Ric220

Hi all. My '99 VW Sharan is getting tired and I'm often frustrated by the lack of space for my 4 kids and clobber. I'm aware that the Grand Voyager is ridiculously cheap (I'm looking at roughly 2002 models) and have read very mixed reviews re reliability. I'm only interested in the 2.5 diesels. So, bearing in mind I'm not a mechanic (although my local guy is good and only charges £25 per hr!), are they likely to cost a fortune to run or have they just had unfair press? I've got about £1500 to spend and can't go much higher, although there seems to be plenty of diesels of that age for slightly less than that. Really hope someone can help and ideally provide a top 5 things to look out for. Thanks a lot.