To shed or not to shed that is the question! SHED! Obviously
Discussion
After selling my old car i've been on the hunt for a new daily driver
After setting a budget of up to £2.5k there were plenty of options out there and I viewed a lot of cars
However most stuff was just pants!
Odd tyres, no service history, dealers lying about prices and trying to shaft me (Long story!) etc. etc.
I only do about 8k pa and most models I like the look of turn up mainly diesels, which isn't the best option to be honest.
I narrowed the search down to petrol only and I've always preferred saloon sized cars
Searching through the usual freeads and autotrader brought up slim pickings however I did spot something last night and viewed (And purchased) today
Massively under budget at just £650 but the left over money from my other car sale can go towards a nice holiday and into the pot for the missus' next car!
Its dull.... very dull! But hopefully will provide fairly cheap trouble free motoring
I bring you... The 2004 Ford MK3 Mondeo!
This lovely (
) example comes in 1.8 Petrol format and base spec LX form with steel wheels and not a lot else!
It has covered a mere 90-odd thousand miles and has full service history (stamps stamps stamps galore in the service book!) and owned locally by an older chap (However I purchased from a garage that had taken it in px from him)
Bodywork is mint and has been garaged most of it's life too. And to top it all off the front two tyres are matching Pirelli's! (rears are cheapo branded) You cannot believe how many much more expensive cars i looked at had mismatched ditch finders all round...
Anyone had much experience with these? What should i look out for?
Was rather surprised when I got home to insure it too. Only £200 fully comp for the year with Aviva! And £50 cashback coming via Quidco too!
Sure I could have probably found a newer, higher spec, lower price etc. etc. but it was local and seems to have been cared for.
Now i can drive it around without a care in the world (well obviously care toward other drivers and road safety!)
But hey you need something taken to the dump? Sling it in!
Knocked your door into mine in the supermarket? Ah who cares!
Its due a service now, but I can do this myself and the parts from EuroCarParts were £14!... Delivered!
This brings me back into the world of cheap shedding again! Last one was my old Rover 25 purchased for a whopping £75! Which incidentally is still going strong and being used by my sister as a run around.
After setting a budget of up to £2.5k there were plenty of options out there and I viewed a lot of cars
However most stuff was just pants!
Odd tyres, no service history, dealers lying about prices and trying to shaft me (Long story!) etc. etc.
I only do about 8k pa and most models I like the look of turn up mainly diesels, which isn't the best option to be honest.
I narrowed the search down to petrol only and I've always preferred saloon sized cars
Searching through the usual freeads and autotrader brought up slim pickings however I did spot something last night and viewed (And purchased) today
Massively under budget at just £650 but the left over money from my other car sale can go towards a nice holiday and into the pot for the missus' next car!
Its dull.... very dull! But hopefully will provide fairly cheap trouble free motoring
I bring you... The 2004 Ford MK3 Mondeo!
This lovely (
) example comes in 1.8 Petrol format and base spec LX form with steel wheels and not a lot else!It has covered a mere 90-odd thousand miles and has full service history (stamps stamps stamps galore in the service book!) and owned locally by an older chap (However I purchased from a garage that had taken it in px from him)
Bodywork is mint and has been garaged most of it's life too. And to top it all off the front two tyres are matching Pirelli's! (rears are cheapo branded) You cannot believe how many much more expensive cars i looked at had mismatched ditch finders all round...
Anyone had much experience with these? What should i look out for?
Was rather surprised when I got home to insure it too. Only £200 fully comp for the year with Aviva! And £50 cashback coming via Quidco too!
Sure I could have probably found a newer, higher spec, lower price etc. etc. but it was local and seems to have been cared for.
Now i can drive it around without a care in the world (well obviously care toward other drivers and road safety!)
But hey you need something taken to the dump? Sling it in!
Knocked your door into mine in the supermarket? Ah who cares!
Its due a service now, but I can do this myself and the parts from EuroCarParts were £14!... Delivered!
