Mondeo ST24 99-2000

[Pothole]

Been offered one of these cheap. Anything I need to be careful of? It was my uncle's and has FMDSH, low miles for the year.

[junglie]

Good cars for what they are.

I have had 2 x ST24 and 2 x ST220 (better car in every respect but you would expect that).

For a very reasonable outlay you have a reliable, smooth, good looking motor that makes a nice noise.

The down side is the obvious thirst (I just don't worry about this petrol vs diesel nonsense) but if you get it cheap it pays for itself. The V6 is a nice engine but it does lack the torque compared to a BMW engine of the same capacity and also it feels 'Breathless' as you wind it towards the top 1/3 of the rev range.

[Pothole]

So for less than a bag it could be fun (more of a winter hack and then we'll see what happens if the sun ever comes back)?

[junglie]

Absolutely.

Mine were fantastic and I bought them for less than a bag as a hack which I ended up keeping for over 2 years and ran it up and down the motorway every weekend.

Let's face it - air con, electric windows and a 'why do all cars not have them?' heated front screen for the same as 2 months depreciation on a crappy 4 pot eurobox!

[Pothole]

True. I guess I'll get the same for it in the spring or can just break some bits off and get it back that way. Cheers, mate.

[Blukoo]

If the catalytic converters go I believe they can be pricey to replace as there are 3 of them.

[Zad]

Nah, 60 quid a piece for the cats, and you can just gut the primary cats anyway, they are close coupled ones which are used when the engine is warming up. Under MoT conditions the main catalyst is perfectly good enough for the job.

Just make sure the secondary valves open at 3500-3750 rpm and give you a shove in the back. If they are sticking shut you will notice the engine simply runs out of power at higher revs.