I haven't had mine long enough (1.8 vvti) to give you an honest answer, but my dad has had his for 4+ years, also a 1.8vvti, and the only thing that's gone wrong was the electric fuel filler cap. Very strong cars. I saw one in a mag where the guy had done 200000 miles, that was the old shape - the only thing of note was a gearbox rebuild at 150000, not a disaster.

I would go for the 1.8 because the bigger engine doesn't really make that much difference to the performance and it's thirstier. As far as I know, the oil consumption problem was sorted post 2003.

The important thing is to choose a car with FSH and looks likes it's been well cared for, the least number of owners e.t.c

Edited by corax on 26/04/2011 at 19:13

With any auto with a few miles on the clock I'd have the transmission serviced by a specialist such as Stephens Engineering, if it was sound when you bought it, a service should mean it'll last the life of the car - this includes the many so called "sealed for life" 'boxes which usually means "sealed for death" if you don't get them serviced. Don't trust your dealer to service the autobox - they won't know what they're doing.