RE: Shed Of The Week: Ford Mondeo ST220

[PistonBroker]

The Don of Croy said:

With a long MOT shirley any half decent car under the magic grand is bargainistic?

Given that it could spring some ugly numbers on you it's still only a cheap mota? Use, abuse, send to scrappy. No?

Agreed. But I guess it would be nice to spend a bit more and have something that would give you a few years service.

Having said that, I appreciate PH is never going to use AT for its feature, but this isn't the cheapest there and the two below it don't look too bad.

[Scottie - NW]

I think Mr Shed needs to check his maths again if he is about to embark upon a money making exercise.

If you normally pay £200 for a service, and are charged £500, that is not 250% over the odds, it is 150% over the odds.

[SebringMan]

Spannerski said:

Like all Fords.
There good to about 80,000 miles then become money pits.

Edited by Spannerski on Friday 19th May 11:20

In which case both of my V6 Mondeos were huge money pits.

First one we took to 291k ;an '04 V6 Auto. The second was a 3.0 Manual that we took to 262k. If it wasn't hit by a careless driver I'd probably still have it.

We even had a 2.0 that we took to 380k and a 1.8 that went to 325k ; I was semi tempted to keep the latter. It was a nice car to smoke around in despite lacking pace etc.

As for a friend of mine with a 60k A3 1.4TFSi he spends around £2k a year in it so far. I have no idea where that comment comes from.

Anyway, that looks like a half decent buy! Keep on top of the cooling systems and oil changes and those V6s go on for ages.

[Jarcy]

I see this as a rolling spare engine & gearbox for my Noble.

[r11co]

That's not a 'facelift' version. Chunky buttons on the centre console and rear lights are a giveaway.

[s m]

[Cambs_Stuart]

I had one of these. It was a superb car, until the main bearing went at less than 60,000 miles, despite twice yearly oil changes and various gasket replacements. Until that point it was very reliable...
It was very comfortable and well equipped, really nice for quick cross country driving and motorway cruising. Huge boot that could swallow all kit required for family holidays. Once a stainless exhaust and some braided hoses were fitted it sounded great and stopped too.
However it used a colossal amount of fuel (my Subaru Impreza uses less) and was not all that fast.
So, sounded like a race car, drank fuel like a race car, went like a diesel repmobile. But a comfy one.

[JohnGoodridge]

corcoran said:

Spannerski said:

Like all Fords.

There good to about 80,000 miles then become money pits.

lol no - drove a Focus st170 for years without issue right up to 120,000 miles, sold it, bought a 3 series e46.. THAT sir, is a money pit.

lol no - drove an e46 330i for years right up to 195,000 miles. All it needed was an alternator, 'hedgehog' for the aircon, and fuel filter. Unlocked and started at -9. Fantastic car.

[krazyivan9]

This can't be right, it's a used Mondeo without the obligatory duct tape on the bumpers!!!

[tannhauser]

MajorMantra said:

Shed said:

horrible brassy ignition stick-thing

This is the best description of Ford keys of this era I've seen. They are amusingly agricultural.

Having said that, the flimsy plastic cuboid not-a-key key for the Mk4 Mondeo I test drove the other week was even more underwhelming, it felt completely weightless and eminently losable.

Indeed - horrible things! And to think Jaguars of the same era had them too!!

Also Mk3 Mondeo - rust rust rust!

[Richair]

Wouldn't touch that with yours... I'm sure any 'sharp' handling traits of the past have been long eroded away by baggy bushes and dampers, without even considering the potential for impending doom in the engine room. But each to their own Shed!

[cookington]

Why wouldn't the seller replace the bonnet using said scrapyard item before sale?

I'm wondering what else was damaged when it 'got a little hot.'?

Far nicer examples out there of both the petrol and diesel models for under £1000, granted they aren't on PH.

Good choice of shed, terrible example.

[GranCab]

A couple of racing stripes will disguise the bonnet "issue" ...

[Limpet]

s m said:

Beat me to it. I drove one of these and an Accord Type R on the same day, and thought the Mondeo was a much better car.

[ZX10R NIN]

Always liked the ST220 everyone I've been in has been a good steer.

[_Neal_]

grumpy52 said:

I tend to go straight past any car with its plates obscured, what they hiding ?

Then you're missing out on decent cars - it's something people do to prevent cloning. Whether that's necessary or not on an 03 Mondeo is up for debate though! Any decent seller will just give you the reg so you can do an MOT history check anyway.

On topic, good shed, always liked those.

[only1ian]

GranCab said:

A couple of racing stripes will disguise the bonnet "issue" ...

I stand resolutely corrected! Dont think i have ever seen or heard of one until i saw this! Would be an awesome q car if we could delete those stripes. Not my taste but i do appreciate the heritage ford appeal however tenuous!

Any major differences between this and a saloon?

[Howrare]

The shape

[DPSFleet]

Put some Jag badges on it and who's to know the difference. Top choice.

[Podie]

r11co said:

That's not a 'facelift' version. Chunky buttons on the centre console and rear lights are a giveaway.

This.

You can even see it's a 5 speed box in the photos. In fact, even the ad says 5 speed.

I had a facelift car, and loved it. Still miss the old bus even now.