The Double D - Dingo Daily
Discussion
Ive always struggled to find a car that fits my everyday needs. Ive tried big saloons and small hatchbacks so its been a varied bunch.
I always found after a few months id make an excuse to get rid. So i have taken precaution and had this car around 8 months already!
I stepped down from having big engined super saloons a while ago - i have the merc on the drive so it doesnt need to be fast. And with work i could travel a fair commute so economy is a forefront.
I did have a very specific criteria:
Estate
2.0 diesel
Parking sensors
Heated seats
Comfy seats
Radio and cruise control on the wheel, not stalk
Unfussed on exterior looks
A nice interior. No flat center console.
Bluetooth
Good speaker system (too old for subs now!)
I eventually settled on a Mk4 Ford Mondeo Titanium X.
I actually dont know why it took so long to come to this conclusion, a close friend has one and it has been a superb car him, and i like it too. His a saloon though (Booo!)
Now with a car in mind i began the search. The first 6 cars i rang had gone. I was getting so annoyed that i actually rang up for it and turned up blind. I didnt ask any questions and only had a few photos to go on.
It turned out to be a little rough in places, various bits of trim inside needed attention, and there was a rip in the drivers bolster. It was on 143k but drove 100%. Ford main dealer history. A price was negotiated and away i drove.
I havent got any pictures from the collection. But after a wash she scrubbed up lovely. And i spent some time on the interior. Replaced a few broke trims, polished the scratches out the headunit, fixed the broken ashtray. The interior is my favourite. A very, very nice place to be.
I always found after a few months id make an excuse to get rid. So i have taken precaution and had this car around 8 months already!
I stepped down from having big engined super saloons a while ago - i have the merc on the drive so it doesnt need to be fast. And with work i could travel a fair commute so economy is a forefront.
I did have a very specific criteria:
Estate
2.0 diesel
Parking sensors
Heated seats
Comfy seats
Radio and cruise control on the wheel, not stalk
Unfussed on exterior looks
A nice interior. No flat center console.
Bluetooth
Good speaker system (too old for subs now!)
I eventually settled on a Mk4 Ford Mondeo Titanium X.
I actually dont know why it took so long to come to this conclusion, a close friend has one and it has been a superb car him, and i like it too. His a saloon though (Booo!)
Now with a car in mind i began the search. The first 6 cars i rang had gone. I was getting so annoyed that i actually rang up for it and turned up blind. I didnt ask any questions and only had a few photos to go on.
It turned out to be a little rough in places, various bits of trim inside needed attention, and there was a rip in the drivers bolster. It was on 143k but drove 100%. Ford main dealer history. A price was negotiated and away i drove.
I havent got any pictures from the collection. But after a wash she scrubbed up lovely. And i spent some time on the interior. Replaced a few broke trims, polished the scratches out the headunit, fixed the broken ashtray. The interior is my favourite. A very, very nice place to be.
