Thanks Avant - I kinda suspected that would be the case but, say in 12 months from now, is an 08 plate Golf likely to lose me less over a 59 plate Focus? I suspect that the answer is yes but obviously want to lose the least.

Take your point over the petrol v diesel but it's a conscious decision to buy a diesel.

I'll reiterate something I've said before - I commuted almost 30k p.a. in a 1.6L petrol Focus. It would have been more expensive to buy a diesel in the first place, the diesel version was a little more for me to insure (no idea why!) and judging by the requests for help in the Technical section of this site, it would also have needed lots of irritating repairs. I'm happy with petrol (even more so since my mileage dropped a lot and the differential between petrol and diesel is going up).

Barney has made a very valid point. There are so many variables, and the depreciation you suffer will be governed by the p/ex when you change, unless of course you sell privately.

Going by HJ's Real Life Fuel Consumption Indicator on this site.

Ford Focus 2008

Comparing a 1.8 petrol, with a 1.8 diesel over 12,000 miles I've gone with 36 mpg vs. 48mpg. Assuming petrol is £1.30/litre while diesel is £1.40/litre fuel cost would work at at £1933 and £1575 per year, which equates to a difference of £358. No doubt other comparisons of engine size will vary.

I've had numerous Golfs, diesel and petrol. In my experience the petrols have been spot on with very little going wrong. The diesels, on the other hand, have been less good, although my experience of diesel Golfs have been Mk4s which are known to be crap.

Golfs will always fetch more money than Focii on resale but never ever think they'll be more reliable, cos they won't be. Therefore, as a private buyer like me, it's a gamble - you're gambling the advantages of reasle on the Golf against the cost of repairs when it goes wrong cos that'll cost you many more pennies than a Focus.

You takes your choice.....

Thunderbird that's a really useful appriasal thanks. The Focii I have had in the past have been the 1.8 variants and I have to say I thought they were pretty solid - never had a problem but your post is quite thought provoking.

The BIG draw with the i30 I have has been the dealer experience - they are absolutely excellent and nothing is/has been too much trouble at all. I'm just in a quandary in that the i30 will further depreciate with the imminent arrival of i30-2 in March. It's that old question of spend a little to change now or a lot more in March?

The other contender I have started to look at is the Mazda 3. My agenda is to get a decent, reliable motor with minimum outlay.

Thunderbird - I really like that you just bought a Kia instead!! Stuff the main contenders and get the market opened up and more competitive.

The Cee'd, the Hyundai i30 and the Mazda 3 are all valid prospects in the Focus/Golf size category. I have to say, Japanese car fan that I am, you'll get a lot more spec for your money from a Mazda 3 than a Golf.

What about a Skoda Fabia? It's a VAG vehicle and they're quite quirky and roomy looking.

Avant - Yes we got a very good discount on the Focus but we also got a reasonanble discount when we bought the Golf. The difference was not £4000 and the bottom line was I had to find a lot less to buy a Focus than a similary specced Golf that would have been older. Would have definitely bought another but for the dpf service costs.

We also looked at the Octavia (along with many other cars) before we bought the Ceed, really liked it but the steering wheel adjuster control was placed in exactly the place where the wifes left knee was when she was changing gear, very bad design and dangerous in a accident. Not a problem for me, only a problem for shorter people but a serious problem, Golf was the same.

We also quite liked the i30 but the nearest dealer was also an Alfa and Subaru dealer and charged servicing costs to match plus the Ceed (we bought the SW) was absolutely huge in comparison. Don't regret decision at all but we will find out about residuals come trade in time. Considering it was £4500 less than a similary specced Golf we will have to be very unlucky for it to be worth £4500 less than a Golf when its 5 or 6 years old.

Thunderbird how do you find the Ce'ed drives? I had one as a hire car about 12 months ago (the pre facelift model) - 1.6 CRDi. The spec on the car was fantastic but I found it a very 'heavy' drive and there was a very very noticeable steering pull to the left; something which I hav read about being a problem with Ce'eds. The engine was definitely fantastic and more sporty than the configuration in the i30 (it's the same unit I believe?).

Considering my i30 is basically a Ce'ed I find it a much more refined drive and definitely a bit softer ride wise - no sterring pull either. The newer Ce'ed may be different but I am not sure what if any changes they made over the original.

Dingle

Ours is post facelift SW3, 2011 model year 115 bhp diesel. In its class the drive is spot on and it is definitely not a heavy drive, my wife is an 8 stone weakling and she loves it. The ride is spot on and there is much less wind noise and road noise than the Focus. After the 110 bhp TDCi Focus the performance is a revelation especially when you find that if you give the accelerator an extra strong push you get 100% throttle instead of 80%, its an economy feature that no one tells you about, its in the handbook if you are sad enough to read it, I found it when fitting mats.

Yes it does pull slightly to the left but so did the Focus. On a motorway/dual carriage way type road its hardly noticeable (on a newly surfaced piece of road near home it runs strait as an arrow) but on A and B roads with a noticeable camber it does pull, move over to overtake and guess what, with opposite camber it pulls slightly to the right, its clearly a "design feature" and not a fault. After about 11,000 miles there is no tyre scuffing thus its definitely not suspension settings.

The i30 and Ceed share a majority of their components, everything is stamped Hyundai/Kia, bit like VW group products I guess. The engine in the post facelift car is described as being a different one despite being the same capacity exactly, all I know is its is magic for a 1600.

Average mpg over 11,000 miles has been almost 50mpg which is a calculated figure and not from the fuel confuser on the dash, having said that it looks pretty accurate. Thats probably slightly better than the Focus but our usage is different now since the wifes commute is longer thus its difficult to say for definite. The old Golf always appeared to give fantastic mpg figures but Mr VW made the odometer overead by about 5% which rather flattered the figures, Mr Ford was spot on and Mr Kia actually makes his odometer underead by 3%, how many people are sad enough to check that.

Is thare anything I don't like about it, well yes there is, Ceeds are VAT free now (just like Skoda's), had to pay VAT on ours. Having said that the price to change when we bought it was virtually the same as a Focus 1.6 TDCi Titanium Estate after Mr Ford had knocked his usual huge discount off the price but the Kia has kit that the Focus was missing plus its way bigger. According to Mr Parkers guide (have always found it to be a good benchmark) a 57 plate Ceed SW is worth £300 more than a 57 plate Focus estate but £1,335 less than the Golf Estate, which I am happy with especially when you consider they wanted about £4,000 extra for the Golf.

As I said happy so far, ask me again in 4 or 5 years’ time, I will know for certain then.