Avant-garde yes he's got an 8-10month wait and Volvo said it may be longer but he's happy to wait as he's not selling his RX until he's got the XC40. The XC40 suited him as me and him aren't into cars for enjoyment from driving instead we just want a car that will get us from A to B ect.. , were very simple people really.

Sidpan- the first Kia dealer I went to was useless as well so I know that feeling but I had been told that you just have to find a dealer who's good and I did over 50miles away but was happy to drive that distance to get my perfect car. I find it a shame though that dealers are like that as were here to buy a car from them and there number one priority should be a sale but some dealers as my uncle puts it are just lazy.

Further to comments by Avant and Skidpan, worth adding –to be fair – my first choice of SUV was an F Pace, but was also prepared to look at alternatives. Mrs Miniman didn’t like the XC60 centre console, comparing it to a coffin!

Visited 3 Volvo dealers – one cheerfully told me in June earliest date for delivery if I ordered there and then was March 2019. LMAO. Another dealer couldn’t be bothered to get off the phone to enquire as to my interest, and the third offered the test drive but didn’t check if I had a licence or ask for any ID. Shocking lapse of checking, and yes the Volvo sales staff need a rocket up their collective backsides. I even emailed Volvo UK to see who had a T5, and even that info wasn’t accurate.

Looking for what might be my last car purchase (who knows), I tried an Evoke as Mrs Miniman liked them, but I found it stodgy, the interior very dull and dated with the sat nav screen at an unnatural angle. Reliability because of DPF issues was also a major concern given a lack of petrol models used. Also no opening sunroof. Tried a top spec E Pace, very nice, preferred its gear selector (like a BMW) to the rotary thingy in JLR cars, and liked the digital dash but no opening pan roof. More sluggish than the larger F Pace as steel not alloy construction. The F Pace was really nice to drive, but finding the spec I wanted for a £40-45K purchase (for an under 12 month old car) was fraught. It was always the wrong colour (wanted metallic red or Caesium Blue), no opening pan roof, 22in wheels and silly tyres, awful tan or red/black upholstery, no ITCP Pro, etc. Just one of 4 dealers contacted (Hatfields) went the extra mile to help find the right car but all boxes could not be ticked, so no sale. Even now, 4 months on from starting to look for a car, still no F Paces to fit my needs. It’s an odd situation. I did consider a Kodiaq but again, no dealer with a 1.5 petrol Edition spec, just the 2.0 diesel with a DSG box – nooooo way.

In the end, having had a few hours spare one Saturday last month, went and looked at a 67 plate 9 month old BMW X3 (G01), despite dismissing the marque early on. In hindsight, may have been a hasty decision as car did tick 99% of boxes - right colour, right sized wheels, right colour upholstery, opening sun roof and lots more. May or may not have some of the things the F Pace might have, I don’t know as all specs are so variable – a case of swings & roundabouts? – but time will tell if my decision was right! Having covered 1,200 miles so far, it’s an impressive and effortless drive. Also nice was salesman who was not at all pushy with the Diamond Brite, GAP and other insurances, though it was tough to move them on screen price.