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Many thanks Seb. Interesting that they discontinued the diesel. I didn't know that! Do you know if that was just UK or across the whole EU? Might have just been getting too tricky to meet the emissions limits, I guess.

Good evening all. I'm complete "Scooby newbie". My wife is thinking of getting either a Forester or an Outback. Probably looking for something 2-4 years old. It would have to be an auto, as it is going to replace a Nissan X-Trail that was written-off in a nasty accident. Her injuries were such that we're looking for an auto. She likes the idea of the Forester because it's bigger and higher-up. Obviously, crashworthiness is important to her! She's likely to do an average annual mileage - maybe a bit less. Say, 8-10,000 miles a year. Our youngest is a keen cyclist, (as indeed my wife was before the crash, and hopes to be again as she regains movement), so we'll need a towbar so that we can fit the bike rack for 3 bikes. When it's just the lad, however, it would be handy to be able to throw the bike in the back of the car. Could I ask for any advice or views on what to go for, please? I hear the diesel engines can be troublesome? As mentioned before, auto transmission is a must. She'd like something with drive to all wheels as we live in rural Cumbria and it can get very slippy on the untreated roads in Winter. We also sometimes see a bit of flooding, so wade depth is of interest. Performance is less of a priority, although I have a 2 ton trailer that we sometimes tow. I'm an enthusiastic amateur mechanic, so would probably be looking to do all my own servicing once the manufacturer's warranty has expired. Looking online, I see that "real world" fuel consumption figures appear to be about mid 30s for both petrol autos and low 40s for both diesel autos. Does Seem about right?