Great economy family car (Ford Mondeo 1.8 LX Estate)

Member Name: HassledDad

Product:	Ford Mondeo 1.8 LX Estate
Date:	01/01/04 (2450 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice to drive, Economical, Roomy

Disadvantages: Basic cabin facilties, Dents very easily, It's no BMW

I have owned my Ford Mondeo for just over a year. It was an ex-rental car resold by Ford Direct. It had done just under 12,000 miles, and I paid £9,500 which included a warrantee and RAC cover. I?ve barely done 4,000 miles, mostly round London thought some of longer trips.

Overall I am pleasantly surprised by this car. It is good to drive and very economical, yet the interior is roomy and comfortable. I recommend it unreservedly, while pointing out that you?re not paying BMW money, so don?t expect a BMW substitute.

The car is the most basic model, but the specs are far from basic. It comes with air conditioning, central locking and immobiliser that will (with a little persuasion) close any windows you have left open. It doesn?t have the ?steal me? alloys that the higher-priced models have (I decided against one of these when I saw a Ghia on its rims in the dealer?s yard!).

The 1.8 litre petrol engine is good considering it is the least powerful of the range, and you can push the acceleration should the need arise (but clearly we?re not in hot hatch acceleration land). I've heard that the 1.8 engine is 'sweeter' than the 2.0, but can't confirm this.

The seats are good, both front and rear. The single CD player stereo is perfectly adequate too ? unless you enjoy deafening yourself and any nearby pedestrians. The boot is large enough for a big supermarket shop, and it you need more you can fold down the rear seats (which split 1/3-2/3rds). There are some neat little storage places (like the sunglasses compartment next to the interior light ? I?m still not convinced these are especially useful yet.

My previous car was a Passat 1.8 turbo, and the Mondeo steering and responsiveness are better than the Passat. However, the Mondeo lacks some of the nice touches I?ve got used to on the Passat. There is a single interior light, which illuminates the rear portion of the car very poorly. Needless to say, here is also
no map light ? the central light is either on or off. There are no anchor points in the boot, and though there is a boot light it?s poor. There is no way of locking the rear seats to prevent a thief getting access to the boot ? rather important if you ever leave valuables out of sight in the rear.

A couple of other downsides. The skin of the car seems very thin (indeed, I believe Ford put a lot of effort into weight reduction). This means it dents very easily ? and I have a ?door ding? depression to prove this. Also the front and read plastic bumpers are much too easily damaged by contact with any car with proper metal bumpers while parking (I live in London and ?bump? parking is a way of life.

I have a couple of small faults too ? the air conditioning comes on some times for no reason, and the dashboard lighting dimmer doesn?t work.

UPDATE: Following a stupid accident (my first in 20+ years) that I am too embarased to recount (save to say that the only personal injury was my wounded pride), I indeed confirm that the bodywork is very easy to damage in a major way! My car pushed into a very much older car, and there was trivial damage to it - but my car spent almost a month at the repairer's. Apparently, every time they took off an (apparently) undamaged plastic panel, they would find more damage underneath.

Summary: