If buying a secondhand one, many came with a five year prepaid maintenance contract (£500?).

Dealers /vendors appear to ignore this in their valuation of cars.. and few mention it in their sales blurb.I checked mine and it had it.. so I have servicing paid until 2017,

Worth checking.

If buying new, well worth the money.

Is it just chance that there has been no mention of Hyundai - good or bad ?

There was an interesting comment by Steve Cropley (one of the best of the current motoring journalists) in last week's Autocar. It was about the Hyundai i20 and led to a general point which I think I'll start a separate thread about.

But his view of the i20 is that it did all the ordinary stuff perfectly, but it just wasn't any fun to drive - as Steve says, 'like having a friend who could probably beat Usain Bolt over 100 metres, but chooses not to try.'

So if you're after a means of transport from A to B (and there's nothing wrong with that) then a Hyundai will do fine, as will a Vauxhall.

If you need an automatic with this size of car, I think you'll struggle to find anything that's fun to drive.

My parents have a Kia Venga 1.6 automatic, which is 95% the same as the ix20.

The Venga can be hustled around corners and has a surpirising turn of speed, expecially away from traffic lights.

The car isn't bad to drive, and is comfortable even for longer journeys.

CVT would best be avoided. Look at the size up and go powershift/dsg i.e. ford/skoda/seat/vw any of which will offer better mgp and general service

CVT would best be avoided. Look at the size up and go powershift/dsg i.e. ford/skoda/seat/vw any of which will offer better mgp and general service

Hmm A view once true now out of date and incorrect. Anyone fancy a second hand dsg or powershift with the respetcive companies' view of responsbility after expiration of warranty? ie None...

Agree entirely ... I, personally, consider slkfanboy's advice to be wrong and likely to mislead and incur expense to a prospective purchaser following that advice. Has he owned a dry DSG equipped VAG product or, at least, seen some of the, vast, correspondence regarding the potential for trouble with an out of warranty DSG (Dry) box? And has he owned a half decent CVT?

I have the 7 speed dry DSG and love it but it's had all the recall work done that we all know about (or at least most of us who know about these things)...... eg. reset the electronics several times, change the transmission oil, fit new clutch pack. It's fine as we speak but if the clutch pack started juddering again I'd be entirely in the hands of Skoda in deciding how much expense I'm looking at - they have no obligation to offer goodwill...I just hope they might offer some if the occasion arose. I can't cover the dual clutch pack within the DSG mechanism via my car's aftermarket warranty because it's excluded due to there being a known manufacturers problem and they've confirmed they won't pay up if a claim was made on the DSG clutch mechanism even though it's an integral part of the DSG transmission.

A look at the user experience of Ford's Powershift doesn't engender confidence either.

On the other hand, whilst no firecracker, my Jazz CVT was a gem and entirely free of event. To the best of my knowledge the Toyota CVT transmissions aren't as much of a potential liablity as the DSG ether.

Is fanboy speaking from experience regarding the mpg of the DSG ? I am, and would advise that 33mpg in my DSG Yeti from new isn't amazing. I still love the car but please don't tell me the mpg return is assuredly an improvement over the alternatives in consideration. And what exactly does "general service" mean in relation to the operation, reliability, efficiency and long term outlook for the transmissions in question? I say again...I love the car but realise it's out of warranty now and despite my paying annually for an "approved" warranty it could end up costing a small fortune.

I suggest the OP looks carefully at his/her options and scrutinizes the advice received for fear of being led into an erroneous decision by those who might not be qualified to give it.