For most of my life, I had been a Ford man. Most likely by force of habit. Ignoring the VERY early years (Ford Anglia etc), I had a Mk2 Cortina, two Mklll cortinas, then a 1.6L Sierra (Jelly Mould) hatchback

.
In 1991, I started buying new cars, and have had a new one every three years since.
The first was a Sierra Sapphire 1.8, followed by a Sierra Sapphire 2.0. This was then followed by 5 consecutive Mondeos, all 2.0L, with the last one being a TDci. No complaints with any of them, except the very high level of depreciation suffered by the Mondeo.
In 2006, I changed over to Nissan, buying 2.2L diesel X-Trail. Nice car, with plenty of grunt, but the engine sounded like a 'bag of nails', especially when cold.
Kept this for three years, then changed it for the newer model X-Trail, with the 2.0L 175bhp Renault Diesel. Quiet, comfortable, a pleasure to drive, and for a diesel 4x4, went like 's*** off a shovel'.
In 2009, no longer needing tow a caravan, I changed over to a 2.0L 153bhp TDci Qashqai n-tec. Not as much bhp as the X-Trail, but being lighter, it is plenty responsive, comfortable, and a pleasure to drive. It also averages around 44mpg with extra-urban driving. On a long run, if I don't drive it too hard, it nudges up towards 50mpg.
When this one is three years old in September, I'll buying another diesel Qashqai, without a second thought. Love the car, and love the fact that the depreciation is significantly less than with Mondeos.
Dave