Edited by Palmers on Thursday 15th December 16:59
The spec of the car:
Less Rear Mudflaps
Less Cargo Stowage Device
Less Interior Pack
Less Front Mudflaps
With Hill Launch Assist
With Standard Liftgate
Genk Plant Build
Security Lock Group #8
Less Special Equipment Package
Less Fleet Options
Less Marketing Flex Prep Pack
Marketing Level 1
Less Dress Up RSO
(-) SVP
Enhanced Interact Vehicle Dynamics
Less Tyre Repair Service Kit
With Global Closing
With Electric Rear Windows
With Privacy Glass
With Blue Glass Windscreen
With Heated Windscreen
With Console Ashtray
Less Temp Controlled Glove Box
With Monotone Instrument Panel
Front Floor Carpet Mats
Rear Floor Carpet Mats
Less Sun Blinds
With Level 5 Door Trim Panel
Less Load Rest
Less Luggage Compartment Net Kit
Less Load Retention Net
With Load Floor Carpet
Less Rear Screen Sun Blinds
Less Interior Partition
With Painted Front Grille
Less Roof Rack
Less Spoiler
Electric Operated Rear View Mirror
Dual Power/Htd/Fold/Pud Lamp Mirror
With Front 4 Way Headrest
Less Special Seat Covers
Less Special Front Seat Covers
Less Special Rear Seat Covers
Rear Centre Armrest With Stowage
With Passengers Man Lumbar Support
Driver Heated Seat-Variable Temp
With Heated Pass Seat-Variable Temp
Less Rear Heated Seat
Less Child Integrated Seat
With Driver 2 Way Pwr.Seat Adjuster
With Pass 4 Way Manual Seat Adjust
Less Rear Seat Armrest Packs
Less Trailer Coupling
Body Coloured Exterior Door Handle
With Leather Gear Shift Knob
Power Door Dead Lock W/Elec Release
Keyfree System
With Keyless Start
With Automatic Windscreen Wiper
With Heated Washer Jet
Less Headlamp Washer/Wiper
Less Sun Roof
Front Bumper Sensor Device
Air Curtain Restrnt LH
Air Curtain Restrnt RH
Inflatable Knee Bolsters - Driver
With Side Air Bag - Drivers Side
With Side Air Bag - Passenger Side
Less Passenger Air Bag Deactivation
Spare Wheel - Mini Steel
With Standard Rear Shock Absorbers
18" Wheel - Style 2
Limited Service Mini Spare Tyre
Less Wheel Covers
Locking Wheel Nuts
Stage IV + DPF Emissions
With Standard Suspension
Front Spring Load Class-P
Rear Spring Load Class-P
Collision Mitigation System
With Brake Emergency Assist
Less Skid Plates
Sports Front Seat
With Rear Duct / B-Pillar
Less Air Purifier Sensor
With 70 Litre Fuel Tank
Standard Foot Pedal Pad Design
Leather Steering Wheel
With Adaptive Speed Control
With Supplemental Air Heater
Conventional Instruments - Level 3
Thatcham Catergory 1 Alarm System
With Rear Parking Aid
With Front Parking Aid
80 AH Battery
Less Auxiliary Compact Disc Player
With A/V Jack
BT/VC Phone Interface Only
Roof Mounted Radio Antenna
High CDX6+AM/FM Radio W/Diversity
Ice Feature Pack 7
With 8 High Series Radio Speakers
Telephone Prep Pack B - English
Less Family Entertainment System
Voice Activated Module - British
Less Camera
Advanced Front Lighting System
Less Daytime Running Lamps
With Front Fog Lamps
With Footwell Lights
With Submarine Lighting-Interior
2/3 Row Curt Lamp/2 Row Map Light
With Automatic Headlamp On/Off
The main things are:
The sony audi and premium speakers
ACC
Convers+ cluster
Suede seats / heated
Privacy glass
Its a very well kitted car for the bargain price you pay nowdays. Exceptional value for money and i dont think you can go wrong.
