Cheap and very cheerful (Ford Mondeo (1996-2000))

Member Name: jopassmore

Product:	Ford Mondeo (1996-2000)
Date:	27/10/01 (917 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap to buy, cheap to maintain

Disadvantages: more expensive to run than my old Fiesta

We had been driving around a 1987 Ford Fiesta for the last 9 years and so we decided at long last to buy a new (used) car. We wanted another Ford because in our experience they are so cheap to fix when anything goes wrong. We started looking originally at the Ford Escort, but my husband was of the opinion that these cars were a bit dated. We also discovered that the Ford Mondeo was as cheap to buy as the Escort (good old Parkers online). I am told this is because the UK market is flooded with used Mondeo's because they are used a lot as company cars and then sold once the lease has expired. An example of how cheap they are second hand - our car new sells at about £16,000 whereas 1 1/2 years later we have bought it for £6,800 (although the mileage of our new car is quite high - 42000 miles). Who would be mad enough to buy one new, I ask myself?!

After considering the above, the choice was easy. We found our car at a local Hyundai garage, where it must have been part exchanged. It came with a 1year warranty. Although only an LX version, it has air conditioning, power steering, electric windows, heated front and back windscreen, cd - you wouldn't get all that in an LX escort. The only thing missing is a sunroof, but if you are going to use the air conditioning you would not want to have a sunroof open anyway. Talking of air conditioning, it is great in the summer, but beware, it does use up quite a lot of petrol. I have also found that when the air conditioning is on, the performance of the car decreases. Having said that, I cannot bear getting into a hot car on a scorching day, so I can put up with the drawbacks of this feature.

Size wise, I cannot fault this car. There is ample room for 3 adults in the back seat and I have even been known to squeeze three children's car seats into the back. The boot is so big we could probably fit our old Fiesta in it! This week I have been driving around with both a double buggy and a full size
pram in the boot and there was still room for my Tesco shopping. With the Fiesta, the shopping had to be evenly distributed around the car if their was just one buggy in the boot. A drawback with the size is that I now have trouble parking. I used to have a handy little parking space at work that hardly anybody could fit into, but now I have to arrive early so that I can drive the car into a space which will allow me to drive out forwards again! When I first got the car, my boss met me in the car park to have a look. She stood and watched whilst I drove backwards and forwards into a space trying to park so that I could actually open the door and get out. After a couple of minutes of this, I had to ask her to go on without me and look at the car some other time! How embarrassing! It has got a bit better now and hopefully as I get more used to the car, I will be able to judge it's size correctly and parking will become easier.

The mondeo seems a little expensive to run (about 26mpg urban and 40mpg on longer journeys), but that is only compared to our old fiesta, which when you consider the size difference, is understandable. Our car tax has increased also, because the engine size is 1.8L and the cheaper car tax only includes cars 1.4L and under. We found insuring it a lot more expensive as well but then when I checked how much a newer Fiesta would cost to insure, it wasn't a lot less.

I am afraid I cannot really comment on the technical aspects of driving the car or it's design - I am a women, what do you expect (only joking, so no feminist comments please). All I can say is that it is very comfortable to drive and looks great. Our car is silver - my husband's choice. I would have preferred Blue but silver is fine as colours go. My hubby is very proud of our car and likes to clean it constantly. He has asked me to try and keep it clean but unfortunately clean cars and toddlers do not go together. My philosophy is th
at cars are like houses - if they are a bit mucky it just shows that they are loved and lived in.

All in all, we are very pleased with our new purchase. If anybody out there is looking for a reasonable priced, reliable family car, then look no further than the Mondeo.


UPDATE: We have just crashed our new car! Thankfully not my fault but my husbands, otherwise I would have been in trouble. Only a bit of cosmetic damage but the cost of repair is extortionate. Thank goodness for insurance. My next op will probably be about Direct Line!

Summary: