Hatchbacks 5 door

Looking to purchase one,want a reasonable sized vehicle,not a shopping basket,any recommendationswhattype to look for around the 3k mark

Not much out there for 3k,,pulsar comes to mind.civic maybe

GF8 Impreza

VW Golf is a good roomy hatch in your budget.

Fiat Brava is particularly good, very reliable, cheap on gas and good to service. 1.6 or 1.8 model is what you want, avoid the 2.0 as its very expensive to do a timing belt on and thirsty.

Citroen Xsara so long as its a manual one are good.

You might even fluke a Fiat Stilo for your money which are a lovely safe reliable car but can have the occasional minor annoying problem.

Audi A3's are sometimes good buying around that money now. Really nice refined vehicle for very little money. Surprisingly straight forward to deal with mechanically and parts are cheap as they just use VW Golf running gear.

Volvo V40 while technically a small wagon are a very reliable and comfortable vehicle. Different engines mean some are very quick and others are sedate. Good on fuel, parts can be a bit pricey but you don't usually need much to keep one on the road.

All of these are "outside the square" cars that are actually really good. You will usually get a lot more car for your money with this sort of thing, just come back for a bit of a buyers guide if one tickles your fancy so you know how to pick a good one and what to expect for servicing.

MK3 golfs are crap, will give you abs and airbag faults, heater cores crap out, window regs fail, trans will fail

Peugeot 306, manual.

Hence coming back for a buyers guide. If you know how to pick a good one and what to do in case of a problem they are a great car. The auto's only fail if not serviced, manuals are fine of course.

Occasionally you will even fluke a MK4 for just over 3K too.

+10 million (and drive it like you stole it!)

Pretty good cars. Heater cores can crap out if not maintained properly and trust me, not a nice job to do. Wiring in door loom also breaks where it flexes meaning some electrics like elec windows or central locking can become intermittent. Not too difficult to fix for a handy person.

Quite fun to drive, nicely controllable in oversteer. I would only recommend one to someone who is a bit handy with cars. Nothing 'serious' goes wrong but some stuff can end up expensive if you are paying someone to fix it.