Hi Katie,

You could look at a non-plug-in hybrid, like a Toyota Prius, Lexus CT 200h or the Honda Jazz Hybrid, if you fancy making a part-electric switch – but we'd avoid plug-in hybrid cars at this stage as your high annual mileage and motorway use are not their preferred operating zones. You have the most choice on the second-hand market if you go diesel, and for 20,000km per annum we’d normally recommend this fuel type, but the problem there is that the diesels you’ll be looking at won’t be Euro 6d-TEMP compliant, meaning if any future punitive taxes come in based on NOx emissions, you might get stung. We’d therefore advocate a nice, frugal petrol car, in a C-segment (larger hatchback) body – something like a Honda Civic 1.4 i-VTEC, a Skoda Octavia with the 1.2-litre TSI engine, a Ford Focus Zetec 1.0-litre EcoBoost or even an Audi A1 1.2 or 1.4 TFSI; this last one is a smaller hatch, granted, but it’s so upmarket it feels like a bigger car. You should find all of the above at your €10,000 budget level.