While I initially felt more comfortable in the Focus, I was generally disappointed in the quality of the interior materials - perhaps almost as much the colouring as the materials - I was in an ST-3, with full black leather, black dash top, upper door cards, etc. but much of the lower dash, door panels, centre console, etc are a dark grey, and look really cheap. Probably fine with grey upholstery, but not with the leather. That combined with the lack of standard auto climate and some of the other things mentioned, were starting to put me off. After a good drive, and some slightly sporting driving around a large roundabout, I came to the conclusion that while the Focus was a good drive, it wasn't quite as good as the Megane, and that the added practicality of 5 doors wasn't enough to compensate for the car being 12m old, with a less pleasant interior, heavy 5cyl engine, poor turning circle and even worse fuel economy.
That was it, I was getting the Megane. I went through the process with the broker, spoke to a friend with a 3yr old Megane, albeit a DCi, and was planning on placing my order for a '57 plate car after running it past my wife. Except it wasn't that simple. Not only was she not keen on my getting a 3dr, she was much, much less keen on the idea of my getting a French car, and asked me to show her that they were as reliable as I claimed. I had up until this point based my plan upon the fact that it is a great drive, and comes with 3 yrs warranty so shouldn't be too bad. Then I looked at the Top Gear reliability survey 2006, and read the owner reviews. While no-one with a RenaultSport car had a problem, the level of problems encountered by people with standard Meganes was appauling. Even if I was willing to give it a go, I knew there was no way I was going to get this approved. Reading reviews on the Focus suggested it was better, but by no means great. Then, just out of interest, I read the reviews on the Golf, the car I already knew was going to be more than I wanted to spend. Of course, pretty much nothing significant had gone wrong. Everyone was delighted. Bugger. After the visual drama of the Megane R26, and the grunt of the Focus ST, I was feeling a bit disappointed.
Nonetheless, we all went to the local VW dealer who had a '55 plate 27k GTi 5dr, with DSG, for £16,650. Went out in their demo, and my memories of DSG in the TT were selling the transmission short. Wow! First thought was why would anyone want any other transmission? Second thought was that it seems just as quick as the other two, drives really well, and the standard car is actually pretty well specified, dual climate, auto lights, mirror, wipers, it might not have Recaro's, but the standard sports seats seemed pretty special, the interior is in another leave to the Renault and Focus, and the lack of 18's on this particular car didn't bother me too much, I doubt there is much different in the handling, tyres should be cheaper, and being as the 17's aren't polished they shouldn't corrode too badly.
I am not buying this particular car, as it had no extra's, other than DSG, and I don't really want to buy until the autumn, the lead time for a new Megane making it important to make my mind up now, however this car does illustrate that good late used cars are available within my budget, and I am just going to hold out for a better specc'd car, perhaps starting the search seriously in Autumn.
The Ford was a good car, but I just wasn't convinced with the interior colouring, and compared with the Golf is too expensive new, unless you are a Privilege buyer, but that is probably who Ford's pricing mainly targets...
The Renault was a great car, unfortunately not available as a 5dr, and blighted by the prospect of appauling reliability.
The Golf is a genuinly great car, as good to drive as the Focus, if not the Renault, but one that will be much, much easier to live with due to the DSG transmission, extra pair of doors, and promised sound reliability.
In the meantime, anyone planning on selling an '05 - '06 plate Golf GTi 5dr later this year, with DSG and a few choice options, please get in touch!
Thank you everyone for your time and comments.
