What automatic car with a manual handbrake should I buy?

Swapping cars over the park-brake seems a bit extreme, Marlene. And while I sympathise with you – I also dislike the new electronic park-brakes with a passion – I could never justify trading-in over it. Sit down and work out how much you’ll lose in stamp-duty, the change-over price and other financial charges and you might just decide you can live with the dreaded electronic brake.

The other troubling news is that within a few years, there won’t be any new cars with conventional park-brakes; the world is going electronic and there’s not much consumers can do about it. The better news is that the best ones now engage and disengage automatically, so you don’t have to think about them. Nor do you have to operate them yourself (which is the big bone of contention here).