Ford Focus 1.6 petrol with manual gearbox.

1, they are very common, so in most parts of the country there are likely to be quite a few for sale locally, giving you some options.

2, they are reliable and will not cost much to run (so long as you don't end up with a bag of nails!)

3, they are roomy enough with a decent sized boot and should cope with most folks requirements.

£3k could get you into a 2011 private sale (>80k miles), maybe a year or two older from a dealer.

Plenty of other cars worth looking at depending on what is available near you, just stick to N/A petrol and manual gearbox. Make use of the gov website to check the MOT history as this will give an indication of whether or not the car has been well looked after (www.gov.uk/check-mot-history).

Mate of mine has his own property maintenance one man band. He buys cars at a few hundred £s...not thousands and has done really well. An astra, Zafira, Mercedes E class, now a Jag estate and this is over a good few years. They are old cars but he has had great use from them and he's either very knowledgeable or just plain lucky. I'd include Volvo's on your list, you could get a good one for £3k. Check when the cam belt has been done though.

I am in South Wales

Quite an extensive list, but fortunately they seem to just be spread over 3 garages!. Nothing jumps out as being a particulalry unwise choice, but for what its worth, i will give you my own opinions.

For reliability, the best would almost certainly be the Toyota avensis and least would probably be the Renault Grand Modus and Citroen C3 (neither are likely to have major problems, more niggly electrical or trim issues)

For outright space, the Mondeo is going to offer most, followed by the Avensis. Least spacious would be the Citroen C3 (not that it is particularly cramped)

For versitality, it would probably be between the Renault grand Modus and the Vauxhall Meriva with their tall bodies and miriad of various seating permutations (make sure all the adjustments work), closely followed by the Nissan Note's (tall body, sliding rear seat and adjustable boot floor height) and the Ford Fusion (tall body, big boot, fold flat front passenger seat). The rest are just conventional hatchbacks of various sizes.

For comfort and refinement, i'd guess the mondeo would take the honours, designed as it is to spend its life on the motorways with comfortable seats, supple suspension and good sound insulation. The boxy practical cars (Grand Modus, Note, Fusion and Meriva) are probably going to be the most prone to interior noise and harshness, though this can be affected a lot by the tyres, you want to avoid larger diameter wheels with low profile tryes (such as the Note at gem motors). The rest are a mixed bag with the Avensis (being aimed at the same market as the Mondeo) probably 2nd best, followed by the younger Focus.

For driving enjoyment, probably the Ford focus 1.8 would be best (though that is obviously dependent on the condition of the suspension, brakes, and quality of tyres). The Mondeo should score well here, but in the case of this generation coupled with that engine, i think it would be a bit of a sloth. it is a heavy old bus for a n/a 1.6 (i believe about 200kg more than the Avensis). We used to have a Fusion (1.4 petrol) so i can testify that it is great fun to punt down a twisty road, maybe not quite up there with the Focus or Fiesta, but much better than most. I have read that the note is also pretty good fun to drive, but no actual experience. The Avensis, C3, Grand modus and meriva would be least enjoyable to hustle, though that may not be of any concern to you whatsoever!.

Without seeing and test driving the cars, and just going by what i would be looking for in a car, my 1st choices would be the two Nissan Note's from Rhonda motor Co. The reason i have picked them over the Gem Motors one (apart from the aforementioned wheels), they have cruise control, which i am a big fan of.