You're right in the sense that buying a s/h car, you have no way of knowing how the thing has been treated - Turbo guys (it was a specialist & was diagnosed by 2 companies) said the previous owner had skipped an oil change, DMF is related to useage but look on here and lots of people have the same issue

Lorries can crack stellar mailages as they are so heavily engineered; your average mid-sized car, to cope with the torque, has a DMF instead of a beafy gearbox.

If you were buying new and doing 30,000 miles a year, it would be diesel every time. You've been unlucky (or the car hasn't been properly serviced) as some Ford diesels do high mileages without problems: but you're right to say that modern diesels can get very expensive as mileage mounts.

But I also agree with Unthrottled that petrol engines can also go wrong expensively, and that getting 45 mpg out of a petrol will mean pussyfooting around and not exceeding 60 mph. The Mark 1 Fabia vRS that he mentions has the 1.9 TDI engine which was fitted to most VW Group cars, and something with this engine is what I'd go for in your position with your budget and mileage.

If you're set on petrol, best to go Japanese and add the Toyota Corolla / Auris and Mazda 3 or 6 to your list.

Just get a very boring diesel from Ford or Vauxhall - you won't win prizes for style and they will need jobs doing but every good workshop in the land knows how they work.

You need to bet on averages, not possibilities.

I would not want a car smaller than a Focus for the mileage you will be doing either.

Concur! My mum has a Toyota Aygo, and it will perform if you work it, but when it's very windy it's really unpleasant to do a long motorway trip in it. The noise is incredible and it wobbles.

No, but the Fabia is a mid-sized hatch type like the Focus. Below this size could be irritating for lengthy jaunts.

Look see what taxi owning companies operate, but bear in mind they will be using tried and trusted indy's for maintenance.

They don't usually run cars that break down continually, interestingly i seldom see Ford taxi's apart from Galaxies which are normally sold on after 3 years from the two big fleets i'm thinking of.

As for Mondeo and Focus, for some reason they seem to have almost default status on these forums, i really am baffled as to why, i have to drive them now and again and underwhelmed would be putting it mildly, they do nothing for me driving wise or ambience.

No timing belt,

Well, that's all right then!

Kia Cee'd 1.6CRDi? Balance of 7 year warranty, no DPF (if you buy pre-2011), no DMF and chain cam drive! Also a nice smooth engine with a decent spread of torque.

Personally, I don't think you can expect to drive any car for 150k+ miles without the odd large bill...

Must have - even Honda didn't till 2008 though