This brings me back into the world of cheap shedding again! Last one was my old Rover 25 purchased for a whopping £75! Which incidentally is still going strong and being used by my sister as a run around.
Nice cars, 650 thats a comfy motor.
Off the top of my head the 1.8...
Has the dreaded swirl flaps on the intake, think the weak point was revised on a 2004 though.
The 1.8 does not like regular short stop driving, old man just scrapped his at 80K due to piston ring failure.
Thermostat is electronic, plastic and s
t. If your car ever runs cold its because the tabs have snapped off and the thermostat wont close.
EGR also cloggs.
Have a timing chain though which is good for a shed
I thought it was a great car to drive and be a passenger in, the mk3/4 mondeos are unbeatable for the money if you are handy with spanners.
Off the top of my head the 1.8...
Has the dreaded swirl flaps on the intake, think the weak point was revised on a 2004 though.
The 1.8 does not like regular short stop driving, old man just scrapped his at 80K due to piston ring failure.
Thermostat is electronic, plastic and s
t. If your car ever runs cold its because the tabs have snapped off and the thermostat wont close.EGR also cloggs.
Have a timing chain though which is good for a shed
I thought it was a great car to drive and be a passenger in, the mk3/4 mondeos are unbeatable for the money if you are handy with spanners.
Hmm well a couple of things there to be wary of but i guess it was reasonably cheap
Chain drive was one of the main factors in looking at these, no cambelt to worry about.
Luckily I have a fully equipped workshop with 5 twin post lifts, 2 short lift body work lifts and a full sized oven/spray booth at work...! So spannering aint gunna be a problem
Chain drive was one of the main factors in looking at these, no cambelt to worry about.
Luckily I have a fully equipped workshop with 5 twin post lifts, 2 short lift body work lifts and a full sized oven/spray booth at work...! So spannering aint gunna be a problem
The shed is home!
Collected it today and drove back OK
Couple of things I missed on the test drive....
The cruise control is not working & the drivers footwell is quite wet
Couple of things to investigate there but hopefully nothing major
Drives well and sits happily at 70 on the motorway
Collected it today and drove back OK
Couple of things I missed on the test drive....
The cruise control is not working & the drivers footwell is quite wet
Couple of things to investigate there but hopefully nothing major
Drives well and sits happily at 70 on the motorway
Cruise control issue is probably related to one of the microswitches that detect the brake or clutch pedals being pushed (pushing either pedal disengages the system). If the switches fail closed, they'll always report the pedals are being pushed, so cruise disengages as soon as you switch it on.
The other common issue with cruise on the Mondeo is that the contacts on the buttons on the steering wheel get dirty/corroded. Cleaning these up will resolve the issue.
Check this post out:
http://www.talkford.com/community/topic/196771-cru...
The wet footwell is definitely the more pressing issue; you'll want to find the source of the leak before the Ford steel does what it does best and dissolves into a small pile of iron oxide on your driveway. Check the drivers' door weather seal. Could also be the heater core, which is bad because proper repair necessitates the removal of the whole dashboard, pretty much
The other common issue with cruise on the Mondeo is that the contacts on the buttons on the steering wheel get dirty/corroded. Cleaning these up will resolve the issue.
Check this post out:
http://www.talkford.com/community/topic/196771-cru...
The wet footwell is definitely the more pressing issue; you'll want to find the source of the leak before the Ford steel does what it does best and dissolves into a small pile of iron oxide on your driveway. Check the drivers' door weather seal. Could also be the heater core, which is bad because proper repair necessitates the removal of the whole dashboard, pretty much
haddock82 said:
the drivers footwell is quite wet
Couple of things to investigate there but hopefully nothing major
Had one of these a few years ago (56 plate) we managed to miss the wet carpet, after many months of looking for the culprit it was finally diagnosed as the windscreen seal. Couple of things to investigate there but hopefully nothing major
danxr3i said:
The footwell will be the door seal membrane. They revised it on facelift models. I've got a 53plate st220 shed which I paid nothing (actually no cash) for. I absolutely love the car. have fun shedding it
Have you fixed yours? Was it an easy fix?Seems all good so far (touch wood) drives comfortably
I just need to remember its a shed.... Ordered new floor mats already...!
