I'm in the same thinking with my ED30 - test drove a new shape Astra today - better build quality compare to previous but very boring. Had a look at the facelift Corsa which looked quite good in SRI spec then saw the interior - very basic and plastic.
I was looking at a 197 before i got the Golf but i just couldn't part with £9700 on a 2 year old French car even though it had every optional extra and looked great in white.
I've had 2 Mini Coopers (non S) - the 1st was several years ago 9pre facelift model) and i replaced most of the exterior trim due to crack/ bits falling off/ etc, the 2nd was a R56 version which was a lot better built, did 37+mpg around town, had the factory JCW bodykit on and i fitted some 17" dare alloys to finish the look - loved it for 2 months before i got fed up with tailgaters so traded it in.
I was looking at S models (later turbo version) until i read on the mini forums about the problems they suffer (well it is a peugeot engine)