Cerato - Seems good, but its a Kia. What is everybody's take on this companies cars?
2nd hand Honda Civic Type R - Errr, not really. This car just comes of as douchey to me, getting all those people who park by the street raving they motors.
I don't think I have seen a company improve as quickly as KIA has over the last few years.
If you compare the current range (new Picanto, new Rio, Cerato, Sportage) to those of yesteryear you will quickly see the difference, it is staggering. The new good looks are from Peter Shreyer (former Audi design chief) and its not just the looks, they are owned by the Hyundai group and share engines etc and are very reliable and cheap to maintain. Roux can tell you more about the engines but the short version is they are very decent, higher than average power for the size and fuel efficient.
BTW I have a 2010 Cerato and a year later still very happy.
Anyway, back to OT: An old premium brand ,3 series etc is not going to be dropping any panties... if it does those are not the kind of woman you should be looking for unless you are keen on STDs. I'd say something like the Kia Koup would fare a better chance

If you can only afford R200k rather get a newer car (doesn't need to be brand new), Polo, Cerato, i20, Corsa, that kind of thing. A second hand E90 or similar is going to cost you a fortune out of motorplan.