My wife's motability vehicle is coming up for change. There are only three cars on the scheme that she can easily get in & out of, Kia Venga, Citroen C3 Picasso & the new Vauxhall Meriva.

We have chosen the Meriva as it's diesel (we do about 16000 miles a year) & automatic. The other two only come as petrol autos.

We are paying the premium to have the top of the range 'SE' model but are somewhat dismayed to find this only comes with 17 or 18" alloys, with 225/45 tyres. I have asked the dealer if we could have the 16" rims with 205/55 tyres as fitted to lower spec' cars, his answer is no. Vauxhall's customer services say the same thing. Surely with a car that retails at over £23k you could chose the wheels of your choice or do they assume that everyone wants to run around on what are little more than rubber bands. What do you think?