Thoughts comments on various mid range cars please

My Mondeo clutch is probably not going to last long so we need to find a decent car for the wife

Budget will vary depending on car etc really needs to be big enough to get adults in the back but not a big car,also with a reasonable boot, but none are definite must haves
The wife is commuting 60 miles a day so wants it to be economical
I dont rarely drive but my tuppence worth is i want whatever it is to have a high spec

Im NOT aloud to choose the car as i always have done so its my Wifes turn to choose an inappropriate car

Wife is thinking of
Fiesta
Focus
Renault Clio
Not sure about a fiat 500 anymore but still a possibility

Any other suggestions so we can go and have a look to put on list or definitely avoid

Also any common known faults or horror stories on above list so far but factual not hear say

Cheers Guys

Well, I'm not suggesting necessarily that you buy ours (although feel free...!) but the MINI Clubman Cooper S has been excellent - decent sized boot, enough power to be fun, but reasonably frugal (go diesel for more economy, obviously) and great style and a bit of funkiness.
There have been issues with timing chains (as we have found out), but a bit of research should reveal which models to avoid or which have the revised, less troublesome version.
We are only selling ours because we had to. And because we replaced it with a Coupe...!

Ha ha! nice try Jim!

On a serious note thanks for the reply our old neighbor had one and the wife wasnt keen on the square back end although never say never she has mentioned minis before but not recently

Oh just remembered something else the wife said
"we are not buying a silver car!"
guess what colour the mondeo is

In fact, we have just sold ours, but I'd still have another!

Glad you sold it Jim!
Right Fiesta is off the list too small so i guess its pointless looking at the Fiat 500

We did look at a peugeot 308 and 208 and the mrs liked them, she also liked the Clio, but we did not get to sit inside and see how it felt

So now it looks like either the Peugeot 208, 308 and clio's are now favorite still got a few other makes to check out but the mrs now thinks the 3 mentioned are the winners without seeing anything else

Anybody any bad experiences with either of those?

Cheers

Shame the Fiat is off the list because it's an excellent car - no trouble at all in recommending it. We have 2 (our 2nd and 3rd) and they're brilliant. In my experience, they're even more practical than the larger MINI. I don't know what you need the extra space for, but it's a shame to discount the 500 n

How about an Alfa Giulietta?

MRS we will still try one out!

Really like the Giulietta did look into it when we were thinking of a new car on finance but every time i spec them up they were just too expensive! now she has decided she does not want a new car because there are too many Are-soles that do not respect other peoples property so a used car seems a bit easier to cope with mind you we are still looking at no more than 3-4 years old

+1

We were also looking at the Giulietta - was expensive to spec from new, until we saw the ex-demo which is what we got !

Choice of petrol and diesel to choose from. Plenty of room...... look awesome.

Depending on budget would suggest the following to consider;

Skoda Fabia or Rapid
Fiat 500L
Fiat Bravo
Seat Ibiza

All come quite well specified even 3-4 yr old models.

Cheers Cooperman

I quite like the Skoda mrs says no
Dont quite get the point of the 500L im sure its a great car just not a Fiat 500
The others i would like to look at but its difficult getting the misses to look after she has spoken with one sales person she has had enough for the day and does not show any enthusiasm to view anything else!
So its most likely to be what we have seen unless i can persuade her to come out and veiw some more!

I really quite like the new Volvo V40 but its a bit pricey for us

Thought about the Volvo C30 HR? Just avoid the 1.6 all others are fine rides. The T5 suspension gets a little upset on bumpy roads sometimes, but nice little cars and not too little.

The Bravo isn't as good as the Giulietta, it is actually based on the old Stilo, where as the Giulietta uses a new platform.

IMO it looks pretty dull as well.

Still you can buy low mileage nearly new one for not much cash.

I was put off of the Giuletta myself until I found out that it uses a different platform to the Bravo. Some websites incorrectly imply they are the same underneath.