Mondeo mk4? Larger Car / Less Worried Use

[DickP]

Good evening all,

I had a Mondeo mk3 2.0 tdci hatch as my daily runner for whacking miles on when I was commuting from Manchester to Leeds and back, adding about 18k onto the car between March and November last year. I since then replaced it with a Clio 182 which I absolutely love but feel that given it's low mileage and general good condition, it's a shame to be putting it through the worst weather the UK can throw and that my road bike is a faff to put in and both mine and my friends' outdoor kit tends to fill it!

Because of the two above mentioned points I had thought about a few options, what are the early Mondeo mk4s like? Or am I better off finding an estate mk3 which has the less flimsy rear suspension / bushes setup?

I'd also like to avoid anything that involves masses of work for 100k + maintenance, like wishbone replacements requiring jigging and dropping subframes and all that kind of thing if possible (if any cars like that exist)?

Alternatively if a good enough spec Focus comes up then that would also be an option.

ps. mileage will be around 15k assuming the Clio makes up the fun 5k say, and budget of to £3,000 for this kind of car where leaving it in a supermarket car park won't have me worrying about dents etc!

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say get yourself one of these no DPF to worry about, the suspension is easy to refurbish you just change the arms, the cost for all the front arms drop links anti roll bar bushes & steering arms it'll set you back around £350 the engine just works & carries on running I sold my CLK with the same engine & 170k on the clock I couldn't fault it.

I would say a good engine flush as well as a gearbox filter & fluid change should be done if you get a Mercedes, you'll see mid to high 40's on the motorway (these respond well to a Remap) 30's around town with the auto box it makes for a relaxing commuter car.

C270 Avantgarde SE 90k FSH

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Or if you need something bigger:

E320 Avantgarde (straight 6 version of the above so again bulletproof) 118k

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

I like the Mondeos & one of these would be my second choice but these are easier to work on & maintain because of the way they're packaged.

2009 Zetec 101k FSH

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

[Glasgowrob]

mk4 Mondeo estates are utterly bulletproof workhorses, buy a 2l tdci service it regularly using a decent oil, and thats pretty much it.


managed an alternator and a set of rear bushes on mine in 320k odd miles

[CTS86]

Glasgowrob said:

mk4 Mondeo estates are utterly bulletproof workhorses, buy a 2l tdci service it regularly using a decent oil, and thats pretty much it.


managed an alternator and a set of rear bushes on mine in 320k odd miles

I bought a 59 plate 2.0 TDCI about 8 months back largely due to the fact that there are loads of them being run as taxis and also partly because of your 300k+ mile example which seemed to be indestructible.

Had 98k miles on it when I picked it up and is now on 116k. Aside from having the timing belt changed at 100k (to be on the safe side) it's cost nothing to run so far and I'm generally happy with it.

However...

It's not the most brisk of cars and could do with a bit more poke. I seem to remember from your "Million Mile Mondeo" thread (before it was sabotaged by some loon with too much time on their hands) that you may have had yours tweaked slightly. What sort of power might yours have ended up putting out (had you had it done of course) and by what company?

Would send you a PM but can't seem to find out how to.

Cheers.