Ivan's new car search, '26

1. Safety
   • Euro NCAP 5★, tested 2015 or later
   • AEB fitted as standard — confirm per VIN, not per model
   • Mass helps in a car-to-car impact, but is no longer a cut-off
2. Space — 645 L behind the second row is the benchmark to beat
3. Economy — Casco and depreciation lead; fuel is the fourth cost, not the first

• Automatic transmission — no CVT if avoidable
• Petrol or hybrid — diesel needs a specific justification

• SUV styling preferred; estate acceptable; MPV disliked
• 7 seats
• Towing above 2,000 kg — B+E licence held, so the car's rating is the real limit

Fuel was never the decision. Depreciation and Casco together run three to six times the fuel bill, and both scale with purchase price — so the price column is also the running-cost column.

Diesel. At €1.81 against €1.56 the price premium cancels the consumption advantage — about €26 a year between equivalent engines, which buys none of the DPF, EGR, injector, turbo or dual-mass flywheel risk.

Every car here scored five Euro NCAP stars except the Citroën Berlingo, which got four. The star count is therefore useless for ranking — what separates them is the year the test was run and how the percentages fell. The safety column shows a score adjusted for test era; hover it for the breakdown.