Safe small car for learner

Looking at Punto's and Pug 307's 2004 upwards, any other ideas on vehicles with 5 star Ancap results? .

just search the results of Ancap. Google is your friend.

Possibly a Mini Cooper, 1 and 3 series BMWs, VW Golf / Polo, Ford Fiesta and Focus.

Note it is the Grande Punto model that is 5 stars, not the smaller ones. The 307 was straight four stars.

I think the Grande Punto is likely to be the cheapest 5 star car available, but the Renault Megane and Clio are worth a look too

Very hard to beat the Grande Punto in that price range. A tidy Kiwi New one went for just 4K the other day on here. Also very low maintenance, easy parts availability and well priced parts. As with anything just pick a good one, bring all maintenance up to date and keep it that way.

The 307 will be great too, but only if in manual. The auto is a horrible unit and is also known for premature failure. The Fiat dualogic auto is great.

You could also consider a Mk5 Golf, not actually much bigger than the Grande Punto. If going auto the Golf is the nicest of the lot in terms of operation and is a super safe car. The Audi A3 is exactly the same car underneath as the Golf and 2 door versions in particular can be exceptionally good buying. The Audi badge doesn't necessarily mean more expensive so check both.

Not sure exactly what your budget is but the Mercedes A class (second generation, the early ones were not great) could be a good option. They are starting to appear pretty close to Grande Punto money on occasion. Just check they are 5 star NCAP but I would expect so.

The Nissan Note might be worth a look. It might not score 5 stars due to a lack of curtain airbags, but it has the same high tensile steel passenger compartment as the 5 star rated Renault Modus. The Modus and Note use the same platform, so the Note will be quite good for only a 4 star car.

Will be manual, most 5 star start at 2010 upwards which is getting up there in $$.
Punto looking best so far

Grande Punto is 5 star and they start around 2006, it was one of these in manual that went for just 4K the other day. Around 6K is more the going rate but still very inexpensive.

Audi A3/MK5 Golf is the new shape starting 2003 in the Audi and 2004 in the Golf. Note I said NEW shape as you will find some late registered old shape ones in those old years. So look at the picture of both so you know which is which. The Golf is 5 star, I have a feeling the A3 might only be 5 star in certain spec, but you could look it up.

euroncap.com has the ratings.

What exactly is your budget?
The Golf can be picked up for similar money to the Grande Punto, it's definitely the nicer car (was much more expensive new and has much newer technology). You would need to allow a bit more to bring all maintenance up to date with the Golf than you would the Fiat. That will go for most cars vs the Fiat as the Grande Punto is super low maintenance.

It's going to be harder to find a Golf in manual, the Punto's are fairly easy to pick up in manual though.

Really, the Grande Punto is going to be very very hard to beat for your purposes.