A second hand bargain? (Ford Mondeo (1996-2000))

Member Name: Plymyphil

Product:	Ford Mondeo (1996-2000)
Date:	30/11/03 (6519 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Purchase price, Features

Disadvantages: Running costs

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My own Monde
o is a 1999 model and as you would assume from the title and category, I am focussing on this as a second hand car purchase.

I have owned my Mondeo now for a little under a year and feel that now I have had time to weigh up pros and cons, it is a good time to share an opinion.

I purchased my Mondeo from a Ford dealership as this was the easiest way to guarantee a reasonable quality car and it made things easier with my finance arrangement. There are cheaper ways to get hold of a Mondeo though so choose the outlet that is right for you. I personally don't mind paying a small premium for the quality of service I receive from my Ford dealership.

Previously I had been driving an Escort that was coming up to having 100,000 miles on the clock so I made the choice to change my car for something with a lower mileage. We now had a third child so something that offered a little more comfort and space in the back was also a consideration. Let me tell you I didn't jump at this car without considering other options. I spent weeks trawling around dealers and car yards looking at what was on offer but the most obvious thing to spot was in the large saloon market, the Mondeo represents excellent value for money as a second hand purchase.

If you go to a Ford dealership the best buys, with other models as well as Mondeos, are the ex-mobility cars. These will on the whole have had extras installed at purchase, been well maintained and have a low mileage. This is of course a rule of thumb so do check for yourself. I waited a few weeks for the right specification and model to come in but it was an ex-mobility. My purchase was for marginally over £6000 and had at the time 22,000 miles. It was in superb condition and was to the day three years old.

Let's take a look at the specification and features that my money bought.

ENGINE
My Mondeo came with the two litre petrol engine. Now, compared to a Passat say, this is quite
an underspecced two litre engine. It is noticeably quicker and smoother than the 1.6 engine in my Escort and I feel quite a fun drive but I have had friends and colleagues advise me that the turbo diesel model is a better buy. I am satisfied with the engine performance but after an initial recognition that it was better than my previous car relatively unexcited by it's performance.

FUEL
As with most cars this takes unleaded fuel. Now, I foolishly thought that it would cost fractionally more than my 1.6 engined Escort to run as the engine was slightly bigger. It does not work like this ... my Mondeo is very expensive to run. This car laughs in the face of environmentalists and drinks petrol .... loads of it! My fuel bill has jumped by about 50% per month. The thing is ... I'm not convinced it's quite worth that much extra to have the larger engine.

ELECTRIC PACK
Here is where the Mondeo shines compared to similarly priced competitors. There is obviously the ubiquitous electric windows at the front but, catch this for a list of extras at the price quoted above:
CD/radio as standard
Electric adjustable driver's seat
Front and rear heated windscreens
Electric adjustable wing mirrors
Now, other similarly aged and significantly more expensive saloons from other manufacturers just don't quite cut it when comparing the features above.

THE DRIVE
The car handles well. It is fairly low to the road and seems to revel in taking corners with pace. There is a very confident feedback and I feel far more sure that this car is going to 'stick' than I felt with previous cars. It may well be the low profile tyres that add to this sense of control. See below for more information on the low profile tyres.

MAINTENANCE
Now, I'm not an expert on how cars work so I've been more than a little disappointed at the costs incurred by this car. As mentioned above it has low profile tyres. F
or those not in the know these are significantly wider on the road surface but thinner from tyre edge to wheel. Consequently they often look flat even though they aren't. They seem quite cool and I'm told it is good to have them. I'm not so sure ... the cheapest replacements in Kwik Fit are £120.00 each. This car has needed three new tyres so far this year on a mileage of just over 10,000. This strikes me as quite expensive rubber. In addition, it'e first MOT cost a staggering £150.00 as the front wishbones (something to do with the suspension) needed replacing. Prior to the summer, the air conditioning needed recharging and that was a further £70.00 bill. The suspension by the way, so the guy doing the MOT tells me, is a common fault on these cars and I shouldn't have been surprised. Now, they never told me that when I bought it.

OVERALL
The car is a large and confortable family car. The CD player, air conditioning and other electric toys are fun in the short term but if I'm honest I could probably live without them. (With the possible exception of the air conditioning ... that was a real breeze, literally, in our baking summer road holiday to Europe.) I was delighted with the purchase price but for such a low mileage and relativiely new car it does seem to have brought with it a fair few expenses. The tyres by the way are not even available on the continent so when I needed a replacement in France I had the choice of buy four different tyres or cruise at 50mph on the spare tyre ... great! Overall, I do still feel like I have an enjoyable car but I have to say I'm not many bills away from feeling like it could be an expensive mistake. I would definitely go for turbo diesel in future not so much for the power as for the fuel cost reduction.

I hope this opinion is helpful and look forward to your feedback. (NB - The content of this is almost identical to an opinion I have posted to Ciao, but in both cases is entirely
my own opinion.)

Summary: