THERE'S more than one good reason for buying a Hyundai these days but perhaps the most important is not the long warranty, but the quality of the cars.

That warranty - five years unlimited mileage - is unbeaten in the car world and it's transferable to subsequent owners.

But the quality of the company's vehicles just gets better and better. Take the latest Tucson medium 4x4 for example.

It's available in both two and four-wheel-drive and with a diesel engine mated to an automatic gearbox.

This was the model I drove - in Premium SE spec at the top of the range, which comes withfour-wheel-driveas standard.

As family transport with the occasional need to get through in slippery winter conditions, or as the perfect towcar, it really is hard to beat.

It even comes with a lockable centre differential to help when the going gets really sticky.

The 2.0-litre diesel engine has enough urge for most needs and is also very smooth and quiet even when cold. It is actually quieter at low revs than the latest engine in the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

Performance is never going to be blistering with such a setup, but it rarely feels short of urge when called upon and the auto makes it very easy to live with.

This has sport and manual settings as well as the standard drive, but sport is better than manual when you're in a hurry and works very well.

The ride is comfortable in town even over rough surfaces but oddly, it's slightly unsettled at high speeds on rougher roads.

And the road holding is better than the typical fairly large 4x4 because it doesn't roll too much.

It's bigger car than the previous ix35 and returns to a name first used by the company about 10 years ago.

This top model has every single bell and whistle you can think of, including heated, cooled and electrically adjusted leather seats, a heated steering wheel, parking sensors front and rear, keyless entry and starting, big boot and 60/40 split fold rear seat.