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@hugo7 Thanks very much!
My commute is 10 miles each way which I bike 4/5 days a week. Most of it is short journeys as you say, but it would be good to be able to fit 2x bikes in or get a roof rack. I visit uni mates at weekends quite a bit so some motorways other than just cornwall runs. I'm also 6ft5 so can't be too small.
Have thought about Kia/Mazda if I can find something clean at a good price
My key takeaway from your brief is that 99.9% of your driving will be short practical runs.
In which case something small and economical is the way to go. Pretty much any car made since the '00s will be fine for those odd long trips.
Anything like a VW / Audi will carry a premium, which will carry through to your insurance.
Personally, having considered buying one, a Jazz sounds like the perfect balance. There's also something pleasingly utilitarian about them.
Left field, that I doubt anyone will agree with, is a Panda (ideally a Panda 4x4). Again like the Jazz there's just something I liked about it's utility.
If there's a specific reason you need something bigger have a look at Hyundai - excellent spec for the money. My 2p don't bother with Mazda 3 - your extremely unlikely to find a good one for sale. Idk if owners keep them or what.
Hopefully you can see this xls. which has some of my notes on models, trims, etc. and Bear in mind our brief was much more about room and comfort for driving through France a couple of times a year plus more A road driving, and insurance wasn't a factor.
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