It’s just as well audi’s and vw’s have nice interiors and are nice places to be because from a driving sense they are dead. I have a Vrs and it’s the worst handling car I’ve ever had. If you are interested at all about driving, a good RWD car is a must. Molgrips you have your VW fwd rose coloured glasses on again! FWIW the best fwd cars are Fords by a country mile.

The 9-3 Aero is ludicrous value for money. You will get through petrol at approx 30-33mpg,but you also get a nice fat turbo shove down the road. The mpg means about £500 a year difference at 10k miles compared with 45mpg from a diesel.

Molgrips you have your VW fwd rose coloured glasses on again!

Hardly. I said all FWD cars can manage pulling out of junctions without wheelspinning when you are pootling. Surely this cannot be controversial?

Never driven a Mondeo so no personal experience of how good they are and if they are, great, I will check them out next time. Test drove a Ford but didn’t like the interior. I like VWs but I like other cars too!

I think the poster meant pulling a way in a spirited fashion. Nothing wrong in wanting to pull away quickly from a junction and not wanting to scrabble and wheel spin. Nothing wrong with VW cars in the main I just wish they would spend a bit of money on the chassis development and dial out some of the awful understeer they have. There idea of handling in my opinion is to try and compensate for the awful dynamics by making the ride harder and putting low profile rubber on, making them damned uncomfortable. The Golf GTI R lapped the topgear test track faster in comfort mode than it did in full on race mode whatever that is. There in lies a lesson to a few manufacturers.

Has anyone said Honda Accord Estate yet? Huge car, very comfy, very economical, pulls like a train. My Accord has been ultra reliable. I’ve not had to repair anything in 7 years. I’d buy another one now but they hold their value incredibly well. I guess their reliability and cheapness to maintain has become well known.

We were in a similar situation and ended up with a mondeo. Got the 2.2 diesel. I’m really pleased with it so far. Only had it for 15k miles so can’t comment on reliability though.

For me the 3 series was the best to drive by a distance of those we tried, as so many others have said. But it is a much smaller car and a lot more money.

We also didn’t like the passat to drive. Interior nice but a bit dated. I liked the Honda but my other half didn’t like the interior and they were harder to come by as well. I also liked the Saab 9-3. A softer ride than many, leather is in nearly all of them and they’re amazing value. The Volvo V50 I disliked – very plasticky inside and just didn’t feel well built – and the V60 is expensive.

The mondeo drives really well. Handles nicely considering its size. Pulls like a train and is solidly built and quiet. But what sealed it for me was the spec for the money – DAB radio especially, which at the age we were looking at was common in fords but not elsewhere.

Have to agree with Inbred456, I get a lot of hire cars through work and VAG stuff is “generally” well screwed together but if its FWD not much comes close to a Ford for actually feeling like its connected to the road.

If you want to know why fords are so good to drive read Jackie Stewart’s autobiography. He was contracted to develop the handling of cars from the mondeo mk1 onwards I think. He would test them on the track and around the roads in his native Scotland. If he wasn’t happy with the handling and road holding and the brakes he wouldn’t sign the car off meaning they couldn’t launch it. If it’s good enough for Sir Jackie it’s good enough for me.

4 years old, £10K and BMW, Audi, or Merc E class or C class – I don’t think so unless the mileage was stratospheric.

Nah. I got my 4 year old 3 series coupe from a BMW dealer, with a years warranty for only 10.5k with 50k on the clock. It’s “BMW approved” and hasn’t so much as rattled a vague squeak in 2 yrs and 20000 miles.

Flippin lovely