Firstly despite the mileage you intend on covering I'd rule out a diesel at this price range, especially any Peugeot with the now notorious 1.6 HDi. They're much more complex and far more likely to go wrong in the first place not to mention the fact that it would have a higher mileage and generally be an older car for your money than the equivalent petrol. Any fuel saving would be wiped out through the almost guaranteed higher repair costs.

The 207 was a dated design even when new, using ancient petrol engines that are quite reliable but aren't great on fuel and lack performance. They're prone to trim and electrical faults and require a timing belt, tensioners and water pump at 10yrs so budget £250- £300 if it's not been done. Do not buy the 1.6 diesel but the older 1.4 can be ok. Petrol is the safest bet though.

But since you're looking for reliability and economy over all else I'd be looking mostly at Japanese products such as the Suzuki Swift 1.3, Toyota Yaris 1.3, Toyota Corolla 1.4 and Nissan Micra 1.2/1.4 all of which are very robust if they've been correctly maintained. Best for comfort on the motorway would be the Corolla and it's also the best built and most reliable but it's certainly no looker and will use a little more fuel than the smaller Yaris/Swift and Micra.

The Micra is particularly cheap and you'll get more for your money thanks to its quirky looks not appealing to the boy racer brigade but there's a lot of neglected Micra's about and they're known for stretching timing chains if not serviced regularly so don't touch one without a full service history with proof of oil changes every year. But they're pleasant to drive and cheap enough for parts because there's so many of them and don't need a timing belt change so this saves money.

The Swift is a hoot to drive and hard to kill. They're small and a bit noisy at speed but they last well and are cheap to run and again don't have a timing belt to worry about. Avoid at all costs the Fiat Diesel engine.

The Yaris is spacious and a bit more comfortable than the Swift but not as much fun. Chain driven again and pretty tough, good on fuel too but a little tall and top heavy so gets buffeted a bit on the motorway in crosswinds. Check clutches carefully as a lot of elderly drivers and first time drivers buy them.

A MK V Fiesta with the Yamaha designed 1.2 16v petrol is a good bet too and the best of the lot to drive but they're not brilliant on fuel and again need a timing belt at 8yrs so make sure it's done or knock the price down by £250-£300 to have it fitted.

No matter what you buy, look for a good, preferably full service history, longterm previous ownership (if they've only had it a year or less it's likely to be a lemon so look for 3yrs plus) and check for misaligned panels and bodged paintwork repairs that're common to backstreet dealers.

Put a driver of today on a set of those Michelins from the 70's on a damp road and they would die....

... Flat cap, piddling along, oldman car had me on the lookout!

Memo to self: Must get a different hat!

My wiring diagram suggests that there's a different feed for the parking lights to that for the sidelights (you'll notice that the instrument lighting doesn't come on with the parking lights). I'd double check the switch, and also the fuses: Autodata suggests that fuse 30 in the dashboard fusebox supplies sidelight power to terminal 11 on the light switch. This supplies power to the sidelights via terminal 13 on the switch in the sidelight or headlight 'on' position.

However, the actual fusebox picture on Autodata gives different fuse numbers: fuses 32 & 61 are shown as supplying power to the light switch, so you may have to refer to the fuse listing on your car.

Thanks Polar590 for your apology. I must admit I was a bit annoyed at your (first) reply but decided to hold on to my thoughts raging through my mind. And low and behold, you apologised. Thank you very much, and of course, apology accepted! :)