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I want to change my Volvo S60. I would like something smaller, prefer European cars, but open to any suggestions. It is for a female driver living on her own - needs to be reliable and easy to maintain and economical. Will be used mainly for driving around the city but probably do 3 - 4 AK to Wellington trips a year. Thanks for any suggestions.
Robyn

You don't mention budget, but assuming that's not too much of a constraint, there are a lot of good small European cars on the market today.
If you want to stay with Volvo, you could do a lot worse than look at a V40. Others to consider, depending on budget and preference would be Volkswagen Golf, BMW 1 Series, Audi A3 or perhaps Peugeot 308 or Citroen C4.
If you're prepared to look at Japanese models, the Mazda3 is probably the one that drives most like a European car and has a good reputation for reliability. However, it is a model that's currently on run-out, with a new one coming soon.
Feel free to get back to us with more detail if you wish to narrow down your search criteria.