Less Rear Mudflaps
Less Cargo Stowage Device
Less Interior Pack
Less Front Mudflaps
With Hill Launch Assist
With Standard Liftgate
Genk Plant Build
Security Lock Group #8
Less Special Equipment Package
Less Fleet Options
Less Marketing Flex Prep Pack
Marketing Level 1
Less Dress Up RSO
(-) SVP
Enhanced Interact Vehicle Dynamics
Less Tyre Repair Service Kit
With Global Closing
With Electric Rear Windows
With Privacy Glass
With Blue Glass Windscreen
With Heated Windscreen
With Console Ashtray
Less Temp Controlled Glove Box
With Monotone Instrument Panel
Front Floor Carpet Mats
Rear Floor Carpet Mats
Less Sun Blinds
With Level 5 Door Trim Panel
Less Load Rest
Less Luggage Compartment Net Kit
Less Load Retention Net
With Load Floor Carpet
Less Rear Screen Sun Blinds
Less Interior Partition
With Painted Front Grille
Less Roof Rack
Less Spoiler
Electric Operated Rear View Mirror
Dual Power/Htd/Fold/Pud Lamp Mirror
With Front 4 Way Headrest
Less Special Seat Covers
Less Special Front Seat Covers
Less Special Rear Seat Covers
Rear Centre Armrest With Stowage
With Passengers Man Lumbar Support
Driver Heated Seat-Variable Temp
With Heated Pass Seat-Variable Temp
Less Rear Heated Seat
Less Child Integrated Seat
With Driver 2 Way Pwr.Seat Adjuster
With Pass 4 Way Manual Seat Adjust
Less Rear Seat Armrest Packs
Less Trailer Coupling
Body Coloured Exterior Door Handle
With Leather Gear Shift Knob
Power Door Dead Lock W/Elec Release
Keyfree System
With Keyless Start
With Automatic Windscreen Wiper
With Heated Washer Jet
Less Headlamp Washer/Wiper
Less Sun Roof
Front Bumper Sensor Device
Air Curtain Restrnt LH
Air Curtain Restrnt RH
Inflatable Knee Bolsters - Driver
With Side Air Bag - Drivers Side
With Side Air Bag - Passenger Side
Less Passenger Air Bag Deactivation
Spare Wheel - Mini Steel
With Standard Rear Shock Absorbers
18" Wheel - Style 2
Limited Service Mini Spare Tyre
Less Wheel Covers
Locking Wheel Nuts
Stage IV + DPF Emissions
With Standard Suspension
Front Spring Load Class-P
Rear Spring Load Class-P
Collision Mitigation System
With Brake Emergency Assist
Less Skid Plates
Sports Front Seat
With Rear Duct / B-Pillar
Less Air Purifier Sensor
With 70 Litre Fuel Tank
Standard Foot Pedal Pad Design
Leather Steering Wheel
With Adaptive Speed Control
With Supplemental Air Heater
Conventional Instruments - Level 3
Thatcham Catergory 1 Alarm System
With Rear Parking Aid
With Front Parking Aid
80 AH Battery
Less Auxiliary Compact Disc Player
With A/V Jack
BT/VC Phone Interface Only
Roof Mounted Radio Antenna
High CDX6+AM/FM Radio W/Diversity
Ice Feature Pack 7
With 8 High Series Radio Speakers
Telephone Prep Pack B - English
Less Family Entertainment System
Voice Activated Module - British
Less Camera
Advanced Front Lighting System
Less Daytime Running Lamps
With Front Fog Lamps
With Footwell Lights
With Submarine Lighting-Interior
2/3 Row Curt Lamp/2 Row Map Light
With Automatic Headlamp On/Off
The main things are:
The sony audi and premium speakers
ACC
Convers+ cluster
Suede seats / heated
Privacy glass
Its a very well kitted car for the bargain price you pay nowdays. Exceptional value for money and i dont think you can go wrong.
Once is had the car for a few weeks i done some maintenance.
Service was first off
Something tells me the filters needing changing:
Also the oil filter housing was broken. Someone had snapped the cross at the bottom that you use to undo it, then made a hash trying to get it off, failed and left it. A bit poor considering the last few services were main dealer... and an oil filter was on the service sheet... naughty!
Service was first off
Something tells me the filters needing changing:
Also the oil filter housing was broken. Someone had snapped the cross at the bottom that you use to undo it, then made a hash trying to get it off, failed and left it. A bit poor considering the last few services were main dealer... and an oil filter was on the service sheet... naughty!
So we are upto where we are now. Car has done nearly 151k. Economy has dropped from 42-46 in summer to 39-42 in winter. I dont do many long trips currently so ill take that. Average 550-600 miles to a tank.
