I believe Toyota used an automated manual gearbox for a time, but soon abandoned it. I'd walk away from one of them. I think the catalytic converter is also exposed under the car and is a target for scrotes.

The catalytic converter of the hybrid Auris is much more likely to be stolen, as it has a higher content of precious metals (rhodium and palladium?) and it is apparently installed further away form the bulkhead, facilitating easier access. Aftermarket kits are available which make theft a lot harder, although on one owner's blog I read, it was suggested to "de-badge" a hybrid car (removing the blue-shrouded grille badge and rear badging, to make the car look like a common or garden petrol or diesel model. Of course, the stubby automatic transmission lever inside gives the game away, but a gang of thieves in a hurry might not notice!

I find it hard to find a used car with a good manual gear box with my budget.

What a strange comment?

Automatic cars, certainly smaller ones, are always more expensive than the equivalent manual because there are much less of them to choose from. So your budget, whatever that might be, will always result in a bigger choice of manual cars. They will also be younger/lower miles/better condition for the same money.

Maybe they meant that for this model iteration, there only was the 1.2T available in manual, given the 1.6 N/A petrol was only available in the previous iteration of the car. From my own experience, most mk2 Aurises tend to be 1.8 hybrids, and obviously all of those are CVT autos.

I might've considered getting that 1.2T as a direct replacement for my Mazda 3 1.6 petrol a few years ago, but wasn't enamoured with the styling and the price. Can't fault its engineering quality though.

But I’m not sure if hybrid is useful to me if I mainly use the car for long journey vs city/ town driving.

A self charge hybrid will be of least benefit on longer journeys at or near the legal limit. That isn't to say the hybrid system won't be doing anything, but it won't do much. As far as the Auris goes, best bet would probably be the 1.2 turbo petrol followed by the 1.6 n/a petrol.

Having said that, the Auris hybrid in your link looks fine and there is nothing I'd be concerned about in the MOT history (and the current one has no advisories).

Also consider the Mazda 3 and Honda Civic.

Might be worth adding the Hyundai i30 / KIA Ceed of around the same time in 1.6 N/A petrol (or maybe 1L Turbo format if affordable) if physically sound. Not as good as the others, but fine.

Add to that (avoiding the DSG autos) the Seat Leon in 'standard' 1.4TSi guise (not sure if the then 1.2TSi was of the reliable type), which has the best performing engine of those listed and decent handling for a reasonable price in SE guise.

At the 10+ year old mark, condition will be key, and likely the Auris will have been better cared for / in better shape due to the ownership demographic as well as the higher quality engineering, followed by the Honda. The others aren't that far behind though.

I suspect that the questioner would need to do a decent length test drive on representative roads to get the best idea of what they like and don't like, as long as the cars meet their other criteria, including condition and history.