New commuter hack Mondeo - petrol this time
Discussion
I commute about 20k miles a year so on top of my trackday toy I always need to run a commuter hack of some sort.
I've run diesels for years with no particular "diesel specific" issues but I've decided to go back to petrol given the price of fuel and the scarcity of really decent cheap mass-market cars.
Ladies and gents I present.... The 2005 Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol in Ghia spec:
Be still my beating heart!
In all seriousness I really rate the Mk3 Mondeo and it should do everything I need from a commuter car. I'm hoping this will turn out to be a good example as it's a one owner car with a mere 56k on the clock. Cam chain engine so no worries there and it's one of the final facelift cars so most of the typical issues were sorted by then - notably the swirl flap failure issue is much, much less common.
It's been back to the supplying dealer every year on the dot for a service and MoT, four good Michelin tyres, even the wiper blades are recent and are genuine Ford ones. Given the absolute rubbish I've seen at this price point recently I think this is a bit of a gem. I paid pretty strong money for it in terms of 2005 Mondeos at £1850 but hopefully it will prove to be a wise purchase. Time will tell.
I've run diesels for years with no particular "diesel specific" issues but I've decided to go back to petrol given the price of fuel and the scarcity of really decent cheap mass-market cars.
Ladies and gents I present.... The 2005 Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol in Ghia spec:
Be still my beating heart!
In all seriousness I really rate the Mk3 Mondeo and it should do everything I need from a commuter car. I'm hoping this will turn out to be a good example as it's a one owner car with a mere 56k on the clock. Cam chain engine so no worries there and it's one of the final facelift cars so most of the typical issues were sorted by then - notably the swirl flap failure issue is much, much less common.
It's been back to the supplying dealer every year on the dot for a service and MoT, four good Michelin tyres, even the wiper blades are recent and are genuine Ford ones. Given the absolute rubbish I've seen at this price point recently I think this is a bit of a gem. I paid pretty strong money for it in terms of 2005 Mondeos at £1850 but hopefully it will prove to be a wise purchase. Time will tell.
Picked this up yesterday and have done about 100 miles in it so far. I think I've got a winner here, everything works and it drives really nicely.
It's just done it's second tip run of the day loaded to the window line with rubbish. I'd forgotten just how practical these things are.
Will be interesting to see how it copes with the commute next week.
It's just done it's second tip run of the day loaded to the window line with rubbish. I'd forgotten just how practical these things are.
Will be interesting to see how it copes with the commute next week.
Two weeks in, five tip runs, two charity shop runs, plus nine hundred miles driven and it's pretty much faultless.
I want to get some new boot struts as the current ones are a bit weak, as I found out last week when I hadn't opened it quite far enough and it came back down on me. Ouch.
Other than that..... Errrrm...... Nothing.
When I bought it the trader said he was surprised it hadn't come with a second key, given the condition of it and the history. He promised to let me know if one turned up as apparently the previous owner had promised to drop it in to the dealer he part-ex'd it at. "Yeah yeah" thinks I, "don't give me that, I know the score.". A week later he phones up, then drops by on his way home to give me the spare key.
MPG is coming out at around 32 which is OK as the car has been doing a lot more urban driving than is normal for me. I'm expecting to see that up around the mid 30's when it gets a week of "normal" commuting.
The heated windscreen has been a godsend on a couple of cold mornings and it's nice to have the little touches like the puddle lights in the wing mirrors.
I know I said earlier it's easy to forget just how practical these things are, with the seats down it can carry a huge amount of stuff. Here it is on a tip/delivery run last week:
So not the most exciting thing in the world, but it rides well, handles quite nicely, overall I'm really happy.
Let's see what the MoT brings in a couple of months........
I want to get some new boot struts as the current ones are a bit weak, as I found out last week when I hadn't opened it quite far enough and it came back down on me. Ouch.
Other than that..... Errrrm...... Nothing.
