RE: Ford Mondeo 2.5 T Titanium X | Shed of the Week

[ChocolateFrog]

Too expensive to run as a daily, not special enough for a weekend car.

Good cars though. Most will have been chronically under maintained for the last decade or so.

[njw1]

I've toyed with the idea of one of these a few times but it would have to be a titanium x estate, which, whenever I've looked, never seem to come up for sale. Wasn't there someone on one of the Ford forums that tuned one of these to about 400bhp? I'll bet that was entertaining.

[fantheman80]

I had the 2.5 in the Focus ST and found it disappointing so be a bit more blunter in this heavier car id imagine. It made the right noises, but needed a remap badly.

[p1stonhead]

fantheman80 said:

I had the 2.5 in the Focus ST and found it disappointing so be a bit more blunter in this heavier car id imagine. It made the right noises, but needed a remap badly.

It’s detuned I think for this car and is definitely more of a surge/waft based feeling than anything aggressive like an ST was. Same engine but totally different purposes.

[J4CKO]

I like Mondrian but this is a bit of a head scratcher, you don’t buy old Mondeos if you are minted, you buy whatever is cheapest to run, not sure there is a lot of point to having a thirsty petrol engine in one, sure it’s nice but will be high teens low twenties mpg knocking about and £700 odd VED.

Diesels sadly make most sense, they do drive really well, I always preferred them to Audi A4s to drive, and so comfy, last went in one as a taxi and it was a lovely ride, had down over 300k and was absolutely mint.

[MrBig]

These Mondeos were a great drive, albeit not massively exciting. My brother had the 2.5T in the ST with a naughty remap from one of the well known Ford tuners and it was absolutely brutal. Unfortunately the massive torque increase meant it would happily slip the clutch in 4th

[J0021365]

Whether or not it has adaptive front lights .... is it going to make a difference as to whether or not to buy?
Who gives a FF.
It is what it is and that is not a lot.
Usual humour somewhat diluted this fine Friday but thanks anyway for an instantly forgettable Shed.

[nismo48]

Decent shed for the money and probably has a few more miles under its belt

[edgyedgy]

KTF said:

Shame its not a Mk4.5 as they dont look as old now. You can apply as much man maths as you like to the road tax but its still a lot given the cost of the car.

Surely the high VED is offset by it been Ulez compliant to a lot of people.

[StescoG66]

Bobupndown said:

StescoG66 said:

I like cars like this. Look nothing, but a bit of an iron fist in a wooden mitt.

Or even a woollen one?

Oops. Yup

[soad]

Blackpuddin said:

WPA said:

For sale in Birmingham, no thanks

I thought it was only Keighley we were supposed to be afraid of?

Huddersfield can be bad too. Keep your eyes open for dodgy dealers.

[p1stonhead]

edgyedgy said:

KTF said:

Shame its not a Mk4.5 as they dont look as old now. You can apply as much man maths as you like to the road tax but its still a lot given the cost of the car.

Surely the high VED is offset by it been Ulez compliant to a lot of people.

I was very pleasantly surprised to discover it’s compliant. Seems kinda mad that a 17 year old 2.5l thirsty petrol is compliant but there you go.

[MC Bodge]

The normal Mk4 2.0 TDCI 140 was an excellent car. Mine was a brillinat all-rounder.The chassis allowed excellent back roads ride and driving.

The estate was very spacious.

Ps. The discontinued Mk5 was oddly under-rated, (and everybody who rides in mine comments on how comfortable and composed it is), but drives similarly. (Sadly,the luggage compartment is not quite as practical)

[gruppeb86]

My father had one of these in his final days, although it had ST alloys and was the rarer saloon option. You get a lot for your money and certainly has more presence with larger ST wheels.

[varsas]

I have had my 2.0 diesel 140 Titanium X saloon for over 5 years now. bought as a stop gap for £3,200, I've done 40,000mls in it. Only issues were the cruise control buttons going wrong (£30 from eBay fixed that) and the dials going haywire once (took the dash apart, reset and fine since). It drives well (I came from an e46 330ci and, ultimate chassis balance and engine aside, the Mondeo drives better with more consistent control weights, a better driving position and nicer steering and gearbox), is safe and very cheap to run (50mpg+). Mine has IVDC adaptive dampers, bi-xenon lights, rear privacy glass and blinds, adaptive cornering lights, heated seats etc. I have something fun and something special in the garage for when I want, I need a car that is practical, comfortable and reliable. Cheap is a bonus, that it also happens to be nice to drive makes it very difficult to justify replacing it.

[Rob 131 Sport]

8IKERDAVE said:

My brother has a Mondeo of this ilk, (albeit the 2.0 Diesel and a little newer). It's such a spacious car and very underrated. Such a shame no ones interested anymore and would prefer to drive on stilts - the reason for which still escapes me.

It also escapes me.

[MC Bodge]

Rob 131 Sport said:

8IKERDAVE said:

My brother has a Mondeo of this ilk, (albeit the 2.0 Diesel and a little newer). It's such a spacious car and very underrated. Such a shame no ones interested anymore and would prefer to drive on stilts - the reason for which still escapes me.

It also escapes me.

Me too.

[tr3a]

mart4856 said:

How refreshing, a SOTW article written without any purile schoolboy humour nor any pathetic comments about "back doors or passages".

Oh, please stop clutching your pearls. I'm here mainly for the puerile schoolboy humour and judging from the usual 'pathetic comments', I'm not alone.

[Mumble]

tr3a said:

mart4856 said:

How refreshing, a SOTW article written without any purile schoolboy humour nor any pathetic comments about "back doors or passages".

Oh, please stop clutching your pearls. I'm here mainly for the puerile schoolboy humour and judging from the usual 'pathetic comments', I'm not alone.

Yes let's have a little smut on a early Friday morning

[Mr Tidy]

daveco said:

trevalvole said:

greenarrow said:

If you like a niche edition old Mondeo this is definitely the time to buy one. Would I take one over an equally rare these days and pretty cheap too E90 330i though, er, no!

Looking at my saved eBay BMW 330i search, they do seem rather more expensive than this shed and pretty much all seem to be autos, which would be fine for me, but I suspect not for many here. This was about the cheapest comparable one I could find: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335375753821

The 325 from the same era is also a peach - same hp, no turbo, better on fuel, just as reliable, no rust issues etc

The 325i was never the same power as a 330i though!

I had a manual E91 325i for a year then replaced it with a manual E90 330i as the 325i just felt a bit sluggish.

My last Ford was a Sierra Sapphire GLSi because after that they were all FWD, and I like manual RWD cars with NA engines.

But at least Ford made something a bit out of the ordinary.