Rover 45 Hatchback (99 - 05) review

It's important not to pay over the odds for a used 45, because they are not the cheapest cars to insure in this class.

Fuel economy is good, though. Choose the 1.4, or even the more powerful 1.6 petrol, and provided the engines are in a good state of tune and you're not too heavy on the throttle, you could achieve up to 40mpg.

Pick the CVT model mated to the 1.8 petrol engine, and you should get around 30mpg in everyday use - more on long, steady motorway runs.

The days of taking your Rover to an official dealer are, of course, over, but there's still an extensive network of independents out there with good knowledge of the product, so having work carried out is no more expensive than having a Ford Focus fettled.