From memory, the Polo has dual clutch DSG, which is best avoided buying used, the Yaris has CVT which I think is fairly poorly rated to drive, leaving the Swift and Fiesta with conventional TC autos, I would have thought you could not go far wrong with a version of the Fiesta, although very common, it's great to drive, sufficiently reliable and easy/cheap to repair. I think the very latest 1.0 have dual clutch set ups but these are outside your budget. Others with more detail will be along soon!

I did 50k miles in three years in a Yaris with a CVT. It was the hybrid. Great little car . Go test drive one.

About 62mpg but I'm a careful driver. 75m round trip every day mostly fast A road but I liked to use the cruise control set at 65 ish. When just pottering about I could get 67ish easy. It's a 1500 cc whereas the current Prius is an 1800 I believe. You hoon about though and if it's chilly like today you can knock that down to the mid 40s. Incidentally if you run it on super unleaded you can better those figs by upto 10% but I only use supermarket fuel. Cheaper the better!

Have a look at a Honda Jazz CVT auto. Well within your budget and loads of room inside.

Possibly because many Jazz drivers are 80 in the shade and have lots of prangs.