My wife and I have reached an impasse when trying to choose a new car. For most of the year, we live in Gozo: a wonderfully old-fashioned, sunkissed hideaway, one of the Maltese group of islands - with not-so-wonderful old-fashioned roads full of potholes and temperatures that can reach 40 in August. It is such a small island that cars rarely attain speeds above 50 mph. Every year, in November, we drive back to England, with our dog and a fully-loaded car: through Sicily, Italy and France. Depending on the route it means that the journey can be up to 2000 miles, mostly on Autostrada/ Autoroutes. We then spend three months in Kent in the rain and snow before making the return journey in March with a suspension-testing load of purchases. My wife's trusty 10-year old Hyundai Accent has made this journey 8 times but it is time that we upgraded to something bigger and better. Now we come to our dilemma: we have refined the choice to either a RAV 4 or a Kia Sportage - each has a bewildering variety of different specifications available. I incline towards the Toyota whilst my wife feels that the Kia is better value for money and will still be suitable for touring holidays in Europe. Your advice on type and model would be most welcome.