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> Speaking of spaces under the bonnet, you could try to find a car with enough space there to keep a tool kit, spare bottles of various oils, and a shovel. Just in case.
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> ding"although maybe that's only important for 4wd"dong

I think you need a Toyota. They will run for years without any need to add oil between changes. Front wheel drive gives excellent traction, and they don't break down. I admit that I carry a small tool kit in the boot(just in case), but I've never needed it. It's not unreasonable to expect 200,000 trouble-free miles out of a Toyota. I just hauled two motor scooters in my Toyota truck, while pulling a trailer with two more,(about 4500 lbs., gross) traveled about 700 miles and turned up 97,000 on the way home. No problems, no oil consumption, 24 miles per gallon, cruised at 70 mph on the interstate, and that's with the four cylinder, 2.4 litre engine. I'm also on my second Toyota car and have had no reliability problems.
Howard