If a Mazda 2 fulfils your criteria ('full of tech' can mean different things to different people) then it could be a good choice. Test drive one and see how you like it.

Other cars of this size which are worth looking at are the SEAT Leon (1.2 TSI, or 1.4 if you can get a good discount) and Skoda Fabia; don't ignore the Ford Fiesta which comes in a wide choice of models.

Hi, you mentioned spending a budget of £15-17k, but have you considered going down the leasing route?

Before the barrange of the anti-leasing people chip in consider this...

The residual value on a Mazda 2 after say 3 years (and lets face it most people don't keep cars that long) will be around 45% of it's new value. So this means, over 3 years you will lose in depreciation around £8,250. Which broken down into years is £2750, and broken down into months is £229/month.

So the next questions is... what car can you get for £229/month over 3 years that is better than a Mazda 2 with plenty of Tech? Well. quite alot actually. How about an Audi A3 Hatch, VW Golf, Citroen DS3, VW Polo GTi, Mini Cooper, Nissan Juke, Nissan Qashqai... the list goes on, and these are all 'superior' cars to the Mazda2.

Or if you really like the Mazda2 then you could lease this for about the same price (circa £229/month). The reason why the other, more expensive cars are cheaper to lease is because of the buying power a broker such as ourselves has over a private individual, the finance rates we get, and the improved residual values against the vehicles themselves.

The added bonus is also you get to keep that cash in the bank should you need it on a rainy day.

If however, you only want to buy for cash, then perhaps the we could help with that too.

If you want some more info, please drop me a message.