I am now the proud owner of a VW Bora. For those who are as unfamiliar to cars as I, Volkswagen is a major German car manufacturer with a first class reputation. Most famous for the VW Beetle (think Herbie goes to Monte Carlo and all that malarkey) and you start to put into context the long-term nature of a top draw operator.

The market I needed to research was the saloon car as I’m the atypical family man, married with 2 kids. The major players that sprang to mind included the American giants, Ford and Vauxhall along with their European rivals MG Rover, Citroen and BMW whilst the Japanese stalwarts Mitsubishi, Honda and Toyota weren’t out of the question. It was no mean feat for a novice like me to arrive at a sensible solution.

The aspects I was interested in were appearance, economy (I’m driving nearly 100 miles per day), comfort and performance. Unusually, price wasn’t so crucial as I wasn’t actually paying this time!

Historically, I’ve always been a fan of Rover. I suspect that there was an element of blind loyalty as my father-in-law had spent nearly all of his working life working for the British operation but recently I’d picked up on a few question marks around the K series engine. As I’d be stuck with my choice for around 4 years I wanted something reliable and everything pointed towards the German manufacturers.

Inside, the driver and passenger seat come in an impressive black upholstery with a real modern feel to it. The dash is classical with circular display panels as opposed to the more mundane digital displays. The on board data is able to record useful information such as journey time, temperature, miles per gallon and so on. The doors come with central locking whilst the key will initially only open the driver’s door taking a second press to open the rest, quite a handy security feature. There is a light for the passenger side vanity mirror whilst other mod cons include fairly standard radio and cassette player, cigarette lighter with the increasingly important air con present. Arm rests both front and back along with the almost obligatory head-rests add that touch of comforts for passengers.

***Economy***
With the cost of fuel, ever more important as well as the implications of emissions on personal tax bills, I wanted a diesel and this is a 1.9 TDI (Turbo Diesel Injection). Most folks should be thinking diesel these days as they’ve come a long way since the average diesel sounded like a bus humming away at it’s stop. Sneakily, the powers that be have edged the price of diesel above unleaded but it still pays to go diesel. The stats on the site suggest urban *mpg at 39.2 whilst ex-urban weighs in at 61.4 with combined at 51.4. I’ve had the motor around 2 months now and the on board display comes in at a fairly constant 46.7 which is still miles better than the Rover I was driving around in! Emissions, which are crucial for both personal tax and the government half-yearly/yearly tariff, are low at only 149g/km giving the lowest levy of tax possible for a diesel at 18% of list price for tax years 2003/4 and 2004/5.

***Security***
With car crime so prevalent, security considerations are paramount and the Bora fairs well. Front and passenger side air bags are a welcome feature whilst immobiliser and alarm come as standard. The strength of VWs is in their structural integrity as well as their standards of assembly. It should protect in a crash as well as a Golf, which got a four-star Euro NCAP crash rating. ABS and anti-skid control are included too.

***Price and further info***
List price is around the £16900 mark but the excellent WhatCar website suggests looking for a deal around the £15153 mark. Further data is available at Volkswagon.co.uk and the previously eulogised What Car site (I really must do an op an it!) Insurance group is 8 with a typical contract hire monthly cost of around £316.