Faults:

Severe turbo lag in damp weather.

General Comments:

Poor performance for a 2.0 turbo and drinks as if it's packing 350bhp not 190.

Don't go for leather as the quality of the finish is suspect for a £1,000 extra. You would be better off getting the body kit fitted to spice up those dull looks.

Faults:

Please leave and make a cup of coffee before finding a comfortable chair to sit in to read this.

Lets see, to start off with we have front fog lights filling with water.

(Non) ABS faulty.

Gearbox refused to admit there was a third gear it there.

Power window (driver's side) screeching when parked in the sun.

Engine underside splash guard detached itself from the body, hitting a manhole and jamming itself between the car and the road.

More power window noise (same window).

Drove through a ford less than a foot deep, replacement engine splash tray detached itself while traversing the river and pushed a bow-wave in front of the car and the resultant locking of the engine when water was sucked into the air-intake. Waited a month for the new engine.

Radio uncoded when the vehicle was returned, waiting a further week for the code.

Both engines, new and original, drink oil like Keith Floyd on booze, apparently this is 'normal' consumption of 1 litre/1000 miles upto 18000 miles (that's a lot of oil).

Steering and suspension seriously out of alignment since delivery, fault corrected but has returned in less than a month.

Back brakes have a nasty habit of gently applying themselves, or not releasing themselves after braking, thus causing heat and illumination of the rear brake assemblies.

I think that covers most of it. There's been that much wrong with it, I've probably forgotten something.

General Comments:

Crap car. Would recommend anything else. Raising the standard? Rubbish!

Dealers generally unhelpful (except for Wilson and Co, Humberston. Thanks lads!) and pretty much useless. Three attempts at ordering the correct wiper blades. In the end I had to go back to the dealers, take the blades off myself and show them which ones I wanted! (Thurlby Motors, Louth - avoid like syphilis and dodgy maidens).

Faults:

Nothing really yet.

Vibration can be heard when the driver's door is shut, but this can only be heard from the outside and is inaudible inside the car.

Fuel computer and odometer disagree about the mileage covered. Will mention to the dealer eventually.

General Comments:

Ride is firm, but is still amazingly good considering it's running on 215/40ZR17 tyres.

Tyre roar is quite noticeable, but varies wildly on the road surface.

Engine is superb, but the electronic throttle takes some getting used to! With the turbo it's a bit like an automatic kickdown - the performance changes from sedate to neck jerking when the throttle is 'floored'.

Peak torque (250Nm) appears at only 1,950rpm so you don't have to thrash the engine at all - rapid progression can be made using 2,000 to 5,000 rpm only.

Standard equipment (multi-CD, cruise control, AC, fuel computer) is excellent - only had the boot spoiler added by the dealer.

The electronic cruise control is a vast improvement over the previous mechanical systems.

Smart looks which are fairly anonymous but I like that...

Handling is excellent for a front wheel drive - torque steer isn't too noticeable but you definitely need both hands on the wheel when accelerating hard!

Personally, I think the turbo quells some of the blandness associated with the other models - the 17" rims and other minor details help (I have the 'Europa Blue' paint - which is only available on the Turbo).

Getting 30mpg which is impressive. Group 15 insurance is a major plus too! Plus got £1,000 off in the November price cuts - on top of a good discount!