I can only really concurr. Old Mazda 6s are about as popular with buyers as detailed audit of their self assessment tax return.

It's a shame as they're decent, reliable old lumps but like the Mondeo they share a fair bit with no one wants to pay proper money for one.

The auto likes a drink and is expensive to tax so arguably even harder to shift.

I think it is a shame. As I get older, of course, 05 seems recent to me! I tend to think that this era of cars - and japanese especially - was a bit of a peak. Developed, but not so much that an electronic glitch led to write-off.

A 2.0 n/a petrol seems a reasonable size engine for a cruiser, especially nowadays when it's so easy to lose your licence for speed. Many years ago in the job I had a Mondeo 2.0 auto with blues and twos and I never found it too slow.

I look at many modern cars with engines 1.0 upwards, turbos and all. Power outputs are high. My old xtype has 130 bhp (or did when it was new, goodness knows what it is now). I have rarely pushed it to its limit. 15 years ago, I bought a new Citroen Xsara, 1.4, 75 bhp. It performed more than adequately for me and often above speed limits (blues and twos).

I am wary of modern small capacity engines and (I think) would only consider them in a car on a lease or PCP where they were always under warranty.

I recently had cause to dive two new Clios (hire cars). One was (I think) the 0.9 turbo, the oyher a 1.0 or 1.2 n/a. The turbo had plenty of go but was a b**gger to drive smoothly at lower sppeds, the n/a was a bit gutless but would go when driven hard. Neither were relaxing or comfortable drives. An 05 Mazda 6 would have been better.

The more I read of modern cars with problems, the less I am inclined to buy one. I don't need a lot of the cr*p they come with - I can tell if it;s raining so I switch the wipers on, I can tell when it's dark so I switch the lights on, I check my tyre pressures, etc. - and the last thing I need is electronic junk mandated for people who ...

Sorry, rant by grumpy old f**t over!

Yes, that's the point, isn't it - impending doom means scrapping it, but meanwhile the good old Jaguar is worth much more to you than it is in the market. You're looking after it with 6-monthly oil changes, and as an ex-policeman you know how to drive it.

Maybe save up for something newer: when the time comes, and if you want a car of similar size, a petrol Mazda 6 or Honda Accord sounds like the way to go.