Stylish new-ish hatchback for £12k

[havoc]

Sorry, not a petrolhead car this one.

Single 20-something bloke (my bro) wants a stylish (and small-ish) hatchback that can cope with motorway miles but still be a nice and more interesting place to be than an ex-repmobile. Performance and handling really not that important - his old company-car A3 TDi-140 was quick enough. Needs to have some warranty left - he wants a new-ish car but at least has the sense not to buy brand-new.

My shortlist:-
Alfa MiTo (? about reliability and build - have Alfa genuinely got better?)
Mini-D (yes, I know, sorry...)
Ford Fiesta (Another ? over build, but this would be nearly-new)
Volvo C30


Other ideas (which I think he'll ditch as not looking good enough - I'm not even sure how he'll take the Volvo):-
Suzuki Swift
Honda Civic
MkV Golf


So - opinions on the above, and anything I've missed out? Eliminated so-far are anything French, anything Vauxhall (co. cars at our place and the number of problems we've had has put me off that brand forever!) and the Ibiza/Fabia/Polo.

[Legend83]

The Volvo looks very stylish in R-Design spec but I think you might struggle to get a later model with lowish miles on that budget.

Mito looks great in my opinion and the new generation of Alfa's appear to be much more solid.

We have a Civic. It's great, but I would not call it stylish.....Type S spec looks quite tasty.

1-Series in M-Sport form?

[ewenm]

I'd go for the Volvo if you can find a R-Design one in budget. Ours was great but the boot is small (if that matters).

[bazking69]

I know you said no Vauxhall but...

Astra Sporthatch with the Exterior Pack? Definately stylish and comes with the bonus of Astra running costs. Choices range from 1.6 petrols to 2.0T petrols, and some punchy diesels that can be mapped to nearly 190BHP for few hundred quid.

A virtually new well specced diesel can be had for under 12k too...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2010-Vauxhall-Astra-1-9-CDTI...

Edited by bazking69 on Friday 27th August 22:08

[trix-a-belle]

please write off the mito idea having had one as a hire car for 2 days it is not only fugly on the outside but pretty fugly on the inside too. if he ever has to carry more than 2 other people I wouldn't wish cramming people in the back of it on anyone other than small children (& thats without them in car seats).

its saving grace was it drove reasonably well for a small car in terms of fun to throw around but i'm 25 and female and would not consider one on a long term basis

S

[duckson]

Fiat 500 Abarth?

[dougc]

Mazda 3 MPS?

[vryes]

Civic all the way, admittedly both interior and exterior are not for everyone, but they are interesting and different, great diesel engine, typical Honda reliabilty (as long as you check the oil) + if you get one that got the Honda Happiness service pack the services up to 5yrs/62500 miles are already paid for.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

edit: no I don't work for Honda and no I don't own a Civic, did have a 5dr 2.2 CDTi as a company hack one tho

Edited by vryes on Saturday 28th August 19:02