after car crash with other driver liable, we have about £3k plus a P reg vauhall corsa with 43k on the clock to traid in.

Any recommendations? SOmething astra sized, but open to suggestions!!

Cheers!

Focus. Can't beat them for the money, loads about.

Honda HRV. I love mine.

Golf TDI

I've got a Focus been reliable if some what boring.

As the above have mentioned Ford Focus, Golf tdi or if you can find a clean one at that price, a Honda Civic?

Astra

picasso

Dont trade the Corsa in, you'll get more for it private sale. Clean it up well and it will sell easily. Unless of course there's something wrong with it and you want rid of it…

If you stick to German cars you wont go wrong. A VW Golf would be your best bet, but you can also pick up some Audi A4 estates for a similar price.

If you stick to German cars you wont go wrong

I think this was true years ago but no longer.

Get a Czech car, you can't go wrong

Octavia

Focus +1

Who cares if it's a bit dull, it's a great car. And if you depend on your car to make you feel "special" you're a bit sad.

If you stick to German cars you wont go wrong. A VW Golf would be your best bet

Didn't Golfs consistently used to bomb in the reliability surveys?

IMO they (and VW generally) are a triumph of marketing – vastly more expensive than a Focus and not as good. But everyone who drives one looks like a smug c**k, all pleased that they can afford the mini-Mercedes the adverts promised them….

Focus.

Very happy with my 2.5k Y reg 1.6 Focus.

Even more boring than a focus but more reliable, a previous generation Civic, or the most boring and reliable car a Corolla. I had a bunch of Golf / Jettas company cars of around the age you are looking at and even up to 3 years old they weren't particularly reliable. The German = reliable stuff is a bit of a myth these days. Look at the surveys.

The 02' onwards Toyota Corolla's are a bloody excellent car. Brilliant build quality, handling/ride etc. We had one, fantastic car & I'd have another without a second thought. I think calling it boring is unfair, the older ones were pretty crap, but the 02' onwards – UK built model is easily as good as a Golf/Focus/Astra.

In standard 'guise an Octavia is dull but… It is reliable, plenty of room inside with a huge boot. I will replace my current Octavia vRS (2nd one) hatch with a Octavia estate in the future.

The 02' onwards Toyota Corolla's are a bloody excellent car.
Brilliant build quality, handling/ride etc.

Well-built maybe, but the ones I've driven really don't handle as well as a Focus (that may or may not be important). Not sure how cheap they are either.

Octavia, Focus or Astra as you can buy parts from any parts store for pennies.

Slgihtly nearer £4k but my 55 plate mondeo tdci hatchback with 60k miles on it. Slightly larger cars tend to be better value as they're less desirable.

Depends how important small is to you.

tip for anyone after a golf – unless you absolutely must have hatchback buy a bora instead, the insureance is about 40% cheaper just because it's not a golf, but it's the same car…

If you stick to German cars you wont go wrong.

The Focus is quite a German car, mostly designed there (koln), some done here too and built at either Saarlouis gmbh or Valencia Spain.

Most modern cars are good though, just have to make sure you choose whats right for you, 2nd hand is always a gamble, but on the whole unless you get a real lemon its hard to go wrong with any make.

One I can thnk of avoiding is the Toyota Auris, fine with a manual box but avoid the semi automatic ones (i think thats true of most semi auto's mind you).

citroen C4?

Unless you're looking for great handling I'd reccomend some of the french diesels citroen, renault or peugeout they should run 250k no problem and often less than £50 to tax and cheap to insure whilst being very economical. The berlingo is a fantastic car if you need lots of luggae space and a versatile car.
You could get an older golf or focus and it would be nicer to drive/ less quirky looking but ultimately less practical, less reliable, more expensive to tax and insure and less economical.