Well the fact is i paid £1800 for that car, i said that was too little but my mother refused to let me pay her anymore for it, and it feels more "new" than the 07 plate Focus i had. And even on the Focus it was £200 a year to tax and returned low 30s mpg and it cost me £3,200, so how was i saving anything? Sold it on for £3,000. Spent £1800 on a car which i wont need to tax or MOT until March, and had a full service just two months ago. It was never driven much when they had it but they were getting around 29-33mpg with careful driving in that, but much better on the long run to the airport in it last year.

I found the buy-newer-and-smaller to save money idea a bit of a false economy. Right now im £1200 in the black and driving a better car. As i said in my op my commute to work is just over 11 miles a day (there and back) so no matter what i drive its not going to cost much to get there. In my free time i find myself on A roads a fair bit doing 30 odd mile trips a couple of times a week and thats where the 406 comes into its own. In my old one i did 14,550 miles in one year and it was effortless. Not sure i'd like to do that many in a Focus tbh.

I was weighing up the economy side of things, i looked at a Mondeo TDCi Automatic, yes its good on fuel but it cost three times more to buy than the 406, i'd have to own it for four years before it "paid for itself." The higher purchase price of so many diesels make the money saving argument a false economy in my view.

Edited by jamie745 on 16/04/2011 at 16:10

Well thats the thing, i was tempted across to a Focus for the fact all road testers bang on about its "involving driving experience" and apparently being the best car out there for the money. But to be honest, i found it to be ok at most things, awful at nothing, but outstanding at nothing also. I found it very....bleh. It was just a car.

And who wants an "involving driving experience" when driving to Sainsbury's? Really? Most peoples daily drive is toodling about town or going in a straight line on a dual carraigeway, where does "involving driving experience" enter into that? If i want a perfect car for a twisty B Roads i'll buy a Jaguar, not a Focus.

Ive always liked Fords but the Focus disappointed me. The 406 may not do everything perfectly, but its very comfortable, all the toys and leather you could need and very quiet. So its outstanding in a few areas. The Focus was outstanding in none.

Im only 26 so it may surprise some people that i favour the 406. But oh well lol