Your advice columns are full of warnings about the longer-term running costs of modern diesel cars.

In the light of that I decided to stick with a petrol engined automatic to replace my faithful 13-year old Volvo V70 2.5 20v automatic (110,000 mile) that I bought 'nearly new' and does about 15000 miles per annum since my retirement. She is beginning to show her age and feels much less sure-footed than she did so I feel the time has come for a change.

I am reasonably open-minded about my choice of car but need an estate or hatchback around Mondeo sized and good to drive both locally and on long motorway journeys.

I have always bought one-year old cars in the past; however, I am amazed at how few 'nearly new' petrol automatics are on the market, particularly if you also try to avoid VAG's troublesome DSG gearbox.

Some manufacturers also seem to have limited, or removed, the range of petrol automatics in their new car ranges, which can only make the choice even more limited.

If I broaden my options, is a petrol DSG automatic from VAG likely to be less reliable/expensive to run than a diesel automatic from other manufacturers??

Life shouldn't be this difficult!

Please can you advise me on how to rationalise my search?

Many thanks