MartynB wrote:

At the risk of upsetting our resident N.Yorks poultry guru , go have a look at a Subaru Outback. It's an ideal multi-purpose estate car ( note not an SUV ). Same ground clearance as a Freelander. It's got much better driving characteristics than the Freelander due to having a low centre of gravity (flat boxer engine) less body roll, and more advanced electronics for stability and vector braking, plus the famous Subaru full time symmetrical AWD, none of this Haldex front wheel most of the time nonsense. Last year Subaru UK dropped the manual versions of the car from its range offering Auto only , so there are some real bargain ex demo and ex Subaru fleet cars about in that spec.