After owning a Honda crv which is a very reliable car, i am getting sick of weekly trips to the petrol station to fill it up, so i am looking at a Mondeo 2004 diesel auto with 87k miles and a full fsh ( ex fleet ). Having read quite a few threads now it has left me stumped, some love em some hate em, is it a good motor, or is it to be avoided.
Some say its good for 200 to 300 thousand miles if serviced correctly, i myself only cover 6500 miles per year. I previously owned a 2.0 petrol auto on a 02 plate, i found that ok.
So the question is, it it a good buy or not, or just but it and hope for the best. Any feedback would be great, thanks.
Edited by Pugugly on 15/03/2008 at 15:27
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It's an excellent motor(till it goes wrong!!).
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Mine's a manual. Still going strong at 142k. Everything original. Close friend has an 02 manual with 225k on and nothing other than the back box on the exhaust has failed yet. As with any car, get it properly inspected.
Seem to think HJ mentions something about the auto boxes though. Check the "car by car" section of the website.
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You mileage is quite low and you have a quality car in the Honda. Do you really want to drop down to a Ford for a few £100's saving and run the risk of potentially ruinous repair bills? A colleague of mine has had a Mondeo TDCI from new and has had continual problems with the injection system, fortunately for him they have all been covered under warranty - but I think the warranty runs out this year (its a 2005 car IIRC).
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Wait till the Honda goes wrong-them you'll learn what repair bills are!!!!
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Wait till the Honda goes wrong-them you'll learn what repair bills are!!!!
Indeed, but how often do they go wrong? I once had a Rover with a 2.7 Honda engine in it. That engine ran for 200k miles with nothing other than routine servicing.
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I had nothing but trouble with my Rover 800. Conversely my last three cars ( Mondeo diesels ) have all done huge mileages with no problems.
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I personally wouldn't buy a Ford with an auto box that has done 87K miles, they're just about worn out by then, unless it's one of the later boxes, but that is just my opinion..
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I had nothing but trouble with my Rover 800. Conversely my last three cars ( Mondeo diesels ) have all done huge mileages with no problems.
Yes, the Rover 800 was rubbish, and troublesome. But the Honda engine in it was great, the best thing about the car.
I have had a couple of Fords in the past. They are OK, but definitely built to a (low) price for wholesale to fleets. By 100k you've had the best out of them and they rattle and creak. Subframe bushes wear out, rust starts to set in. They are OK as company hacks, but there are far better cars.
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Wow - heresy !
someone here once suggested one of these as an alternative to a company 530d...:-)
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Seriously, what private new car buyer would choose a Mondeo? There are far more desirable cars for similar money, and they will hold their value much better. I imagine that most privately owned Mondeos have been bought used because they are a cheap secondhand buy owing to huge depreciation. New Mondeos are mostly driven by company drivers who haven't been given a choice, or belong to rental fleets.
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Which auto box would be in the Mondeo?
I had a diesel auto Durashift on demo for a week in 2004 and it wasn't very nice - it shifted into higher gears at far too low a speed to the extent was around town at 30 I had to use the manual over-ride.
It also had horrendous lag at take-off, and when picking up drive - pulling out of side-roads and joining roundabouts was heart-stopping.
Ford dropped the diesel auto not long after I tested mine.
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Before committing to the Mondeo, do have a look at a petrol Honda Accord 2.0. It'll use less fuel than the 4x4 CRV and with your lowish mileage you don't need to go for a diesel.
You'd also need to make sure you can put up with the noise that a 4-cylinder diesel automatic makes.
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I have have a Mondeo and a company Passat Diesel and each have their merits but given the choice I would plump for the Passat. I do like Fords but they have gained a reputation for being adequate rather than exceptional cars
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