When I bought it the trader said he was surprised it hadn't come with a second key, given the condition of it and the history. He promised to let me know if one turned up as apparently the previous owner had promised to drop it in to the dealer he part-ex'd it at. "Yeah yeah" thinks I, "don't give me that, I know the score.". A week later he phones up, then drops by on his way home to give me the spare key.
MPG is coming out at around 32 which is OK as the car has been doing a lot more urban driving than is normal for me. I'm expecting to see that up around the mid 30's when it gets a week of "normal" commuting.
The heated windscreen has been a godsend on a couple of cold mornings and it's nice to have the little touches like the puddle lights in the wing mirrors.
I know I said earlier it's easy to forget just how practical these things are, with the seats down it can carry a huge amount of stuff. Here it is on a tip/delivery run last week:
So not the most exciting thing in the world, but it rides well, handles quite nicely, overall I'm really happy.
Let's see what the MoT brings in a couple of months........
Good choice. My 2003 1.8 Mk 3 continues to be indestructible. 115k miles, burns no oil, everything works. Last MoT was mildly troublesome, new brake pipes, H/B cable, couple of bushes. I suspect it's getting ready for a clutch, in which case it's under review as the next test is September. I have plenty of time, it's getting virtually no use just now.
Watch out for the rear pads gumming up and falling apart. It's the old chestnut of them doing no work so they stick in the sliders and then one day one sticks on, evrything gets nice and hot and if you are really lucky a pad falls off its backing. Easy to fix but you need a caliper windback tool with a LH thread for one side and a RH thread for t'other. Yes, I know you can *usually* wind them in with pliers or the grinder spanner, but sometimes "usually" doesn't cut it and the ba*d refuses to budge until you put the proper tool on and wind it up.
Watch out for the rear pads gumming up and falling apart. It's the old chestnut of them doing no work so they stick in the sliders and then one day one sticks on, evrything gets nice and hot and if you are really lucky a pad falls off its backing. Easy to fix but you need a caliper windback tool with a LH thread for one side and a RH thread for t'other. Yes, I know you can *usually* wind them in with pliers or the grinder spanner, but sometimes "usually" doesn't cut it and the ba*d refuses to budge until you put the proper tool on and wind it up.
I do like these old busses. They are pretty spacious and not a bad handler, but not one for badge snobs. They also soak up miles very well. I had a 3.0 V6 do 260k before some fool wrote it off (I was getting ready to change the dampers etc. on it).
My dad had one which had 380k on it, again with the engine untouched. ATM his 1.8 is on 311k and is running well.
With the right care they do go on and on... I probably should have bought one instead of the Clio if I had my sensible shoes on but I really did want either a 3.0 V6 or MkIV 2.5T, both of which were out of my budget at the time, or a MkIV Diesel Auto estate, again out of budget.
Rear calipers can stick on or even the handbrake mechanism stops working. I've never seen one seize to the point of debonding the pads however, and I have had a couple of calipers seize up on me over time.
Enjoy.
My dad had one which had 380k on it, again with the engine untouched. ATM his 1.8 is on 311k and is running well.
With the right care they do go on and on... I probably should have bought one instead of the Clio if I had my sensible shoes on but I really did want either a 3.0 V6 or MkIV 2.5T, both of which were out of my budget at the time, or a MkIV Diesel Auto estate, again out of budget.
Rear calipers can stick on or even the handbrake mechanism stops working. I've never seen one seize to the point of debonding the pads however, and I have had a couple of calipers seize up on me over time.
Enjoy
.Good choice OP. I also do around 20-25k a year, and chose a 2005/55 1.8LX over the various ready-for-the-skip diesels around for my budget of approx. £3k. I was after something reliable, safe, comfortable and capable of 40mpg (a not especially exciting list I grant you!).
I hadn't really been looking for a Mondeo, but chanced upon one with 75k miles 2 private owners, absolutely perfect condition and I paid just £1295, which meant I could hang on to my previous daily, an MR2 roadster for another year. That was in November 2014, have since put another 30k on without any real issues. It's had a new alternator - the bearings in it were getting very noisy but it never actually failed - and an offside rear wheel bearing. Also a couple of coil springs - a common failure point apparently.
