The most popular car of 2011

I actually owned a Jaguar X Type 2 litre diesel. Quite a few people ribbed me that it was really a Mondeo in diusguise, and while it does share 18% of the Mondeo drivechain, then engine has been tweaked by the geniuses at Jaguar. Anyway, I decided to buy a secondhand one, and enjoyed every moment of ownership. While being a baby Jag, it still had a level of sumptuousness that other cars just don't have, and it was so frugal with a light foot that I was able to get 700 miles out of each tank. If I wanted more power, a heavy foot produced a reasonable spurt that would outperform all by the high powered sports cars. I sold that Jag when I moved to an area where the roads are undulating (read potholed and broken), and needed a vehicle with a stronger suspension, hence the purchase of the Jeep. I still find it strange that some people won't drive a Jag X Type because they honestly think they are driving a reshaped Mondeo, yet is that a bad thing? Most experts say that the modern Mondeo handles as well as a BMW 3 series. I think our trouble is that we often perceive things that don't exist, or we are worried about the stigma attached to certain makes. Skoda have spent millions getting rid of the image of a car built by convicts, and those who drive Skodas can testify that the make is indeed a good one. What really makes me laugh, though, is that if you approach a dealer for a test drive, they will offer you one, so that you can try before you buy. I have test driven every single vehicle before purchase, yet I am astounded at how many people will hand over, or sign up to finance for, large sums of money, without even seeing if the vehicle is the right fit for them. Oh, and anyone who says that all cars drive the same obviously hasn't enough experience. I owned a Merc CLK 500 (5 litre V8) which showed its true colours when I got stuck on the wrong side of the river Severn when trying to make my way back to the South Coast in heavy snow. Taking a circuitous route up to Hereford, then down through Swindon, then Reading and finally down the A34 to Southampton, the Merc's traction control kept me on the straight and narrow even though others were out of control. Even on ice, it kept me straight, even when the vehicle in front and the vehicle behind, both Fords, skidded out of control. You pay your money, and you take your choice. The more you pay, the better the product, starting with a biscuit tin on wheels all the way up to the most advance drive by wire product money can buy. Oh, and I have always been a proponent of buying second hand. The value for money is far better as the 'new' owner loses all that depreciation. A new Focus will cost you around £14,000 (ish), yet for that money, you can buy a pre-owned BMW, Merc, or Porsche, often with lots of extras. You may be taking a risk regarding reliability, as it is second hand, but if the vehicle is still reasonably young, then chances are it is still mechanical sound.

I'm sure a good proportion of the new car sales will be bought by businesses. They may stick to Fords due to spares being cheap and easily available. I have always shopped around to get cars that offer a lot of car for as little money as possible. My first car was a Mini (as it was all I could afford at 17), but after getting some experience on the roads I went looking for other alternatives. My 2nd car was an Opel Manta 2.0SR Berlinetta Sports hatch. This had better seats and more gadgets than the Vauxhall equivalent, yet the 2nd hand price was less. I've had 3 Renaults, a Lancia, an Alfa Romeo, a Skoda and 2 Nissans. I looked at 2nd hand Ford and Vauxhalls, but I normally found these mainstream cars didn't offer as much car for the money on the 2nd hand market. @CuNNaXXa You are right about some people being blinkered and only looking at certain brands. My dad likes Hondas and has had these for his last 3 cars. He was looking at the Honda Jazz and I said to also have a look at the Nissan Note, as it was slightly larger and offered more gadgets for less money. I showed him several reviews that indicated that the Note was a good VFM alternative to the Jazz. My dad still went out and bought a Jazz! I bought an Alfa Romeo 75 3.0 V6 when I was 24. This was a weird boxy looking car, but I bought it for the brilliant engine. It also had other innovative features such as rear mounted gearbox and on-board disc brakes. The front engine/rear gearbox combination gave it almost perfect 50/50 weight distribution and this car was a really fun drive (although I wasn't mad on the styling). My major motivation for buying was the 2nd hand price - it was over £14,000 new in 1987 and I picked up a 3 year old one with around 70K miles for under £3,000! It was a company car and came with full main dealer service history. The bills for doing a main dealer service was over £1000 in 1 case and that was back in 1990! I had my car serviced by a mechanic I knew for about a third of what the main dealer would charge. This car was usually driven "enthusiastically" and I was lucky if it would even do 20MPG. High part prices were always a problem and the car did need a lot of maintenance to keep it on the road. I imagine you would still need deep pockets to run even a modern Alfa Romeo. One of my "best" cars was a Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi Elegance Estate. I bought a 3 year old one with 77K miles that had the full main dealer history. I had the 1st service done by a Skoda main dealer, but after that I had it maintained by independent garages and Skoda specialists. This car had 110HP, so while not quick it was fast enough and it would do 55MPG if driven gently. I ran this car for 6 years and did just over 100K miles without any major problems. I just serviced it, changed the timing belts and changed the tyres. It was still on the original clutch and exhaust when I sold it last year when it had 180K miles on the clock. The only thing that went wrong was the water pump failed, but this was the garage's fault. They had just done the timing belt and tensioner at 140K miles and they didn't change the water pump at the same time for some reason! The pump failed within 1 month of them doing the timing belt and tensioner. They said they asked me if I wanted it done and I said "no", which was a lie as I always have things done that should be done - this was the so called Skoda specialist that did this, so I didn't use them again. The ABS light also came on, so I took the car to be put on the computer (£40 cost) and it found the front ABS sensor was faulty (another £40 plus fitting). So the Skoda may not have been the most exciting car to drive, but it certainly proved to be cheap and reliable.

Choosing a car is like choosing a political party to support. There are diehard Labour supporters who will vote Labour even if Gordon Brown kicked them in the nuts. There are diehard Conservative supporters who will vote for Conservative even though they are the Masters of the Universe, erm, I mean U-Turn. There are diehard LibDem supporters who will vote LibDem even though they are no different from Labour and Conservative, who will disregard election promises the moment they gain power. And each supporter will back their party of choice even though others can demonstrate that their choice is flawed, for whatever reason. This analogy also applies to a good proportion of car owners. I know people who have bought Fords in the past, are buying a Ford at the moment, and will carry on buying Fords to the day they give up driving. Their fathers had Fords, and they will encourage their children to buy Fords. It is the same for Vauxhall and all the other mainstream brands. Some people get stuck in a groove, and have no sense of adventure, preferring the comfort zone offered by a manufacturer they are happy with. Others, like my self, will pick and choose based on what we need at the time. I have voted Conservative, Labour and Liberals in my time, based on who promises the biggest lies. Now I don't vote at all, but I still do drive. I have owned Fords, Vauxhalls, Saabs, BMWs, Mercedes and a Fiat. I currently own a Jeep, and wouldn't mind trying out an Alfa Romeo. Basically, I have a sense of adventure, and am prepared to try something new. It is a bit like trying different foods. Some you like, and some you don't. Looking at the charts in the main article, though, reminds me that a high proportion of those 'new' car buyers have probably bought the same make as they have previously owned. With that in mind, it is fair to say that the data presented is totally flawed, because someone who buys the same make time after time, without trying out other makes, is biased, and therefore they must be discounted from the statistics to give an unbiased picture of popularity. After all, if someone only buys a MacDonalds, and has never tried other fast foods, how can their opinion be trusted, but if someone has sampled KFC, Burger King, Subway, and any other fast foods, yet still has a preference for a MacDonald, then their opinion will hold more weight as they have sampled other wares.