Of equal importance in your deliberations would be the intended use & also your mechanical abilities & equipment.
Normally my 2.2 Dti would be the best car on the planet,but when it went wrong earlier this year I was not a happy bunny,

but that would have to be tempered by it`s previous 3 1/2 years of total reliability,

.Overall I have enjoyed the car,but it has to be said that the 2.5 was my option when looking for a Fronty due to being more powerful & having less electronic,it may be less problematic.From a mechanics point of view the best bet would be a 2.8 ,so easy to work on,but lacking in the comfort level stakes.
In honesty I am of the opinion that the newer & more advanced cars (in general) get the more reliable they become,however if they suffer a problem it is harder to correct without specialist knowledge & tooling.
Too many imponderables bud,your best bet would be to test drive as many different models,factor in the good & bad points of each from your perspective & base your decision on that.
