Ford Fiesta vs Renault Megane

[JimJammum]

Quick poll:

I have enough £ for either a brand new Megane Bizu or a 6 month old Fiesta Zetec. Spec is similar in terms of stuff included, Fiesta is 1.4 or 1.6 (thinking 1.4) and Megane is 1.6. Fiesta cheaper on tax, similar insurance for both. Reviews are slightly better for Fiesta but cons for both are centered around interiors, not drive.
I prefer the Fiesta but dh is worried I will find it a bit small after my current Peugeot 307, but I wanted to try and economise a bit by getting a smaller car but hoping I won't find it cramped when there's 3 of us in there.
I only do urban driving most of the time, with the odd 30 min stretch down the motorway.

Can you give opinions please?

Why is the Fiesta more economical?

Fo some reason the Fiesta tax is £110 vs £155-£180 for Megane, I'm guessing due to emissions. The 1.4 costs about £50 per fill up, whereas my cuurent 1.6 is £75, so will save me £50 per month in petrol approx.

I owned a fiesta for a while and loved it. Never went wrong ever. Had it for 3 years. I've heard too many horror stories from friends who own Renaults and am paranoid now about them as a whole

Have you looked at the HonestJohn care reviews for them both? I always find his reviews helpful: www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/

*car

My Megane is great to drive and a nice car but I've had lots of annoying little things go wrong with it. Bought it new and it had three or four recalls over the space of a couple of years (one of which was the brakes which was a bit worrying!!).

Nothing major has gone wrong but it's had to go in several times which is inconvenient. For example, the airbag light came on and had to be investigated (fault in the electrics). The window wouldn't wind down. Things like that.

Plus it needed a new cam belt last year and, when I asked around what other people had paid for their cars, mine came out as very expensive.

To be honest, much as I like driving the car, I wouldn't buy another Renault. I'm going for a Ford or something German or Japanese next time.

I borrowed my sisters fiesta for a couple of weeks whilst my car was being serviced. At that time I'd been driving an xc90 but was really impressed with the fiesta. Certainly not like the fiesta's I remember being driven by friends as a teenager!

It is spacious - plenty of space for two kids in the back and a huge boot. Lots of nice extras like auto fold mirrors etc.

Come to think of it my mum has a 207- although hers is a 2005 model compared to the fiesta which was 2009 but I would swear the fiesta was bigger.