Must stop! Spend nothing on it and shed it!
(Will be servicing it next week too...!)
I think i have found the source of the waterleak into the drivers side
It was raining this morning and there seems to be a leak in the bottom corner of the door into the cabin, looks like it could be running down inside the door and in. Possibly the door membrane gone then? Apparently a common problem.
Will investigate more at the weekend!
Otherwise 100 miles down without issue
It was raining this morning and there seems to be a leak in the bottom corner of the door into the cabin, looks like it could be running down inside the door and in. Possibly the door membrane gone then? Apparently a common problem.
Will investigate more at the weekend!
Otherwise 100 miles down without issue
Great cars, i reckon. And the petrol will be less expensive problem prone than the diesels.
My stepdad has a 2001 1.8 LX Estate, it's on 130kish miles, has a number of niggly faults, but just carries on.
Rear brake calipers binding are a known issue but i believe the parts were changed on the 2003/2004 model, which yours is.
The engine is a Mazda unit so should not give much trouble IMO.
In the Estate, its fairly pedestrian...should be a little better in the hatch but still no ball of fire.
I think they still drive nicely, with steering feel better than some so called sports cars.
Nice one
My stepdad has a 2001 1.8 LX Estate, it's on 130kish miles, has a number of niggly faults, but just carries on.
Rear brake calipers binding are a known issue but i believe the parts were changed on the 2003/2004 model, which yours is.
The engine is a Mazda unit so should not give much trouble IMO.
In the Estate, its fairly pedestrian...should be a little better in the hatch but still no ball of fire.
I think they still drive nicely, with steering feel better than some so called sports cars.
Nice one
Its certainly not going to beat much off the lights that is for sure!
But it is very comfortable and has enough power to keep up with traffic
If i wanted performance I wouldn't be spending £650 on a base spec mondeo!
Touch wood, so far so good. Servicing it at the weekend, we'll see what it looks like underneath when i get it on the ramp!
But it is very comfortable and has enough power to keep up with traffic
If i wanted performance I wouldn't be spending £650 on a base spec mondeo!
Touch wood, so far so good. Servicing it at the weekend, we'll see what it looks like underneath when i get it on the ramp!
When you say the cruise control is not working, are you aware that there is no dashboard light until you set the speed?
I recently sold my Mondeo and this caught me out when I first bought it. I was expecting to see a light on the dash when I pushed the 'ON' button, but you don't get anything until you have also set the speed.
Another useful tip is that the resume button is also the disengage button, which for me is better than dabbing the brake pedal (which I did for the first few months of ownership!)
I recently sold my Mondeo and this caught me out when I first bought it. I was expecting to see a light on the dash when I pushed the 'ON' button, but you don't get anything until you have also set the speed.
Another useful tip is that the resume button is also the disengage button, which for me is better than dabbing the brake pedal (which I did for the first few months of ownership!)
911gone said:
When you say the cruise control is not working, are you aware that there is no dashboard light until you set the speed?
I recently sold my Mondeo and this caught me out when I first bought it. I was expecting to see a light on the dash when I pushed the 'ON' button, but you don't get anything until you have also set the speed.
Another useful tip is that the resume button is also the disengage button, which for me is better than dabbing the brake pedal (which I did for the first few months of ownership!)
Yes i think I've tried every combination of button pushing!I recently sold my Mondeo and this caught me out when I first bought it. I was expecting to see a light on the dash when I pushed the 'ON' button, but you don't get anything until you have also set the speed.
Another useful tip is that the resume button is also the disengage button, which for me is better than dabbing the brake pedal (which I did for the first few months of ownership!)
Will have a look at the weekend when i service it, see if it is a microswitch on the pedals gone or just a fuse.
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