While I completely respect the opinions of all previous contributors, I can speak from first hand experience ... my wife drives a Volvo s40 .... we have had some horrendous electrical problems, which according to some blogs I have read are quite common. I recently drove a hired Mondeo (OK it was not the entry level) for a few days in the UK , and was very impressed with it ... good spec , solid feel. I agree that the Volvo is more stylish than the utilitarian Mondeo , and if it's a company car and you're not going to have to worry about maintenance / reliability issues then you might go for the Volvo.