Other than that it's been excellent, ideal for the job of covering my 130 mile a day route - a mix of dual carriageway (cruise set at around 75/80) and a great flowing A road (the Suffolk tourist route) which has shown the car up as a really satisfying drive. That wasn't on my list but definitely a bonus! The ride, handling and steering are all spot on.
It's a bit ho-hum in a straight line, but a great cruiser and is so practical - I keep the seats down during the week which means I can easily keep my road bike in there for lunchtime rides at work. Also a great family workhorse to backup the family CRV.
I've swapped the front Kumho tyres and the rear ditchfinders it came with (to be honest it handled fine but very low tread and a few standing-water moments speeded up the replacements) for a full set of Toyos which have been really good overall, but I'm sure I've noticed a bit more tramlining as well as 1-2mpg less compared to the eco tyres.
Anyway, I'm a bit of a convert now, and pleased I don't have the various diesel issues to worry about - but the flipside is I'm averaging around 36mpg. Fair enough I suppose, but it does vary a lot - I've seen everything from 33 to 40mpg - on the same journey and with similar driving. I'm also lucky to have a great local garage that knows Fords inside out and is around £25ph labour.
Good luck OP, hope it does the business for you!
ETA - yes, the struts caught me out too! They're OK and hold the boot up once you've helped it up to the top, but if you don't wait for it to fully raise it can come down unexpectedly. Ouch.
I hadn't really been looking for a Mondeo, but chanced upon one with 75k miles 2 private owners, absolutely perfect condition and I paid just £1295, which meant I could hang on to my previous daily, an MR2 roadster for another year. That was in November 2014, have since put another 30k on without any real issues. It's had a new alternator - the bearings in it were getting very noisy but it never actually failed - and an offside rear wheel bearing. Also a couple of coil springs - a common failure point apparently.
Other than that it's been excellent, ideal for the job of covering my 130 mile a day route - a mix of dual carriageway (cruise set at around 75/80) and a great flowing A road (the Suffolk tourist route) which has shown the car up as a really satisfying drive. That wasn't on my list but definitely a bonus! The ride, handling and steering are all spot on.
It's a bit ho-hum in a straight line, but a great cruiser and is so practical - I keep the seats down during the week which means I can easily keep my road bike in there for lunchtime rides at work. Also a great family workhorse to backup the family CRV.
I've swapped the front Kumho tyres and the rear ditchfinders it came with (to be honest it handled fine but very low tread and a few standing-water moments speeded up the replacements) for a full set of Toyos which have been really good overall, but I'm sure I've noticed a bit more tramlining as well as 1-2mpg less compared to the eco tyres.
Anyway, I'm a bit of a convert now, and pleased I don't have the various diesel issues to worry about - but the flipside is I'm averaging around 36mpg. Fair enough I suppose, but it does vary a lot - I've seen everything from 33 to 40mpg - on the same journey and with similar driving. I'm also lucky to have a great local garage that knows Fords inside out and is around £25ph labour.
Good luck OP, hope it does the business for you!
ETA - yes, the struts caught me out too! They're OK and hold the boot up once you've helped it up to the top, but if you don't wait for it to fully raise it can come down unexpectedly. Ouch.
Edited by paulmaurice99 on Thursday 7th April 21:11
Thanks all.
I like the description of it as invisible, that fits it very well, certainly given the reaction it seems to inspire in some other drivers. Maybe it's the colour but people just don't seem to see it, at all. That's not always a good thing.
Yes the wheels were on their way to the new owner not the tip, had to practically give them away as 15" E39 wheels just don't seem to be in demand but that's another story.
That's exactly what's happening with the boot struts, they're fine as long as the boot is fully open, if not......
