A few suggestions- Peugeot 407 auto (very underrated) or 508, Skoda Octavia or Superb, I had a Mondeo but mine was manual. Honda Civic, Toyota Avensis.

Good luck.

What sort of mileage are you prepaired to buy a car with?, i ask because on autotrader there is a grand total of three i40 diesel auto's (i'm assuming with your miles and mpg requirement you are looking for diesel?) with >70k miles (one estate, two saloon's), even if that is upped to 100k miles there is only ten (excluding one insurance write off).

Alternatives?, had a look on autotrader (diesel, auto, up to £8k, up to 80k miles, 40+mpg, excluding insurance write off's). Not a whole lot, but here are some options In no particular order:

Seven Honda Accords, youngest of which is a 2013 at £7k (though i have no idea of the reliability or otherwise of the 2.2 diesel).

Two Kia Optima's (mechanically identical to the i40 and, imo, better looking.

Eight Toyota Avensis' and four Verso's (not sure about any issues with the 2.2 diesel)

There are quite a few other 'executive' marques, but as you don't want any prestige brand, not really relevant, but tbh, you are better off avoiding most at that budget anyway.

Edited by SLO76 on 05/07/2018 at 02:13

I'll second the Civic 1.8. Your budget should get you an approved used one as well. You have to work the engine to get the best out of it and the ride can be quite hard on pre-2012 models, but economy is impresssive. I easily get 38mpg on an 11 mile commute on mostly dual carriageways, changing gear at about 4500rpm.

The 2.2 Accord is another good option but be prepared to fork out for a new clutch and flywheel within a few years. The pre-2008 model didn't have a PDF, but age-related issues will be more prevelant.