Quote:
| Originally Posted by calski In fairness, the Nissan Almera is a poor relation compared to the Focus Zetec in terms of handling, performance and build quality (surprising I know!). The Model of Focus you are looking at scored highly in many reviews and I believe that model won countless awards during its lifecycle.
You'll also find that the Focus has a larger interior than the Almera and it's not the "universal" interior of so many Japanese cars.
Of the two, the Focus would win hands down in every category except price, but there's the reason for it being slightly more expensive - it's a lot more car for your money!
ATB
calski |
Apart from the fact you could get a second hand Pug 307 SW HDi with loads of boot space, better handling, may not be as quick, but miles more economical (why did Ford use PSA's diesel engine I wonder?), mega comfortable and cost much less in Tax and Insurance for the same price.
For me - performance isn't the key factor any more. If I want performance I'll buy a lotus. Now Petrol's £1 a gallon and insurance is getting astronomical, if you can save a chunk by driving a car that does 60mpg at 80mph on the motorway, has lower tax because it's lower CO2 and very low insurance, I know where my money's going..
(For the record I have a 407SW and 306 Estate - both of which are tops IMHO, both Diesel, and cost me less than £500 a year to insure for both fully comp protected no claims, and £220 a year to tax them both as they're both £110 a year lower rate tax vs the top whack for Petrol cars.)
For the record, I've used loads of hire cars and driven Mondeo's, Focuses etc.
I found the Focus' interior to be, well, basic, rattly and irritating. The stereo was shockingly bad too.
The Mondeo wasn't much better.
The best two I've had as rental cars were a normal 407 HDI Saloon, which was nice (and made me think about the SW for my own car)
A Mazda 6 which was quite possibly the fastest car I've ever driven that was that big - huge saloon car with massive power.
A New Golf GT-TDI which was also a great drive (but too small with dive gear in).
Mark.