I agree that approaching brokers may be worthwhile but unless you are really committed to brand new, a used 2019 car with less than 5k on the clock can be had for around £13k (C4 Cactus auto)

It beats me why anyone would pay close to list price for a new car when 30%+ discount to list can be had for the sake of a couple of months and a few thousand miles.

Another possibility worthy of consideration given the miles the car will do is electric. £16k would get you into a 2017 example of the the first gen Nissan Leaf (that could actually be under £11k for a 24Kwh version). The 24Kwh version has a a claimed range of >124 miles, so even allowing for battery degredation and winter weather there would be no issues with doing 15 miles!. But you also get a bigger battery 30Kwh version with a range of >155 miles. Not that fast in terms of top speed (i think they are limited to about 90mph), but as with all electric cars, they are very nippy off the line with maximum torque available immediately. Of course they are very smooth as there are no gears to change, and as far as i have read, they are quiet and comfortable.

Assuming you have a driveway, it could be ideal?.

BTW, the current version starts at about £18k

That was my first choice but after reading some horror stories with the batteries I think we are not yet ready for mainstream electric cars.

Too late - mainstream electric cars are already here

Thank you, will look at the links that you sent