After several hundred miles, lots of test drives and a bit of drama, I have now purchased my latest car. You may recall that the aim was to buy something around £15k with good ground clearance, 4wd and relatively.low running costs. These were my findings:

Fiat Panda 4x4 Cross 0.9 Twinair 2019ish- I drove two of these. They drove identically, although one has a slightly odd noise coming from the clutch. A good, torquey engine which seems to get quieter the faster you go so surprisingly good on the motorway. Ride and handling both pretty good but not startling. Seats are not amazing. The handbrake is a bit weird, but actually.quite nice - it's more of a lever than a handle. .The engine note is very distinctive and really quite loud. At idle, it sounds like a tractor.

I chose not to buy one partly because it's a bit small and a bit rough. It s a lot of money for something with no great comfort or space. I was also worried about the twins it's reliability. I have no particular reason to suspect it, but I know they're vulnerable to the wrong oil and so possibly a risky second hand buy. I'm not sure I could live with that noise long term.

Subaru Impreza 2.0 Lineartronic 2018 - A very good car indeed. Ride and handling were superb. The engine and gearbox generally have bad reviews, but I had no issues at all and found both very smooth with a very nice power delivery. Decent space all around, a good size boot and safety equipment that actually works. Comfortable and well.equipped too.

I didn't go for it mostly because of the limited ground clearance, but also because they're not great on fuel.

Subaru XV 2.0 Lineartronic 2018 - The obvious choice as it is just a lifted Impreza with additional 4wd modes. Exactly the same experience, but ultimately couldn't afford it. Interesting that I could only get a £250 discount and the PX offer for my Karoq was £250 less than WBAC

Subaru XV 2.0 Manual 2016 - This is the previous model XV. It drives almost identically, but with a much more basic interior and fewer toys. I decided I didn't want a manual.

One comment on the Subarus - if you've never done so, find one and (with the owner's permission) open the bonnet. The first thing you see is an oil filter right where you can just grab it to replace it. Likewise the serpentine belt is just sitting there ready to be changed. It's like someone designed an engine to be maintained and repaired properly. Brilliant.

Mazda CX3 2.0 AWD 2018 ( think - Nice engine and gearbox. Handled beautifully, but the ride was very bumpy over country lanes. Very little space in the back. The one I drove was quite tatty and I was surprised how tired the interior looked (it was about 45,000 miles). Good examples are probably.very enjoyable, but it's not a family car.

Suzuki Ignis MHEV Allgrip 2020 - Hilariously good fun with seemingly infinite grip. Felt a bit like driving a Metro. Tons of space front and back and a decent size boot. I found the seat to be too soft and was a bit concerned about how it would feel on a motorway, buzzing away and being battered by the wind.

Suzuki Vitara 1.6 Allgrip Auto 2018 - After my initial go with a Vitara, I wanted to give thwm.a second chance - on paper, its what I should choose. I am a bit of a sucker for a sunroof, so was pleased to see an SZ5 available between where I was dropping off my Karoq and the nearest train station. It has decent space front and back and a good size boot. Handling and ride are good. I had no issues at all with the steering on this one - it's very.nicely weighted and settled.

The interior is a bit low-rent, but probably suits my planned use (country roads and farm tracks) better than something luxurious. The engine seems good, if a little noisy. The gearbox is not the best - it's very eager to kick down at the slightest provocation. That's fine generally as I'm not very aggressive with my accelerating. What I did find, though, is that it doesn't work brilliantly with the adaptive cruise; as soon as the car in front either accelerates or changes lane, it drops two gears and starts howling. I found myself using the paddle shifter to shift straight back to the top immediately.

Ultimately, a compromise was needed. I wanted the newer auto XV but couldn't afford it. So I went back to what I had originally set as my criteria - 4wd, ground clearance, low running costs, space for family, capable of occasional longer journeys.

There is now a Vitara sitting on my drive and I'm saving up for an XV.