i am looking at this car later this week with a view to buying it, could anyone tell me if there are any well known faults or niggles with this car at this age i should be aware of before i make the purchase. it has 106k on clock backed with service history thanks john
{subject header given a less vague title}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 02/06/2009 at 13:38
|
|
Its an old car with an engine that loves petrol stations.
|
|
|
Is it the manual or auto? If auto then run away, if manual then check the clutch and gear change very carefully. Check the front wishbones too, maybe not a deal breaker but needs to be factored in.
The rest I guess you know given what's under the bonnet!
|
|
|
If it's a V6 the plastic impeller on the water pump can break up, which can cause overheating & possible HGF, so I would check the cooling system carefully - that said it may already have been done/replaced with a metal one as a precaution!
|
I had an earlier Mondeo V6 - one of the best cars that I have ever owned.
Possible problems:-
Central locking/alarm.
Front wishbones.
Seized handbrake cables.
Rear droplinks to anti-roll bar.
Front brake discs tended to last 35k.
Water pump impeller should be OK on a 2000 model.
I used to get 28 - 29 mpg (brim to brim calcs).
Bob
|
|
|
If it's a V6 the plastic impeller on the water pump can break up which can cause overheating & possible HGF so I would check the cooling system carefully - that said it may already have been done/replaced with a metal one as a precaution!
I can second that, had the same failure on a '95 model.
I don't know if things are different on the newer model but jobs that you'd think were simple turned out to be quite complicated due to the size of the engine. For example, changing a headlamp bulb was a long and difficult job as there's simply no room to squeeze your hand into the space.
I quite enjoyed mine for the fairly short time I had it, it made a lovely noise but it did like a drink and it was surprisingly low on power for a 6 cylinder.
|
I've had mine for 2 years now (2000 W reg Ghia X with the RSAP kit) and have converted it to LPG.
It's a lovely engine, sounds great, and gives a good kick of power at 3,500 rpm, mine is also quite cheap to run on LPG (about 11p a mile) I was getting 24mpg when I ran it on petrol.
I would say that the posters above have already pointed out the major areas to check, obviously the biggest one is Head Gasket Failure which isn't unusual in these engines, ake sure there is no contamination in the oil that indicates that it has gone.
Buy it, you'll really enjoy it if you can afford to fuel it's thirst for petrol!
|
To judge from the quantity of posts in Technical, it's a better bet than the MKIII Mondeo which seems to have all manner of associated ills.
|
|
I like these cars. Lovely noise, good midrange torque and comfortable suspension makes driving a pleasure. As pointed out above, not economical. Oh, and avoid the versions with low profile tyres as the ride is terrible without any real handling benefit.
|
|
|
|
>>For example, changing a headlamp bulb was a long and difficult job as there's simply no room to squeeze your hand into the space.
>>
Assuming this is very similar to my 98 2.0l re headlamps.
Changing bulbs away from home is IMO not a normal kerb side activity.
Changing them at home is no big deal and pretty simple.
Shield at top front of engine bay off, grill off, remove two screw and slacken a third allows the whole headlamp assemby to "fall" into your hands.
Takes just a few minutes. No skin donated to the task and blood pressure stable.
My experience with a Mondeo and a Focus plus lots of items on forums suggests the central locking is not very reliable. Both our vehicles have had new actuators and the Focus is again suspect.
|
|
|
|
|
