Re: Advice on car I'm thinking of buying
I had one of these (though it was a 318) for a couple of years.
Most reliable car I owned: not a thing went wrong with it.
Unlike the previous model compact, the suspension is exactly the same as the saloon version. I never found the ride particularly hard.
Leather and a/c make it very desirable: most of these don't have either.
Try and check it out as much as possible, particularly the service history.
Haggle like hell.
All in all, if the particular car is "honest", I'd go for it: it's a great drive.
As the previous poster says: much better car than Golf (which are not as reliable) or A3 etc.