I've had my (51) Focus 1.6 Zetec Petrol Hatch for 6.5 years and 67000 trouble free miles.
I paid 7.5k at auction and have had NO problems with it, regular serving and replacement consumables, and never let me down.
It's still going well but I fancy something with more space in the back and fancy a Mondeo Estate, but not sure whether to go for petrol or diesel.
I've had a car for about 25 years and always had petrol , so a bit wary of change.
I'm not a performance freak, more interested in reliability.
I'm loking to spend about 5k cash, and will be looking at private / auction / ebabay , rather than traders.
So, I guess the fuel costs will be a few hundred less per year if I risk a diesel but what are the downsides ?
What could I get for 5k ?
I tend to use car as workhorse with all kinds of rubbish in the back , so don't fancy leather interiors etc, no ghia specs thanks.
Any suggestions ?
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I have the modeo hatchback- good comfortable car with 2.5v6 and get 30 mpg. I would imagine the estate is heavier so mpg would be worse.
So yes by all means get a Mondeo- 1.8 or 2.0L would be more economical. The diesel would be good but like you I am very wary of modern diesels.
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I've had both a diesel and petrol mondeo estates.
We had a 2 litre petrol for three years - purchased at 18 months old as a Ford Direct car. A front spring broke, and the motor that pushed the seat up and down failed, but apart from that it required nothing more than standard servicing.
It was a very easy car to live with - sufficient power to keep up on the motorway, and enough to overtake.
It was replaced with a 2.2 TDCi - and having had this for two years, it is a great engine. Loads of grunt to push on / overtake, and a very relaxed place to be on the motorway. It is simply better than the petrol as a car to own (apart from higher depreciation!) - averages 45mpg.
Has had one non-service failure - EGR valve changed at 2.5 years under warranty. Allen Ford in Daventry were very helpful, and have provided very reasonable service costs.
I would recommend the diesel, but the petrol is not a bad car at all. At £7.5k, you should be getting a '56 / '07, so should have loads of life left in it...
HTH
Jon
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I was in our local Ford dealer (in Northamptonshire) the other day and noticed that they did not have any Mondeos in stock, either in the showroom or with the used cars. Plenty of Fiestas and Focuses.
I haven't been on this site for ages so it's good to read the comments again. I suppose I should try and change the 'old' in my name to 'ex' now that I am retired.
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I've had a 51 Mondeo 2litre petrol GhiaX Estate for the past couple of years and about 30,000mls. Bought needing a pair of tyres, drivers side spring (common) and a service. With that work completed it has been 100% reliable with just a wheel bearing and another pair of tyres routinely required over the 30,000mls. The only other niggly issue has been the failure of the in-dash 6-CD player (again common problem)
It has proved a comfortable, safe and rewarding car for my local runs as well as mile munching when we have been on longer runs.... like 1000mls plus in a week towing a boat to/fro and around Scotland.
Space for passengers is good, our teenage girls and their friends love the very roomy rear seat/legroom space. Loadspace with seat up or down is great. We've moved house with it twice and it's amazing to unpack at the other end and see what looks like a vanful of gear pile out of it. Last month I collected a 3.05m kitchen worktop length from the builders merchant and the guy looked at the Mondeo and said you'll have to get a van or trailer... we've never got one in a car before... it went inside with 2" (oops met/imp mixing) to spare.
The leather trim is actually an advantage with heavy use at is is far more easy to wipe/vac clean than cloth.
For me the driving position and seat shape are exceptional for such a modest car. All the controls fall to hand very easily and I'm still amused by the cupholder that unfolds from seemingly just a button on the console.
A small negative of my model is the 17" wheels with 50 series tyres... they give an over firm ride on country roads and decent tyres are expensive for what is a middle range family car.
A big negative for me though is the heavy fuel consumption of the 2lit petrol estate. On normal local village road runs of 20 miles max starting from cold plus some town my consumption averages about 30.5mpg. Thrash it and you only drop to 29.5... go easy and it will rarely top 31mpg. The only time I've ever seen a decent 36mpg or so is when doing several hundred miles on the motorway in 5th.
For that reason it has been up for change for a while and when I drop on a deal it'll go in favour of a diesel.
Edited by M.M on 04/11/2009 at 14:40
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