Totally steve in the current market used car values have risen, what I said is the normal situation. the huge profits they making right now is another issue altogether.
My brother bought a car drove it into london from essex 5 /6 days a week for a year and got back what he paid for it recently as his company now given him a van.
I do feel for you and yeah maybe an estate would be an option for the size but for some they need a higher vehicle to get in and out of.
The VAUXHALL ASTRA SPORTS TOURER boot space is 597 litres for some that need a lot of space for scooters etc then i think thats right up there and cheapest auto is £949 plus you will get £250 for getting a new car one time offer.
For a bit more there are a few other options with larger boot space. HYUNDAI TUCSON ESTATE is 620 litres but its a manual. I cannot do manuals and maybe you could ask for a grant towards getting an automatic. That all depends on your circumstances. but if you don’t ask you won’t get.
Surly if you order something on the scheme mb will provide you a hire car till the new one arrives.
Often when selecting something on the scheme I have had to make hard choices due to price and I will not pay high ap’s to lease a car as for me it’s just not viable. higest i have paid was £1599 but i did get £200 from dealer and that was a one off, normally before they’d been no more than £750 for a seven seater as we was a large family of 5, 6 when my mum came to stay.
All our needs are different and sometime a trade off has to be made to get what you really need over what you don’t for me that’s adaptive cruise control and a comfortable seat. getting in and out of any car causes me pain to some degree and the truth is for me anyway driving it is where i spend most of my time as the only driver and using acc has really made a huge difference on any med to long journey.
What i would say is go and have alook at all the options and sit in them, they might not have the exact model trim to test but often some different cars they have even used ones have the same seats and i try those to see if the actual seat i will be getting is suitable.
As something that can carry the load you need is high on your needs if a acar is livable with, it’s imo better than nothing at all. such a tuff situation sometimes and many have gone in the way of estates right now from suvs, as what good is going out if you cannot fit what you need in the car.