We are on our way home today after a most enjoyable two week holiday on the Portuguese Agarve with two old friends.
I hired a Ford Focus Auto Diesel Estate which cost us a total of 220 euros for the period with unlimited miles and insurance. I have my own annual excess cover policy which cost £49 for the year so was able to decline the expensive excess cover offered by the car hire company.
We covered a total of 1380 km touring and pottering about - according to the trip recorder the car averaged 44.8 l/100km for the period.
I was not over-impressed with the car. It was roomy, comfortable and drove OK, the gearbox was smooth with hardly perceptible gear-changes but the engine sounded harsh and there was a lot of cabin noise. It handled well and rode the numerous speed bumps fairly smoothly. It is a car I will remember only because its sat-nav display was truly excellent. Much better than my KIA . This was spoiled by the fact that the car was 15 months old but the maps were certainly at least 4 to 5 years out of date. Large chunks of the A22 Algarve motorway (a toll road) were missing so I relied on my trusty and up-to-date Garmin Nuvi to help us get about. It was a base model and lacked parking sensors and reversing camera.
Overall the car was bland - nothing bad enough to complain about but totally lacking in character or any wow factor.
On this evidence I'm surprised they sell so well in Europe.
