For more than a decade, I have been commuting long distances to work, so have had a small diesel MPV, and also tow a caravan. Quite a cost-effective combination for 18,000 miles a year.

But I have now retired, and need to replace my car with something similar that has good enough torque to tow my (smallish) caravan of around 1,000kg unladen. My dilemma arises from the rather low mileage (4,000-5,000 miles pa?), which I expect to do from now on without the commuting.

This would not seem to justify the higher costs of running a diesel - although that would almost be the norm for towing. Could you please advise what would be the most cost effective diesel MPV / Crossover vehicle?

Or alternatively (preferably?) a petrol version with sufficient torque and flexibility to tow a caravan? I am contemplating buying a vehicle which is a year or two old to minimise purchase cost, and avoid the initial depreciation hit.