I've been the "lucky" owner of the last ever Ford Escort 1.6 model (2000 model). I must say that I was happy with it and it did the job but the time had come to slip into something more comfortable.

I've always admired Volvo's for their safety and although some say Volvo's are for Grandads, that is certanly not the case anymore.

Cruise Control - the SE edition comes with cruise control. At first I never thought that'd be something I'd use but after doing a few long distance journes with this car I must say it is VERY handy. Click the cruise control button at your desired speed and it maintains that speed no matter what. The only time it does not manage to maintain the speed is if you are driving up or down a very steep hill (and I mean steep, not your average hill) at which point it can't keep up and you need to change gear. When you change gear the cruise control turns off.

Stereo - WOW! The power of those speakers. The 2 front speakers, 2 middle and 2 rear. The stereo has CD and casette player and is instantly compatible with a cd changer (the cable is handily placed in the boot). The sound is crystal clear and without a fault. I especially like the antenna that magiacally extends when you turn the radio on!

The engine is a 1.8 122bhp (older 1.8 had 115bhp). If your after rapid acceleration then this engine is not for you. It does 0-60 in 10.5 sec. While its not the slowest car on the road in terms of acceleration, it certainly is not the fastest. Once up to speed however, you will truly appreciate the power of the engine. Want to overtake someone? No need to go down to 4th etc, just push the peddal slighly and you'll woosh past those cars nice and easy. The engine is very quite and you can zoom along the M25 90mph and have a conversation with your passengers in the front and the back without any problems.
The car handles very well, a slight understear perhaps, but nothing you can't get used to. It's no racecar though, so don't go too fast around the corners.
The fuel tank is 60 litres. That will give you roughly 400 miles.

Volvo has just brought out the new S40, so there are a "old" (2001/2002) models on the market for a very good deal. My car was priced at £8000 but I got it down to £7000 after several "visits to the boss's office". The car had just turned 40k on the mileage clock. I would never buy a second hand car from anywhere but a dealer so I don't know how cheap you could get it elsewhere. I got mine with 1 year warranty, 1 year RAC cover, next MOT + any repairs free. Volvo dealers want to get rid of these beautiful cars of their forecourt to make room for the new model (which is not as good looking i think) so have a browse around and do not accept anything less than £1000 off the list price. Also, don't mention it if you got a trade in. I didn't. My whole process of buying this car too about 4 hours talking to the salesmen. If I'd bought the car at the list price and said yes to the first offer they gave for my old Ford I'd be £2500 worse off today. Haggling really works, although I'd rather have a good price to start off with so i wouldn't waste time with salesmen, but that's another discussion.

To round things up, I'm sure some of you've watches Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear on BBC. They had a 15 year old volvo estate try to jump across 5 caravans. Admittedly it failed to jump OVER them, but succesfully jump INTO 4 of them leaving them completly wrecked. The volvo? It "landed" on its 4 wheels and had a few scratches but still perfectly drivable.