1.6 diesel which was a hire car for a week on the Algarve.

Good points:

- Huge boot for this class

- Seemed very refined and quiet even on the motorway (a lot quieter than my Furby VRS)

- Didn't feel any potholes or such like, seemed to glide over them well for a relatively small cheap car

- offers a surprising amount of grip in the corners

- Did round about 400 miles for £41 worth of fuel

Bad points:

- I found the 1.6D to be gutless and too slow for overtaking anywhere other than the motorway

- very narrow seats, not wide enough for my shoulders

- very narrow drivers footwell, not wide enough for my legs. I found this very uncomfortable.

- The pedals are on an angle towards the centre of the car.

I thought this car would be too small for us, but it was surprisingly practical and offered plenty of space for 4 blokes with their golf clubs. I'd not want one though, the driving position is too uncomfortable for me to drive regularly.

These have the 1.6 hdi engine from pugeot & its cr*p,loads of problems with turbos failing & seen quite a few engines replaced.

And you didn;t mention how c**p the interior is - how none of the plastics or "metals" match each other or poorly put together they are...

And you didn;t mention how c**p the interior is - how none of the plastics or "metals" match each other or poorly put together they are...

We use these as response cars, but the 2.0 TDCi. I agree the seats are poor, lots of trim snapped & broken, good grip levels, very robust mechanically (4 years +110K)

We use these as response cars, but the 2.0 TDCi. I agree the seats are poor, lots of trim snapped & broken, good grip levels, very robust mechanically (4 years +110K)

Yeah the 2.0 & 1.8 tdci engines are good ford ones,it the 1.6 hdi thats cr*p!

These have the 1.6 hdi engine from pugeot & its cr*p,loads of problems with turbos failing & seen quite a few engines replaced.

One of the reasons why I got rid of mine and replaced it with a Skoda again.

The engine cut out at 60MPH on the M6, turns out it was the camshaft sensor and the injectors.

Aside from that the focus is a cracking car, really well put together but reckon they should have stuck with their own engines.

Davy