I’m retired and drive a maximum of 6000 miles a year. It may be only my perception but it appears to be getting increasingly difficult to find large secondhand cars that have both petrol engines and automatic gearboxes. I’m also concerned, thanks to you casting light on the subject, about the over-complexity and resulting high maintenance costs of recently-produced cars. I’ve decided to buy an older but not ‘classic’ car. I’m looking for a good quality petrol automatic of proven reliability and reasonable running costs. My budget is around £10,000. I’m thinking of something like a late-production Mercedes W124 estate or similar. Do you have any suggestions as to makes and models that may be suitable?