Slightly dull "What car?" . . . auto 5dr hatchbacks

[aww999]

I'm after a new car for the wife. Budget is around £1500 and it must be automatic. 5 doors (to get the kid+seat in the back), and *reliable*. What little time I have for arseing around in the garage is saved for old interesting cars, I don't want to spend too much time under the bonnet of our boring family car. I'm not worried about fuel consumption as it won't do many miles, but a 1.6 would keep the insurance reasonable for my wife who is a new driver.

My first thought is to go for a Focus or a Golf, a quick scan of the trader gave me these examples.

Focus:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Golf:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

I'm not singling out those two as the best examples to purchase, just as an illustration of the model I'm looking at. I would welcome any comments about common faults, general reliability etc. Also, if anyone can recommend a similar car that would do the job that I hadn't thought of . . .

This is pretty dull, isn't it. Here's a picture of an AC Cobra to wake everyone up

[duckers26]

Don't like the interior on the Focus, think the Golf still looks a lot more modern IMO

[alcovrugbyfan]

out of those 2 it would be the Golf, the focus is a Cat C.

[vdubbin]

Skoda Octavia?