My dad is currently in the market for a new car, specification as follows:

Mid sized suv/estate, his preference being an SUV though.

Automatic

4wd, or pseudo 4wd

He is considering contract hire and a used purchase. £300/month contract hire with 10k miles/month, 3 year contract and up to 6 months upfront, or £16k used. If used, not more than approx 4 years old and 40k miles.

His current driving conditions consist of a 30 mile commute (60 miles round trip) 2-3 days a week, the occasional longer journey once every month or 2 up and down the country to see family, approx 150-200 mile journeys. He lives down a narrow rural road in norfolk often used by farm vehicles so often quite muddy, and regularly has to drive up verges when passing oncoming vehicles. Several roads out of the village often flood so would be useful to be able to get through at least some standing water of a modest depth.

His most recent cars have been an xc60 D4 manual for the past 3 year which he likes it in general but finds it spins up the front wheels quite easily. Before that he was in a crv petrol manual for 3 years which again, he liked it but found it to have quite a bit of road noise and was a little gutless.

For his new car he was initially only looking at contract hire but there doesn't seem to be many especially good deals around at the moment. I have persuaded him to at least consider buying used as it could open up some options for him and he was open to the idea but doesn't really want to spend more than £16k. Again, originally only looking at suv's but has since agreed that an estate might be worth a shot, although not sure if this was just to pacify me!

Cars he is considering:

Another xc60 although very expensive. Crv 1.6 diesel. These cars make sense in his head as decent motors but being a car lover he likes to try different vehicles.

Mitsubishi eclipse cross 1.5 petrol.

He looked at the Tiguan as well but thinks it's a little bland, and he likes the Tucson and Sportage but is a little put off by how many of them you see as he likes to have something a little rarer (hence the Misubishi!).

Used 3 series estate although they ride quite low.

Used CX-5 petrol although worried it will lack grunt, similar to the petrol crv. Mazda guy did say the 2.5 was coming to the UK though but haven't read anything else about that and I'm sure it wouldn't be quick enough anyway as his current contract car expires in the summer.

In general he is quite open minded, although being in his late 50's definitely would prefer something a little 'plusher'.

I think that's everything. Thanks for taking the time to read my short essay question :) Any and all suggestions appreciated. I've enjoyed reading the forum for quite a while now so keen to see what advice is offered - I particularly anticipate SLO's response as I have a lot of time for his opinions!