What Car - Work Colleague, up to £7k...

[C.A.R.]

As the title, my boss is keen to replace his Ford Focus 2.0 Ghia diesel with something a bit newer and possibly a fraction bigger.

Last night on the way back from a meeting we looked at a Mitsubishi Lancer diesel hatchback, but came away disappointed.
- Interior was 'plastic fantastic' and very scratchy
- Not many toys, no rain sensing wipers or xenon lights by the looks of it
- Very noisy 2.0 diesel engine (noisier than his current car)
- Boot seemed very shallow?

All in all I just felt it was built down to a price. You cannot compare it to a Golf, despite it having the same engine. I'm also sure I read somewhere that the earlier 2.0 TDi engines were problematic?

So, for up to about £7,000 what car would you also consider?

We're thinking-
Mazda 6 - bit big
Mondeo - as above

Something with a smaller / more economical engine perhaps?

[HannsG]

Mondeo Surely?

[C.A.R.]

You reckon?

Would be around a 2008 model, this shape -



Plenty about to go and have a look around.

What engine / spec level though? He doesn't really care for leather seats / big wheels or anything, but he does like to drive swiftly every now and then and I think he would be disappointed if anything felt like a down-grade from the Focus Ghia he has now. This has dual-zone climate control, cruise and plenty of umph (okay, 136hp). Will a bigger car feel slower?

B-roads are part of the commute, so it needs to be fairly nimble.

[mnkiboy]

Maybe get him to have a look at an MG6. For £7K he'll get something almost brand new.

[C.A.R.]

Had an MG6 as a hire car and they're not all that. Expensive to tax, fuel and underwhelming performance. Nice enough looking though.

He's also started looking now at Volvo S40's, specifically the 1.6D 'edrive' as these seem good value for money and look very smart.

[Axionknight]

The Volvo S40 will add a bit of extra room, stylish cars too IMO, proven mechanicals (based on a Focus) so it should be reliable enough and shouldn't bring any painful repair bills (though as with all diesels the DMF, clutch and fuel pumps etc are expensive).

Doubt he'd get an R-Design one for that budget without mega miles though, but they do look good.