Earlier this year I spent several weeks looking at cars in this group, albeit diesels. I drove the Golf, A3, Focus, Astra GTC, 1 Series, Leon, Octavia & Megane. I’d kinda decided on the VW but then, on a whim, drove the Alfa – within 5 minutes I knew I’d changed my mind. It just drives so well & the petrol version I then tried (to see what the floppy-flappy gearbox was like) was even more nimble, probably because it doesn’t have a big, heavy oil burner under the bonnet.
Long service intervals, reasonable servicing costs & a great warranty were a bonus (buying new) and it’s been faultless so far (I’ve only put 4k miles on it ) but other owners I’ve spoken to have been running ’em for a good whole without issue.