After much prevarication I have placed a deposit on a 2005 VW Transporter T5, SWB, 1.9 TDi, 84 bhp. Last owner had it for 9 years. There are receipts and service history stamps. Cambelt, tensioners and water pump replaced last year. Apparently clutch was done recently, but there's no receipt to prove. Expect to find out when taken to my garage or a VW specialist.

At the moment I won't bore people with the details of a selection process that started with a Mazda 6 estate, and for a long time had a NIssan X-Trail and Ford S-Max as the only candidates on my shortlist, with the latter the red hot favourite. A VW Caddy was very nearly bought.