We stopped short of naming it, but in every other respect, the hulk of orange metal parked outside our home has been a treasured member of the family for 13 long years, firmly at the heart of all our shared milestones. Cherishing my children with all the attentiveness of an extra grandparent, it has ferried them to birthday parties, dance classes and sporting events, not to mention thrice-yearly trips to Scotland and annual summer holidays to France. But now, with more than 100,000 miles on the clock, it’s time to bid farewell to our trusty Fiat Multipla. We simply can’t afford to run it any more, thanks to an extension of the daily £12.50 surcharge to drive older vehicles in the capital, which becomes law in October.