This week the MPG has been much more like what I was expecting, OBC says about 36mpg so even if that's a few mpg off that's perfectly fine for me. Usable range seems to be about 400 miles which is a little less than I was hoping for being used to diesels with 500+ mile range but it's not a problem, seems obvious in retrospect that the petrol car won't magically have a bigger fuel tank than the diesel to compensate for the worse fuel economy
I think I need a rear wheel bearing, there's a roar from the back at speed which seems to be gradually getting worse. Not entirely surprising something like that would crop up given that every day the car is doing not far off what was previously it's average weekly mileage. I'll check it out at the weekend.
I like the description of it as invisible, that fits it very well, certainly given the reaction it seems to inspire in some other drivers. Maybe it's the colour but people just don't seem to see it, at all. That's not always a good thing.
Yes the wheels were on their way to the new owner not the tip, had to practically give them away as 15" E39 wheels just don't seem to be in demand but that's another story.
That's exactly what's happening with the boot struts, they're fine as long as the boot is fully open, if not......
This week the MPG has been much more like what I was expecting, OBC says about 36mpg so even if that's a few mpg off that's perfectly fine for me. Usable range seems to be about 400 miles which is a little less than I was hoping for being used to diesels with 500+ mile range but it's not a problem, seems obvious in retrospect that the petrol car won't magically have a bigger fuel tank than the diesel to compensate for the worse fuel economy
I think I need a rear wheel bearing, there's a roar from the back at speed which seems to be gradually getting worse. Not entirely surprising something like that would crop up given that every day the car is doing not far off what was previously it's average weekly mileage. I'll check it out at the weekend.
Looks tidy, I ran one for a year or so but an early example with the 2.0 TDdi engine. They are genuinely great cars, it's a shame they do now have more than a whiff of 'Council' about them but yours looks better than your average example.
I was about to mention the rear wheel bearings, they fail pretty often but are easy to replace as long as the rear disc comes off. I ended up doing the rear discs and pads at the same time as I was forced to use an exceptionally large hammer to get the disc off the hub assembly.
The bearing assembly itself comes as a single unit with wheel studs and ABS sensor built in and is held in by four torx bolts so it's a quick and easy DIY job if the stars align for you.
I was about to mention the rear wheel bearings, they fail pretty often but are easy to replace as long as the rear disc comes off. I ended up doing the rear discs and pads at the same time as I was forced to use an exceptionally large hammer to get the disc off the hub assembly.
The bearing assembly itself comes as a single unit with wheel studs and ABS sensor built in and is held in by four torx bolts so it's a quick and easy DIY job if the stars align for you.
My 1.8 petrol has delivered 42mpg driven like a nun over a 400 mile day on the M way, more usually high 30s. Town only sees 30mpg so easy to live with.
I think if you keep the things reasonably clean and tidy you can avoid the "council" sneers. It's just an old car, a workhorse. Sure, if you let it fill up with McDo papers and coffee cups you deserve all the sneers you get but mine has attracted positive comments for its interior condition even though I do no more than keep the litter in a bag and shovel out the footwells twice a year whether they need it or not.
I think if you keep the things reasonably clean and tidy you can avoid the "council" sneers. It's just an old car, a workhorse. Sure, if you let it fill up with McDo papers and coffee cups you deserve all the sneers you get but mine has attracted positive comments for its interior condition even though I do no more than keep the litter in a bag and shovel out the footwells twice a year whether they need it or not.
My boss made me drive his 2000 Mondeo petrol with 170k on the clock from Newcastle back to London.
Wasn't looking forward to it. My last Ford was a Cortina Mk4 and a Mk3 before that.
I was really impressed.
I now own a new Ford but not so on mpg. It's a Mustang 5.0 V8.
I have my old e36 for shops and station duties and I should be using it for my 100 mile commute but the Mustang is just so much fun to drive.
Petrol is creeping up so I think I'll need to stop that.
Wasn't looking forward to it. My last Ford was a Cortina Mk4
and a Mk3 before that. I was really impressed.
I now own a new Ford but not so on mpg. It's a Mustang 5.0 V8.
