[Tannaton]

Some Volvo's might have had Ford chassis components but they were all treated and painted in Volvo factories.

I did a post a few years ago that I was helping my wife's friend find a £2.5k diesel runaround. We looked at about 10 - including 2 S40 2.0D which were my recommendation. Both the S40's were in significantly better condition than the Golfs and Focus we looked at - one Golf (56 plate but this was 4-5 years ago) had even had the sills welded.

The only time that I've really regretted not working harder at school was a few months into ownership of a 2012 Ford Ranger - because I couldn't afford a Hilux of the same age. The Ranger (designed by Ford in Australia) is a really well designed and useful car - but appalling build quality and consequently poor reliability.