Well, I've finally done it. I've upgraded my car to a crossover to get the high ride capability so that the seat position is more comfortable and my thihh is at 90 degrees to my body. My old car was too low and my knees too high.

I am not Motability qualifying so it had to be self financed. It was an interesting experience. I had narrowed it down to a choice of two - Nissan Qashqai, made just down the road - or the BMW X1. The amazing thing? Over a 10 year life cycle the total cost of ownership of the BMW came out £6,000 cheaper than the Qashqai due to the much cleaner engine and higher mpg. I could hardly believe it.

Hi Louise - sounds like I should have asked on the forum first and saved myself a lot of agonising over the locally made Qashqai! :)

I looked at Toyotas too but they were too expensive overall

You have to bear in mind that I was looking at the 10 year running costs not just at the purchase price. I have an Excel spreadsheet which you're welcome to have which tots up the effects of variables such as cost of fuel, road tax etc for a typical annual mileage which you enter. You then enter details of the various models and it works out the comparisons for you. If you want a copy you can have it. Just need to figure out how to get it to you. On a normal forum I would suggest PM'ing your eMail address to me. But this forum doesn't allow private messaging - don't know why.

Right now, BMW have a clear edge over just about everyone, particularly with their engine technology. The others are playing catch up fast though. The new Qashqai is purported to have excellent engine technology but won't be available till well into 2014 and I could not wait.

It's also true that if you have an existing brand then trade in values from the same brand / dealer will always be better than if you change brands. I was fortunate in having a 7 year old BMW 1 series to trade. All in all I got a discount of 33%