2 cars, £20k ish, certain requirements

[pti]

We could probably get by with the cars we currently have but there is enough logic (and man-maths) to propose we replace them.

Current cars:
2005 Volvo V70: previously my daily, being used by my wife as she's currently on maternity leave
2009 Mercedes SLK: being used by me (kindly gifted to us by my parents)

January 2023> needs:
My wife: heading back to work, 20 miles a day commute, parking in a city centre (no ULEZ... yet)
Me: new job, 20 miles a day commute on mainly B-roads

Additional requirements:
- Both cars need to have space for a baby as nursery drop off/pick up will be split
- We have a medium sized dog
- 360 mile round trip to be completed minimum once a month (to see my folks)
- Nothing ruinous to run and/or maintain (i.e. old Audi S4/S6 etc.)
- Relatively modern (<8 years old)

Realistically we could probably just swap cars when she goes back to work but the SLK has no ISOFIX (baby will in theory only travel to/from nursery in it, but who knows) and will be unusable for, well.... most things.

I reckon we can probably get £6k from the sale of both cars (maybe pessimistic) and the remainder will be topped up from savings.

In my mind at the moment:
Me: Octavia VRS Estate
Wife: Citroen Cactus

Over to you PH.