daily in Scotland around 12K

[taik]

Currently in a 1.2l 2012 Ford Fiesta and looking for something a bit newer and nicer all-round

Budget’s about £12k, based in central Scotland (Edinburgh/Glasgow/Perth/Dundee all doable).
Would prefer auto but manual’s fine.
Needs to be ULEZ compliant.

Mostly used as a daily, I only go into the office twice a month (about 100-mile round trip), plus the usual local runs and the odd weekend trip up north (200–300 miles). Around 8k miles a year. It’s just me and my partner, maybe a dog later, so space in the back isn’t a big deal but a decent boot would be handy.

Main things I’m after are:
a bit of nippiness
reliability
a noticeably smoother, more comfortable and less noisy drive than the Fiesta.

I tried a 2019 mazda 3 and a 2019 mazda cx3, both petrols and both seem fine in the performance side but road noise and bumpiness was awful, felt like a downgrade from the fiesta!

[ZX10R NIN]

A180 Sport:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510307...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202508255...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510036...

230i:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510217...

220i:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510277...

118i M Sport:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510046...

IS300h:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202508045...

CT200h:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505282...

A3 Black Edition:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202508165...

SE:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510157...

2.0t Q30:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509196...

[Billy_Whizzzz]

Bafflingly vague. Pretty much anything will do.

[taik]

sorry wasn't really sure what to include which is why its quite vague.

Going to have a look at these 3 on Saturday, quite different cars but wondering if anyone has some advice on things to look out for/avoid? I think on paper the leon looks the best, not sure about the hyundai as I reckon the road noise/comfort level won't be much different to the mazdas

HYUNDAI IONIQ 1.6 h-GDi Premium Hatchback 5dr Petrol Hybrid DCT Euro 6 (s/s) (141 ps) 2021 <30k miles @ £15K

SEAT Leon 2.0 TSI XCELLENCE Lux DSG Euro 6 (s/s) 5dr 2019 52k miles @ £13.5K

MERCEDES-BENZ CLA 1.6 CLA180 AMG Line Edition Coupe 4dr Petrol 7G-DCT Euro 6 (s/s) (122 ps) 2019 57k miles @ £13.5K

[Matt_T]

Civic? Avoid the 1.0 petrols, the 1.5 petrols are reliable.
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/19336531