Four-wheel drive MPVs are rare but not unheard of, and there are so many different types of cars available these days that an 'MPV' can come in many guises. Taking into account a high driving position and easy access we'd suggest looking at something like a SEAT Altea Freetrack (it's a four-wheel drive version of the Altea MPV) but these are quite few and far between on the used market - we could only find two - but both were under £12,000.

The other car to consider would be a Subaru Forester which is a sort of estate with a high ride height and four-wheel drive. For £12,000 you can get an 07-plate model (it's the previous generation) with less than 40,000 miles on the clock. Avoid the 2.5-litre which is thirsty and go for the 2.0-litre petrol.

One more alternative is a Skoda Octavia Scout - an Octavia Estate with four-wheel drive and a raised ride height. It's available with a petrol engine but we'd suggest the 2.0 TDI which is cheaper to run.