Sorry - yes - probably about 10-12k. I paid £10,500 for the Beemer in 2012 with 85k on the clock.

Thanks for your reply. That fits in with my thinking - I'm not going to get rid of the Beemer, so long as it's still doing the miles. The only thing I was warned about was possibly the turbo giving up, but it has always been serviced when needed, always by the same BMW specialist, owned by two ex-BMW mechanics. They say my car is a good 'un. Given that it's worth no more than £2,500, it's worth more to me to keep driving until something horribly expensive goes wrong.

Good shout on the 3 series, my children have grown up and only one still at home, however I do carry a lot of music gear round for a band, and have got dogs too.

For me, this would means a Mercedes E-Class (220/250/350CDi - take your pick). I have just driven 550 miles over 24 hours in my E350CDi estate at a true 40mpg and cruising at about 75mph most of the time. An E22CDi would do probably 45mpg. A comfortable cruiser. Plenty for sale ex-lease. For £18,000 you can buy them with less than 40,000 miles and about four years old.

Smaller car (C-class) means lower prices.

No it doesn't have to be an auto - my Beemer is a rare manual - rare because the 3-litre lump is almost always specced with the auto box. I prefer manual.

I haven't been in the back room for some time, but I'm surprised nobody has already said - you need a Subaru Legacy!

Problem with the Legacy is that they have had some problems with their diesels, and a petrol one is certainly not economical.