Hi Rox – that’s a very fair point and, of course, it’s incredibly frustrating at present not being able to even go and look at cars, let alone drive them. I must confess that I haven’t seen reviews of any of the SUV’s we have shortlisted where the reviewer has said that a manual would be better than an auto, but those with CVT transmissions seem to be criticised as they sound strained at higher revs. I don’t like the look of the CR-V, especially from the rear, nor am I massively keen on the interior, but I wouldn’t rule out a car on looks alone. I don’t like the rear of the Volvo XC40 either, but it gets generally good reviews. We looked at the RAV4 when we last changed but felt that the interior seemed cheap and plasticky compared to the other cars on our shortlist and the in car tech is very poor, according to the reviews. The great shame is that I really enjoy looking at and driving different cars, which makes the current situation all the more frustrating!