A lot of separate questions. ‘My’ Focus ECOnetic went on Thursday 28th May after having averaged 54.98mpg over 7,178 miles. No problems at all. Did not even use any oil (my previous C-Max 2.0TDCI used about a litre over a similar distance). Strangely, the 1.6TDCI actually develops more torque at lower revs than the 2.0TDCI, which is why it is now finding its way into big Volvos like the V70 and S80. It's a very pleasant, accommodating engine to drive. Better and less dieselly than the 2.0TDCI. The A6 is coming to the end of its production life and will be replaced with a model using the same drivetrain as the A4 B8. My favourite A4 B8 is the 2.7V6 TDCI Multitronic, though if you were scared by the word Multitronic I don't blame you. I'll soon be testing a SEAT Exeo, which is basically the old model A4 B7 with the current B8 2.0 litre common rail piezo injected engine. The 143PS version of that impressed me enormously and still managed 50mpg. So that could be on the list. The new Skoda Superb is also very impressive, if a bit ugly, with limo-like rear legroom, but no rear wiper because of its hatchback and bootlid arrangement. A BMW 520d feels its weight a bit, but is okay. There had been a worry of this engine going through turbos a bit too rapidly.

But for £24k my choice would be a base model Mercedes W204 C200CDI Classic SE manual. That car felt to me like it would do 1,000,000 miles, and I actually liked it more than the C320CDI estate I tried on a later date.

At the time of writing (late May) used values were still high and with Sterling still at a comparatively poor rate I would say that prices of imported new cars will have to go up again.