help to buy a 95M mondeo 1.8 as 2nd car | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Mon 10 Sep 2007 22:37

help to buy a 95M mondeo 1.8 as 2nd car - daiking

I'm looking for a cheap second car as a runabout for the wife. I've seen a mondeo locally - M-reg, 1.8 petrol, hatch, 110k miles for £350. What's to look for? Will the suspension be shot by then and the cambelt due to snap imminently?

I'd love be able to scour autotrader or ebay for something better but I don't have much time and I wouldn't know what faults I was looking for anyway - mechanical novice. Any tips for when you've just got to take a punt on the next convenient car shows up?

TIA :-)

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Mon 10 Sep 2007 22:46

help to buy a 95M mondeo 1.8 as 2nd car - local yokel

Only buy at that end of the market with a full 12 months MoT. Doesn't mean the car will last a year, but it's a good start. If the car goes for the year and you scrap it then you will have motored for £1/day, which can't be bad.

The rest is a gamble, and all you can do is quiz the seller on the servicing etc., and check it over for visible faults in tyres, windscreen, mayo under oil cap etc.

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Mon 10 Sep 2007 23:33

help to buy a 95M mondeo 1.8 as 2nd car - daiking

11 months MOT and 4 months tax - only need it to do about 2500 miles in the next year

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Tue 11 Sep 2007 00:04

help to buy a 95M mondeo 1.8 as 2nd car - blue_haddock

Go for it - worst case is if it dies it's only a couple of hundred quid you've lost. Weight it in and buy something else.

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Tue 11 Sep 2007 08:36

help to buy a 95M mondeo 1.8 as 2nd car - local yokel

Agreed, it's a good price, and you'll get that back if you can get it through the MoT again, so you could be motoring for £100 a year (plus tax and ins).

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Wed 12 Sep 2007 09:05

help to buy a 95M mondeo 1.8 as 2nd car - craig-pd130

The good thing about Mark 1 Mondeos is the bodies are galvanised so rust shouldn't be a problem.

Check the clutch action carefully to make sure it doesn't slip -- it's a big labour job to change it as the entire front subframe has to be dropped.

IIRC the cambelt interval was 80K / 8 years so hopefully it's been done .... apart from that the engines were pretty solid. Worth getting the oil & filter done and use Ford-spec 5W30 oil. If it's got a new MOT then emissions should be OK, which is a good sign of basic engine health!

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Wed 12 Sep 2007 10:01

help to buy a 95M mondeo 1.8 as 2nd car - DP

My dad bought an ex-Fleetlease M plate 2.0 at 3yrs old with about 95k on it. Sold it last year with 170,000 miles - a bit tatty but still drove really well. Had never broken down or failed to start. One fault with the alarm, and it ran a bit rough for a while when a vacuum pipe split. Original exhaust lasted 5 yrs!!

Other than that, it had the odd service, and a timing belt. Saw it last month and it's still going.

As craig says, check the clutch carefully as it's ££££'s to have changed. These early Zetec engines were bulletproof if run on the correct oil and changed at the recommended intervals.

Standard Ford alarm is cack, and it plays up. Dad had his disabled by a local indie for "a drink".
Rough running can be caused by a split rubber vacuum hose T-piece. £4 for a genuine part from a Ford dealer.

Other than that, they're good, solidly engineered cars. Way, way better than the disposable fleet image suggests. Parts are cheap and most DIY jobs are straightforward. They are also very good to drive with lovely steering and handling.

I don't know anyone who's owned a mk1 or mk2 Mondeo and been anything other than delighted with it.

Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX

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