I'm probably not your average car owner, in that I like to pay careful attention to every little detail of my car. I do wonder though when people complain their cars are breaking that they didn't think maybe they should have been paying a bit more attention to it, and just maintaining it themselves in between services. Anyway, my good old Austin Metro has been with me for ten years and it may be with me for another ten.
I got my Austin Metro second hand off an old lady in our village who had only used it for shopping and so it only had 36k on the clock. Now I have replaced a few things, the biggest being the engine about five years ago, but if you stay on top of these things it's a lot cheaper than buying a new car every 5 or so years.
I should say I don't tend to go on motorways, and actually it gets a bit shaky above about 55mph for me. I reckon the Austin Metro could overheat if you went long at motorway speeds. Depends what you're getting a car for really.
For town errands though it's just grand. The turning circle is tiny. The size inside is a nice surprise. More than once I've had people get in and remark at the size inside. See, the trend for curvey bubble type cars in the 1990s onwards seems to have meant sacrificing headroom in both front and back, which for me frankly is just style over substance.
If you're not bothered about getting your hands dirty from time to time keeping your car in good nick then a decent looking old Austin Metro would do you proud. Take a good careful look underneath for rust, round the underbelly and the sills. Wise owners get these parts waxed so rust has a harder time setting in. You can get yourself a good sturdy reliable ride for very little outlay.