It's actually the same car I test drove & it had been un-driven up to that point except for being moved into the dealer's lot.

I went back to the dealer to have the Golf GT assessed to find out just what I could do as a trade in. It really was a catch twenty-two, since I couldn't sell the car privately through fear of having my house torched when they figured out what was wrong with the car & that trade in values are guaranteed to epically suck.

They gave my car a 9 out of 10, noting that it only needed a new set of shoes (they had done 50,000km) & that it was immaculate except for the smallest ding on the drivers door incurred a week earlier from some unknown fucker.

In the end they gave me $19,000. It's a fair way short of the 60% residual which VW's are supposed to retain, but considering the dealer is now selling the car for only $25,990, I'm not too distressed.

The new car, well it's just an amazing bit of kit. In comparison to the Golf, there are a lot of similarities in how things work, but the engine in the XR5 is something rather special. It does drink rather a lot, but once the turbo is engaged, the sound is rather addictive. It also drives much smoother, never feeling unsettled on rough roads. Considering the tyres are the same on both cars, the Focus has so much more grip through corners. I do wonder how long the tyres will last however!

This model has actually been around since around 2006 & was given a face lift in 2008. Now it's defunct, being replaced in November 2011 by a turbocharged 2L. If it matches the looks of the prototypes on various websites, it'll be an ugly little bugger. The fact it is the end of the model line explains why they are getting rid of them so cheap.

In terms of quality, the materials used in the Focus are slightly less plush than the VW, however, the way they are put together is much better in the Ford. No weird creaks or rattles & there is a lot less road noise in the cabin.