I would also pass on a Golf, Volkswagens are very reliable but the price for reliability is high seeing as how VW's are notoriously expensive to repair when they do go wrong (not that i pay mechanics fees i fix all my motors myself

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If you want reliability get a Japanese car, Honda, Toyota, Mazda ect will never go wrong.
The Subaru Legacy is the dogs, absolute bullitproof reliability, big engines but they do not guzzle petrol as much as you would think especially on motorways.
If you want fairly cheap, comfortable, reliable, very fast i would go for a Honda accord, my uncle just got one, the SE version and i can honestly say its one of the nicest motors i have ever seen, its the 2.0l model and its very economical, and we are both in London.