Ok, following my previous thread I've discounted the Vectra and am now concentrating on finding the right Mondeo.
It would seems sods law that all the Mondeos that match my criteria on Autotrader are a good hour's drive from where I live, without fail!
Anyway which of these two I've located should I give more attention (bearing in mind they'll both take me well over an hour to reach). Both are one owners cars with full service history and up for £7k:-
2001-Y Mondeo 2.0 Ghia X Estate, 29k miles
2002-02 Mondeo TDCI Ghia Estate, 80k miles
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PhiL
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Thats a hard choice!!
I think that most people would be tempted by the newer, higher mileage car for various reasons: -
1. Diesel and a good one at that;
2. High miles, presumably on the motorway or equivalent so limited wear on brakes, gearbox, suspension etc etc;
3. Much less time after expiry of warranty, so if comething catastrophic happened just after you bought it, Ford may offer a goodwill payment.
I think it depends on your future mileage. If you are going to potter around and do less than 15,000miles pa, I would go for the older petrol on the grounds that the extra fuel costs are probably not worth it and you will have a reallynice car for seveal years. If you are likely to do more miles, then go for the diesel, save money and be prepared for negligible value when you come to change it.
What condition are they in? Are they equivalent in terms of interior cleanliness and exterior damage? That will also be a factor.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Been told the petrol is in a good condition and a fine example with no noticable bodywork defects...haven't queried the diesel model yet.
Unlikely to be doing more than 10k miles a year to be honest..and that's a mixture of city and motorway driving, though doing a driving holiday to the south of France in the summer which I'm sure would be a fair bit cheaper on fuel in the diesel!
I know VAG and PSA diesels are supposed to be good for mega-miles, but what sort of rep do the early Ford TDCI units have?
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PhiL
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No personal knowledge of the 2.0 TDCi, but drove the 1.8 (?) in the Focus and thought is fantastic. No idea about longevity. Would have thought for your driving the petrol would be preferrable.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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If it were me, I'd be tempted by the "X" and the 29k of the petrol model. You said you only do 10k a year. I do about 17k and still wouldn't fancy a diesel over a petrol.
I'm with Espada on this one. However, the TDCi is a great engine.
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Adam
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The TDCi may well have done 'Motorway miles' but that's still a fair mileage in max 3 yrs - it could have had quite a hard life. Also the TDCi engines can have irksome little problems which you really don't want to get on the wrong side of, as a private owner. I doubt there'd be any w'tee coverage/goodwill - it's limited to 60K miles anyway, and the car is way over that.
Is there much difference in the model year/version - ie is the 02 car facelifted over the older one?
How long do you think you'd keep it for? If it's 3 yrs then bear in mind you'd be trying to sell the TDCI will over 100K miles on it - this tends to be psychological barrier to many buyers.
All in all sounds like the petrol would be better, especially as you do lowish mileage.
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There's no difference between the 2001 and 2002 model years as far as I know, other than possibly some of the early Mondeo teething problems having been rectified perhaps (though also at some point around that time Emergency Brake Assistance was made standard on all models).
I am certainly tempted by the leather & cruise spec of the X over the standard Ghia (& my wife likes the heated front seats).
Not sure how long I'd keep it to be honest, though I'd say at least a year and most likely between 2-3 years.
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PhiL
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For your annual mileage stick with the petrol. It will be worth significantly more in 3 years time with 60 k on the clock over the diesel with over 110k after the same time. The fuel savings from the diesel (taking into account the extra cost of diesel) will, for your annual mileage, not be enough to justify the difference.
(Or you could buy my 1999 'S' reg Mondeo Estate 2.0 Ghia X with 118,000 on the clock (all but 10,000 done by me on the motorway) for £2,000 and stick the £5,000 saved in the bank for a really good holiday!) How that for an idea?!
If not then I would have no doubt in recommending the petrol. I average 35mpg in mine and the newer one will do about the same.
Cheers!
Gavin
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How much are you prepared to pay?
Currently Arnold Clark is offering March 04 2.0 Mondeo Zetec S models with four digit mileages at £8,995 - that's a pretty remarkable price, although today may be the last day.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Sounds brilliant, but sadly £7k is already over the amount of money I *should* be spending... :o(
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PhiL
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No PX?
There'll be two years left of the warranty remaining as well.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I do have a p/x, and it's quite undesirable which is making matters more difficult..
Where are those motors? Are the details on the web?
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PhiL
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I'll e-mail you.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I had an '01 1.8 Zetec and it was a very fine car. Gave me almost 3 years of trouble free motoring, never missed a beat. Although I did notice the rear suspension was making unwelcome noises when I traded it in. Otherwise fit and finish was still pretty good and still looked in fine condition.
Which is more than can be said for the current 1.8 SCi that I drive. It has been awful. Never refuses to start but the failed components list is getting longer and longer, even including £2k for the replacement of the Sat-Nav system. All under warranty fortunately. The only thing that seemingly can't be resolved is the appalling fuel consumption, the car has been backwards and forwards to the dealer for this to be rectified and it is still alarmingly low, 26-28mpg, mainly motorway use as well. Because there is no technical fault, Ford have more or less said tough. So much for customer care.
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