I have my old e36 for shops and station duties and I should be using it for my 100 mile commute but the Mustang is just so much fun to drive.
Petrol is creeping up so I think I'll need to stop that.
Well I'm still very happy with it, although I think I'd prefer the V8 Mustang too
Managed to get the Mondeo up on the trolley jack earlier on and I'm pretty sure one of the rear bearings is on it's way, going to get it looked at tomorrow by my mechanic so we'll see.
Oh no, I'll have to drive the mentalist track day car to work tomorrow, how *terrible*
Managed to get the Mondeo up on the trolley jack earlier on and I'm pretty sure one of the rear bearings is on it's way, going to get it looked at tomorrow by my mechanic so we'll see.
Oh no, I'll have to drive the mentalist track day car to work tomorrow, how *terrible*
Joining the party with my 2003 Mondeo LX, with the 1.8 petrol Duratec HE engine. My third car.
Picked it up a couple of weeks ago for £570 (with half a tank) having seen it on Auotrader, and spoken to the seller (church-going geophysicist! Was very genuine).
Generally immaculate, 69k miles, 12 months MOT, loads of service history from Ford, and an independent garage. Serviced last month (few hundred miles ago) - oil, plugs and all filters done, plus new rear calliper, and handbrake cable & mechanism (£470 invoice...)
Massive step up from my £500 1999 Polo which was my first bad buy (but, 7th vehicle) - needed a new gearbox after 4 days - and plenty to get through the MOT that would have expired next week.
I would like heated leather, and alloys, so if it behaves, I might upgrade the interior and wheels if something comes up at the right price.
Needs passenger window switch replacing, and an air-con regas. What I thought was rusty discs, or dragging pads has turned out to be a wheel bearing, so a new rear hub has just gone on. I'll be giving it a polish and seal, the drivers water-marked seat a clean, and the engine cover some trim dressing, and that's about it.
Very comfy, quiet, cruise control, air con, fuel computer, and an AUX port... very happy with it indeed! Perfect for starting my grad job with I think.
Picked it up a couple of weeks ago for £570 (with half a tank) having seen it on Auotrader, and spoken to the seller (church-going geophysicist! Was very genuine).
Generally immaculate, 69k miles, 12 months MOT, loads of service history from Ford, and an independent garage. Serviced last month (few hundred miles ago) - oil, plugs and all filters done, plus new rear calliper, and handbrake cable & mechanism (£470 invoice...)
Massive step up from my £500 1999 Polo which was my first bad buy (but, 7th vehicle) - needed a new gearbox after 4 days - and plenty to get through the MOT that would have expired next week.
I would like heated leather, and alloys, so if it behaves, I might upgrade the interior and wheels if something comes up at the right price.
Needs passenger window switch replacing, and an air-con regas. What I thought was rusty discs, or dragging pads has turned out to be a wheel bearing, so a new rear hub has just gone on. I'll be giving it a polish and seal, the drivers water-marked seat a clean, and the engine cover some trim dressing, and that's about it.
Very comfy, quiet, cruise control, air con, fuel computer, and an AUX port... very happy with it indeed! Perfect for starting my grad job with I think.
My old man has one of these, a X reg with the 1.8 petrol.
Nothing fancy at all but I got under it the last time I was up and the thing is as clean as a whistle, and it has spent the last 6 years by the bloody sea! Nothing much goes wrong with it I couldn't deal with, odd creak but nothing major. Engine sounds like new wit 70k on it.
Am secretly wanting it for a dog car / something to tinker with when he gets shut of it just the huge near £300 a year tax putting me off.
Nothing fancy at all but I got under it the last time I was up and the thing is as clean as a whistle, and it has spent the last 6 years by the bloody sea! Nothing much goes wrong with it I couldn't deal with, odd creak but nothing major. Engine sounds like new wit 70k on it.
Am secretly wanting it for a dog car / something to tinker with when he gets shut of it just the huge near £300 a year tax putting me off.
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