I cant see myself making excuses to rid this car, i geniunely cant fault it. It might go to the Mrs when she passes her test, to make way for a facelift Titanium X Sport - but thats a while off. Hopefully they will drop in price as currently 8-10k still! Maybe even a powershift (fords dsg) auto too would be nice
Few recent piccies
Helping my friends saloon Tit X when he ran out of fuel
Jump starting the merc
I cant see myself making excuses to rid this car, i geniunely cant fault it. It might go to the Mrs when she passes her test, to make way for a facelift Titanium X Sport - but thats a while off. Hopefully they will drop in price as currently 8-10k still! Maybe even a powershift (fords dsg) auto too would be nice
Few recent piccies
Helping my friends saloon Tit X when he ran out of fuel
Jump starting the merc
The MkIVs are superb cars and IMO it's the badge snobbery that keeps the values low. I can't moan really however.
The 2.0 Peugeot Diesels are a massive improvement over the rubbish they fitted in the MkIIIs IMO. OK, the MkIIIs use less fuel but it seems they do go wrong quite a lot and are intolerant to servicing unless you use the right parts.
At home we have a couple of 'em, both are 2.5Ts with one being an Estate and another being a saloon. Bar the Sat Nav the Estate looks similar to yours. It sounds silly I really enjoy driving that car ; it's miles ahead of driving dynamics over the Insignia CDTi Elite we had for a while as a hire car.
TBH I wonder if I should have got a TDCI Auto or another 2.5T instead of my M3! Sure, the M3 has a quicker turn of speed and is a nice place to be as well as having superb handling and feel good factor, but Christ it's a pricey car to maintain!
However, I'd be careful jumpstarting a Ford or even jump starting another Ford. Read up on Ford's SmartCharge system and jump starting.
Any news on the W124? They certainly surprised me when I first drove one in terms of build quality and silence inside.
The 2.0 Peugeot Diesels are a massive improvement over the rubbish they fitted in the MkIIIs IMO. OK, the MkIIIs use less fuel but it seems they do go wrong quite a lot and are intolerant to servicing unless you use the right parts.
At home we have a couple of 'em, both are 2.5Ts with one being an Estate and another being a saloon. Bar the Sat Nav the Estate looks similar to yours. It sounds silly I really enjoy driving that car ; it's miles ahead of driving dynamics over the Insignia CDTi Elite we had for a while as a hire car.
TBH I wonder if I should have got a TDCI Auto or another 2.5T instead of my M3! Sure, the M3 has a quicker turn of speed and is a nice place to be as well as having superb handling and feel good factor, but Christ it's a pricey car to maintain!
However, I'd be careful jumpstarting a Ford or even jump starting another Ford. Read up on Ford's SmartCharge system and jump starting.
Any news on the W124? They certainly surprised me when I first drove one in terms of build quality and silence inside.
Edited by SebringMan on Friday 16th December 09:24
The cold weather officially killed my battery!
It started to get bad - uneven on starting. -5 it will start fine, +10 it will crank and crank. But even. Slow then fast then slow then fast etc.
Forscan led to a battery issue so ordered and fitted one yesterday. Cranks much faster now! Battery was a ford one so im guessing the original!
The W124 is still hibernating!
It started to get bad - uneven on starting. -5 it will start fine, +10 it will crank and crank. But even. Slow then fast then slow then fast etc.
Forscan led to a battery issue so ordered and fitted one yesterday. Cranks much faster now! Battery was a ford one so im guessing the original!
SebringMan said:
The MkIVs are superb cars and IMO it's the badge snobbery that keeps the values low. I can't moan really however.
The 2.0 Peugeot Diesels are a massive improvement over the rubbish they fitted in the MkIIIs IMO. OK, the MkIIIs use less fuel but it seems they do go wrong quite a lot and are intolerant to servicing unless you use the right parts.
At home we have a couple of 'em, both are 2.5Ts with one being an Estate and another being a saloon. Bar the Sat Nav the Estate looks similar to yours. It sounds silly I really enjoy driving that car ; it's miles ahead of driving dynamics over the Insignia CDTi Elite we had for a while as a hire car.
TBH I wonder if I should have got a TDCI Auto or another 2.5T instead of my M3! Sure, the M3 has a quicker turn of speed and is a nice place to be as well as having superb handling and feel good factor, but Christ it's a pricey car to maintain!
