Sorry to repeat, the cheap and well made economy engine exists - the 3 cyl 1.0 Aygo / Yaris Toyota engine. It was, until the Tata Nano appeared and maybe even after that appeared, the lightest production car engine in the world.
They do 100k with no issues AFAIK.
The car itself is also pretty neat, has fewer issues than some costing 2-3x as much - clutches in earlier models for example - but they are also gigglingly cheap to fix
- £180 all in for a new one fitted and the replacement one is larger and lasts much longer.