current car going, especially as the secondhand market is hugely overpriced at the moment. According to webuyanycar my Dad’s A6 has gone up 30%+ in the last 6 months!

If you decide on another car then any big estate will meet your needs – Octavia, Superb, Passat, Leon, A6, 5 Series, V70, Subaru, Hyundai…. Or an S-max if you want huge space and the option of a couple of extra seats. They are all a muchness so find one that has the best mileage, engine, kit compromise for your budget. I had an XC60 and it was crap. Not very roomy, poor handling, unreliable (leaks like a sieve around the windscreen), uneconomical and the auto box was slow and annoying. My Passat has much more room and is better in every way. My old S-max was very practical and surprisingly ok to drive but I did have problems later from 50k miles onwards.

9k for a 14yr old Volvo!!!?

Our 9 year V70 is worth £6-7k(!) supposedly. Heated leather, bangin’ option stereo, heated screen and jets, cruise, 50mpg, £20 tax, CitySafe etc.

I am struggling to see the extra £2-3k for a car that is very similar other than jumped up 4×4 stylee, 14mpg(!) and £600 extra tax…?

cheapest (and greenest!) option is to keep the current car going, especially as the secondhand market is hugely overpriced at the moment.

Probably this.

On autotrader the closest car to my 2018 Superb estate is being sold at 3.5 years old for more than I paid new. Another year and hopefully the new car shortage will ease a bit and feed through to second hand prices.

Big squishy comfy Hyundai Santafe owner here. I really like the fact that the big Korean family cars make no pretence at being sporty, unlike the horrible Beemer I had previously.

It’s super comfy, the top of the range one with heated / cooled seats, heated steering wheel, full glass roof, decent stereo. It’s been pretty reliable over our 5.5 years ownership, just needing a couple of brake calipers replaced on the rear.
Plenty spacious inside, and the seven proper seats has been really handy for ferrying our kids about with friends in tow.

I’m similarly pondering over something like this. As the current owner of an MRC Audi estate, the rest of the family tend to find it a bit much so keep on at me to get something more sensible. Some interesting suggestions on here.