A Swift is actually better to drive than a MINI (surprisingly), but for a bit of grunt you need the 1.5 which they stopped making last year. For economy (16,000 miles a year) you could consider a current model Ford Fiesta 1.6TDCI. I saw an '09 Zetec S sell at auction on Friday for £8800. They've just stopped building Micras at Sunderland and new ones are at a manufacturer's £2000 discount. The trouble is, they've become grannies cars.

But the nicest small car in your price category is a Mazda 2 1.3TS2 (specifically that model). It's huge fun to drive, handles well, goes well enough, cruises decently on the motorway and gives about 45mpg. For that one, new, try www.drivethedeal.com. It's getting a facelift at the Paris Show so existing stocks are discounted.