loads and loads of choice. octavia / fabia, golf / leon, focus / mondeo, 147 / 156. the list goes on. depends on what "size" car you're after firstly.

generally, bigger car = more comfortable at refined cruising, but bigger car = harder to park.

i settled onto one of these a few years ago. http://http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201010354363065/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/6000/model/laguna/make/renault/radius/1500/page/1/postcode/ls286he/keywords/gt?logcode=p
germanic levels of kit (bluetooth i-drive nav) and a very, very comfy place to be at cruising speed.

you won't corner very fast though...

must be a facelift model - pre-05 are totally sh*te, ive had both.

for added pace, the 2.0dCi remaps upto 210bhp safely too - now had over 145,000m out of mine and it still goes very well, despite the fabled "it must be rubbish, it's french", totally misguided opinions...