I spoke to the branch and apparently it is in good condition and fairly fresh looking interior. Original tyres look in good condition etc.

The key word here is 'apparently'.

Lesson 1 in car buying : A salesman well tell you any lie possible, gloss over any little (or big) thing, to get a sale.

Leesons 2-99. See lesson 1.

Unless you can actually see the car, or get it IN WRITING that, if the car is not acceptable TO YOUR STANDARDS, then you can withdraw and get any deposit back IN FULL AND WITHOUT ARGUMENT, and get the salesman to sign it (preferably in his own blood), then don't even think about it. It'll probably be a complete shed, in no better condition than the local one that you can inspect.

"Both the same age (67 reg)" ... but for 2 vehicles less than a year old there might be a significant difference between one registered 1st Sep 2017 and the second which might have been first registered 28 Feb 2018. Probably worth factoring this into your thinking more than the mileage - after all if you are only planning on driving 3,000 - 5,000 miles / year and keeping the vehicle for at least another 5 years the overall mileage is going to be very low on either car.

Both are registered September 2017.

Do you live in a hilly area? If so you may want to rethink. I've just returned from the Lakes and uphill progress was leisurely with the 1.6GDi, to say the least...

Ps, I'd go for the lower mileage one.

It has been playing on my mind all the comments about how sluggish the 1.6GDI can be.

Although we will mostly just use it for short urban trips and it's not very hilly at all where we live.

In some ways it might actually suit us the fact it's not that powerful as we'll be driving about with 2 young kids most of the time and we are both quite cautious drivers.

I was thinking about pushing the boat out a bit and going for something more powerful, like the seat ateca. However I don't think I can justify spending an extra £4-5k given the type and number of miles we'll be doing.

The things I like about the Tucson are:

- warranty, just over 4 years remaining

- spec of SE Nav, especially the reversing camera

- size, for boot space and passengers with plenty of room for kids stuff

- appearance, I think it looks smart

- price, I think that's a really good deal we are getting £16.4k for 67 plate with 3.8k miles (if go for the lower mileage option)

I agree, having extra power is better than having too little. If you want to overtake a slow-moving vehicle or are on a short slip road, then you may end up kicking yourself for not getting a car with more grunt.

A more powerful car won't necessarily drink more fuel as it could be driven in a more relaxed way. VED will be more expensive, but that's once a year, not something you have to live with every day.

Back on track, option two is the better one at face value. As everyone else has said though, you need to be absolutely sure you can be completely reimbursed. You also need to not convince yourself to buy the car if you have any doubts. It can be very easy to tell yourself to just live with something if it means you can have it straight away.