Fifi's and Corsa's tend to hold a high price. Young people, insurance

If our little runabout, a Rover 25, died tomorrow, I'd buy... ...hmmm... ...probably another one

Generally reliable, though any coolant leaks will detroy the infamous HG. In 11 years, 110k, the only non service items ours has had is a HG, a fuel pump, and a cam sensor (the latter only picked up by diagnostics equipment, didn't know it was faulty

). Still on original suspension and rear brakes

.
Downsides: Plastic interior is every bit as bad as the early Astra-H's, the radio is basic and the brakes (on ours) are easy to cook if you try hard (easy upgrade to nick MGZR ones

). Always that HG risk - although not all HG faults on them are HG faults, esp those with the plastic inlets. Limited headroom for adults in rear. Tall people my opt for non sunroof model in front!
Upsides: Cheap. Reliable. Easy to work on. Cheap parts. Reasonable forum available (although 25 section does have a lot of bodykit and 10,000W stereo questions). Surprisngly large boot (bigger than our old focus).
Ours is a 1.6iS. I get about 35mpg, Mrs TB gets a bit more

. 1.4 comes in 2 powers, go for the 100bhp one, rather than 84bhp (although I believe its just throttle body).