However, I'd be careful jumpstarting a Ford or even jump starting another Ford. Read up on Ford's SmartCharge system and jump starting.
Any news on the W124? They certainly surprised me when I first drove one in terms of build quality and silence inside.
They do drive really nice, relaxing and effortless!The 2.0 Peugeot Diesels are a massive improvement over the rubbish they fitted in the MkIIIs IMO. OK, the MkIIIs use less fuel but it seems they do go wrong quite a lot and are intolerant to servicing unless you use the right parts.
At home we have a couple of 'em, both are 2.5Ts with one being an Estate and another being a saloon. Bar the Sat Nav the Estate looks similar to yours. It sounds silly I really enjoy driving that car ; it's miles ahead of driving dynamics over the Insignia CDTi Elite we had for a while as a hire car.
TBH I wonder if I should have got a TDCI Auto or another 2.5T instead of my M3! Sure, the M3 has a quicker turn of speed and is a nice place to be as well as having superb handling and feel good factor, but Christ it's a pricey car to maintain!
However, I'd be careful jumpstarting a Ford or even jump starting another Ford. Read up on Ford's SmartCharge system and jump starting.
Any news on the W124? They certainly surprised me when I first drove one in terms of build quality and silence inside.
Edited by SebringMan on Friday 16th December 09:24
The W124 is still hibernating!
Edited by Palmers on Friday 30th December 15:50
Palmers said:
Once is had the car for a few weeks i done some maintenance.
Service was first off
Something tells me the filters needing changing:
Also the oil filter housing was broken. Someone had snapped the cross at the bottom that you use to undo it, then made a hash trying to get it off, failed and left it. A bit poor considering the last few services were main dealer... and an oil filter was on the service sheet... naughty!
Did any alarm bells start ringing? That filter is in an atrocious state for anything that has seen a service in the last 50,000 miles!Service was first off
Something tells me the filters needing changing:
Also the oil filter housing was broken. Someone had snapped the cross at the bottom that you use to undo it, then made a hash trying to get it off, failed and left it. A bit poor considering the last few services were main dealer... and an oil filter was on the service sheet... naughty!
I wouldn't place much emphasis on a main dealer history. I know 2 main dealer mechanics who both brag how they keep service parts booked to customers cars "under their toolbox" for the weekend homers. One of them the amount of vauxhall stuff he would bring to his lockup at the weekend the running joke was he must need a ladder to reach his toolbox by friday.
Love the mondeo, one of those will be the mrs next car i think, or an s max titanium.
Love the mondeo, one of those will be the mrs next car i think, or an s max titanium.
TwistingMyMelon said:
Fair enough! Seen too many dodgy Service books and stamps for sale. Nice cars, having had a W124 I might get a mondeo next
OldGermanHeaps said:
I wouldn't place much emphasis on a main dealer history. I know 2 main dealer mechanics who both brag how they keep service parts booked to customers cars "under their toolbox" for the weekend homers. One of them the amount of vauxhall stuff he would bring to his lockup at the weekend the running joke was he must need a ladder to reach his toolbox by friday.
Love the mondeo, one of those will be the mrs next car i think, or an s max titanium.
Exactly - never rated main dealers and never will!Love the mondeo, one of those will be the mrs next car i think, or an s max titanium.
Has been starting fine since the new battery - still chugging along strong.
Since my last update my friend (whos mk4 made me get this) has upgraded to a mk4.5 titanium x sport 2.2 tdci 200bhp
Another friend has binned his 535d at a roundabout, and bought a £200 mk3 to run around in
Another friend has sold his E92 320D and is using a mk3 ST tdci for the time being
So there is four of us in the dingo club now haha!
Since my last update my friend (whos mk4 made me get this) has upgraded to a mk4.5 titanium x sport 2.2 tdci 200bhp
Another friend has binned his 535d at a roundabout, and bought a £200 mk3 to run around in
Another friend has sold his E92 320D and is using a mk3 ST tdci for the time being
So there is four of us in the dingo club now haha!
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