I can vouch for the Renault Laguna and Ford Focus.
My brother had a 2006 Renault Laguna 120 DCi Estate. It was a lovely car, with great spec and good performance from the Diesel engine. Reliability wise, they are not great but not terrible either. Common issues are the Diesel injectors will pack up and will result in the engine running badly. Can be quite costly to fix.
The Gearbox is not great. The feel is OK, but can be notchy. Also, the gearsets are hand finished when built in the factory. This usually results in noticeable Gearbox whine when doing high speed. Bare in mind though that it is not
loud and can easily be ignored, and some cars gearboxes will be louder than others, depending on the mileage and quality of the hand finish. Also, the output shaft on the gearbox sometimes like to split. It's not very common for them to do this, but isn't unheard of. They are pretty nice cars to drive. The seats are comfortable, the steering is good and the clutch is nice. My only issues were the ride can be a little crashy at times (My Brothers did have the large 17-inch wheels though.) and the stereo wasn't great. This may not bother you, but I am a huge audiophile so I wasn't impressed with it at all. My Brother had no issues with his apart from his Air-Con pump packing up, which was a pig of a job to do. I'm not aware of the Air-Con pump being a common issue with the Laguna diesels, but if it does happen to you and you don't have the tools/skills to fix it yourself, prepare for a big bill from a garage to repair it.
As for the Focus, these are fantastic cars. I had the pleasure of using a 2009 1.8 5-door model while I searched for another car to buy while my Accord was (and still is!
) off the road, and I loved every second of driving it. It may just be a Focus, but they are seriously underrated. The steering is electric (Only on the Face lift models I believe?) but don't let this put you off. It has great feel, and you can adjust the level of resistance/weight. The ride comfort is pretty nice and certainly good enough for every day driving. There can sometimes be a lot of noise intrusion when going over bumps, and the model I was driving had the smaller 16-inch wheels, so bare that in mind if you buy one with the optional 18/19-inch wheels.
The Gearboxes on these cars are lovely to use. The feel is nothing short of fantastic, providing very smooth yet involving gear changes. The only time I have ever felt a gearbox as nice as this was in my Accord, as Honda have always made nice gearboxes. The Engine was good for a 1.8. It provided plenty of poke and loved to rev, yet was very economical. I can't really think of any common issues on these. I would suggest avoiding the TDCi though. While I know the temptation of effortless torque is hard to resist, bare in mind the TDCi's love to eat injectors for breakfast. Providing your insurance is not too expensive, go for a 1.8 or 2.0 petrol. They are a much better all rounder.
Hopefully that is of some use to you. I can't really think of any suggestions on any other cars to buy. The only think I
could suggest is that if you are going to be spending £6000 on a car, don't spend it on a tiny hatchback. Get something larger that would be easier to live with for years to come. A larger car does not necessarily mean a larger insurance premium.
keep suggestions coming mate ta.
