2.0 TDCi (140ps) Zetec 5dr Auto Saloon

Comfortable motorway and long distance cruiser

The good:
Smooth and comfortable to drive and excels on the motorway. 320Nm torque is more than enough to pull a fully loaded car and towing a trailer. Zetec has just about enough equipment and the interior is very roomy with a large capacity boot. Tyre wear is good all round.
The bad:
Did not opt for rear parking sensors which was a mistake.
Rear o/s window rubbers replaced as the window would not close properly. Windows frequently loosing memory settings so global close and one touch up down would not work. A door module fixed the problem. Bluetooth module crashes and voice control stops working. No fault found but I can fix it by pulling the fuse to reset it. Air filter box intake -plastic fittings broke causing a terrible noise. Fixed when pointed out to dealer. Ford badges corroded, replaced. Tailgate scuffing the top of the bumper paintwork in the middle. Sent to paint shop and fixed but it has returned so must be poor design. Water does not drain out of the tailgate properly so after heavy rain you have to hold it part way up until it empties or water cascades into the boot. Air conditioning failed after 14 months diagnosed as an electrical problem. Known problem. 14 months later it failed again, repaired under warranty. At 45k miles steering became heavy and developed a noise. Entire steering hydraulic system replaced under warranty. Dealer had the car 5 weeks ( Evans Hallshaw in Preston), failed to align steering after the work was done. Noticed steering wheel not level and very light steering. Took it back in to correct. Logged most of the above faults with Ford customer care. Evans Hallshaw dealer in Preston have very poor after sales and are not interested when the car develops faults. They take too long to complete a fix . I came to know the service desk team on first name terms as I visited that often with problems. In total, the car has been off the road about two months since new. After all, you pay for the warranty in the car price a bit like insurance, so dealers should be more proactive once the car has been sold.
I am looking for a new car after nearly 4 years of ownership and 60k miles as the a/c has gone again and I don't think this car will go the distance without another major fault.
I test drove a BMW 320d touring and was quite disappointed , high noise levels on the motorway with tyre and wind noise, poor seats with no lumbar support on SE model, pedals offset to right, cramped cockpit by comparison with the Mondeo. Unless the known steering fault is sorted on the Mondeo I won't be replacing it with another. It could be that I just got a bad example as there are plenty of happy owners with trouble free cars. So what car is comparable?

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