Stilomeister you are spot on. We had a budget of £3500 for a runaround for my wife, her forst choice was a Focus. It was imperative that the car had air con and 5 doors.
Looked at several Focuses in the W - X plate bracket and they were pushing our budget for a good one and many in Zetec spec did not have air con.
We ended up getting an 03 plate 1.8 5dr Stilo Dynamic with air con, full leather, auto wipers and headlights, reversing sensors, 52k on the clock with a bit of warranty for £3150
Have had a couple of niggles dealt with (eventually) by the dealer but now all sorted it is a very nice car to own.
Possibly not the prettiest car on the road in 5dr (but certainly not as bad as some make out) but I think ours looks pretty smart in metallic black...
The same age and spec Focus would probably cost at least £5K