I am an indecisive academic requiring help. In 1994 after months of deliberation and investigation, I bought a brand new VW Passat Diesel Estate and declared I would keep it for 14 years. Now I have, so it’s time for a change. My teenage children have grown and family holidays lugging buckets spades to the beach, interspersed with termly treks to Universities across the country with which the Passat has coped so well, have gone and yet I'm not quite ready to opt for the eco runabout with built-in slippers. Good design, engineering and practicality feature highly in my ‘must haves’, as are reasonable running costs. My local VW dealer has been excellent but I am afraid the latest Passat Estate is too large (long) and the Golf Estate too boring. I have excited a salesman in the Mercedes garage and have sat in a couple of new BMWs. Audis seem too severe and I am already too confused to even visit the Volvo showroom. So, what is it to be? What should I steer clear of? With a comfort zone of £15k and a ceiling of £18k, I appreciate it would have to be seriously second-hand if BMW 3-Series Touring or Mercedes were to be in the frame. I cover about 9,000 miles a year. Mostly local communing and DIY shopping, with an occasional longer run with luggage. I like the torque of my present diesel engine. My wife has a FIAT Panda. With options so wide open, advice as to what to avoid might as well as some suggestions for purchase would be enormously appreciated.