Hi Pat,

If you’re going to be piling in dogs and clubs, then maybe it’s not a hatch you should be looking at but an estate? The Volkswagen Golf Estate is smart looking, really good to drive and has an enormous boot, and that goes ditto for the mechanically identical Skoda Octavia Combi and SEAT Leon ST. All three are solidly reliable too. More reliable yet is the Honda Civic Tourer, which has an even bigger boot and a lovely 1.6 diesel engine, or the Toyota Auris Sports Tourer, which is the best-looking Auris and can be had as a Hybrid if most of your mileage is done in town. Opel’s new Astra Tourer is also well worth a look. Worth noting, too, that all of these cars will cost you less than an equivalent SUV or crossover, and be cheaper to run as well.