I'm gonna wind up with something safe and boring, I know it... Boring Joe is thinking a recent Mazda3 hatch is a good bet... Can be had for cheap, don't look terrible, not underpowered, loads of cool options as standard and they just keep going forever... Boring, boring, boring...
I know!!! Once you're here they just make sense... I'd like to drive along the beach at Bribie Island when the sun's coming up/going down...
It was diesel and manual anyway...