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Hi Sue,

I think you might need to look for a big seven-seat MPV, so. Have a look for a Ford S-Max or SEAT Alhambra. Both are exceptionally roomy, and both are reliable and good to drive. A touch on the thirsty side though. The only ‘conventional’ car I can think of that might fit the bill would be a Volvo S80 or V70, which have just about enough space across the back seat for three child car seats, and plenty of legroom up front.

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Hi Joe,

They’re pretty reliable, the old Pajero Junior, but bear in mind that that’s now a 22-year-old car, so it’s likely to be running into all sorts of wear and tear problems. You’ll basically need to check everything, and if the car you’re looking at has no NCT, be especially wary. Fuel economy’s not great — it’s a relatively heavy, boxy body being propelled by a small, low-tech engine so expect less than 30mpg on average.

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Hi Biju,

Official fuel economy for a 2008 1.4 D-4D Toyota Corolla stood at 56mpg. If the car has been well cared for since, I’d say you could expect to get around 45mpg in daily motoring from one.

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Hi Martina,

We're assuming you are referring to the post-2008 Focus here, so correct us if not. The 1.6-litre models are up to 10mpg more efficient and generally have much lower emissions too to help reduce your annual tax bill.

Be aware that the 1.6 TDCi engine only had issues from 2004 until about 2008. Cars/engines made after that date should be just as reliable as the 1.8-litre.

Hope that helps

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Hi Helen,

An old RAV4 will be pretty thirsty, to be honest. Official fuel economy for the 1.8 petrol model, from 2004, was 38mpg, and around town I’d expect it to do not much better than 28mpg. The 2.0 diesel version is only 1mpg better off on the official figures, so don’t expect miracles from one of those either.

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Hi Pat,

It does. The 1.5-litre dCi diesel model will do an easy 50mpg on average, as long as you don’t drive it like you stole it. The 4x4 version is a little thirstier, maybe more like 40-45mpg.

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Hi Joe,

The official fuel economy figure for that model was 35.3mpg, or 8.0 litres per 100km. At this age, and depending on how well it’s been cared for, I’d expect that to be considerably worse today, probably close to 25mpg on average.

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Hi Jon,

Well, it depends which model you mean, but I’m assuming it’s a 1.4 VVTi petrol with a manual gearbox. If so, the original official fuel economy was 42.2mpg, or 6.7 litres per 100km. Depending on how well the car has been looked after in the 14 years since then, it’ll probably do around 35mpg in daily driving.

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Hi Maria,

If it’s the four-wheel-drive version (a 2WD model was occasionally offered) then it should have a maximum towing capacity of 3,504kg, which should easily handle a horse box with two on board. Just make sure that the combined weight doesn’t put you over the total 3,500kg limit, or you’ll need a special towing licence. Official fuel economy when the car was new was 31mpg, or 8.9 litres per 100km.

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Hi Nabeel,

No, the S40 gearboxes were all pretty solid, both manual and automatic. If an S40 is going to develop problems, it’s usually with the turbo on the 1.6 diesel engine, or with the central locking or ignition system. There is a bit of a disadvantage in terms of fuel economy with buying an auto S40, but it’s not a huge gap, depending on how you drive.