MK3 Mondeo - Yay or Nay? Best Trim/Engine?

[t84]

Hi guys,

Think the dream of running a banzai estate is out of the window due to insurance.

Looking at MK3 Mondeos, they seem well specced, what's the best engine/trim to go for? Are they good cars?

[seismic22]

My dads got a 54 plated TDCI 130 Estate and it is ridiculously frugal, has 6 gears and is certainly not slow. Handles well and is Huge inside. My dad definately does not drive slow but does do alot of country driving so no stop starting and averages 50mpg. Only bad thing is the gearbox isnt the best, not very smooth and i dont know about anybody elses but its exceptionally easy to stall if your not in quite the right gear and slowing to nearly a stop or a stop for a roundabout or junction.

Only problem he has had is turbo pipe split and it lost tons of power and started chucking out black smoke. Was easily and cheapily fixed by himself.

[killsta]

t84 said:

Looking at MK3 Mondeos, they seem well specced, what's the best engine/trim to go for?

ST220.

/thread.

[Howard-]

killsta said:

t84 said:

Looking at MK3 Mondeos, they seem well specced, what's the best engine/trim to go for?

ST220.

/thread.

With red leather Recaro interior.

[lewis s]

Ive got a 2004 LX 2.0TDCI hatch (115ps) and its great for what its for!

Its on 155,000 miles now and returns over 50mpg even when doing mostly town driving, is quick enough, very comfortable and quiet. I would definately recommend one!

Ours was only £1500 as well (ex company car) so there are some good deals about if you don't mind a bit of milage. I have done just over 12,000 faultless miles in the year that i have had it.

A very cheap way of getting around.

ETA

Apparently post 2003 engines are better. Have a look on Parkers.

Edited by lewis s on Monday 3rd May 11:34

[killsta]

Howard- said:

killsta said:

t84 said:

Looking at MK3 Mondeos, they seem well specced, what's the best engine/trim to go for?

ST220.

/thread.

With red leather Recaro interior.

Indeed. Mine was blue with black recaros

I still miss it, it has a certain something over the Focus ST I have now Excellent cars.

[Fartgalen]

I'm happy with mine. 01 2.0 Ghia.
Just done a 3000km trip in it with no problems. Does itro 500kms per week. It's comfy. Quiet. Roomy. And returns over 40mpg. (Majority motorway and fast A roads).

[t84]

ST220 is what I wanted, unfortunately my insurer is quoting me £3000+.

[Fruitcake]

If you need speed and a good noise, it has to be the ST220.

If you don't need the noise but would like some economy, the ST TDCi.

If you want a normal mile muncher, the 1.8 petrol is actually pretty good.

[t84]

Also,

Does anyone understand the trim levels? Is there a list of differences between LX, Zetec, Ghia, and Ghia X anywhere?

Aren't the Diesels majorly problematic? And is the 1.8 Sci any good?

[killsta]

t84 said:

ST220 is what I wanted, unfortunately my insurer is quoting me £3000+.

Have you shopped around? £3k seems very steep - unless you have points/accidents.

My ST220 was £900 with 3yrs NCB when I was 22.

[Rollcage]

I had thought that these can suffer from the usual dual mass flywheel woes and also some rear bush problems that can be expensive to sort out? Would quite like a TDCi 130 myself at some point, and they do seem to be quite dependable cars on the whole. Very cheap as there are so many of them around!

[t84]

killsta said:

t84 said:

ST220 is what I wanted, unfortunately my insurer is quoting me £3000+.

Have you shopped around? £3k seems very steep - unless you have points/accidents.

My ST220 was £900 with 3yrs NCB when I was 22.

Aye, I know, I think I'm with the wrong insurer, but I'm about 6 months in the policy now so I'm reluctant to cancel

[Taita]

t84 said:

ST220 is what I wanted, unfortunately my insurer is quoting me £3000+.

crumbs I liked them too.

[killsta]

t84 said:

killsta said:

t84 said:

ST220 is what I wanted, unfortunately my insurer is quoting me £3000+.

Have you shopped around? £3k seems very steep - unless you have points/accidents.

My ST220 was £900 with 3yrs NCB when I was 22.

Aye, I know, I think I'm with the wrong insurer, but I'm about 6 months in the policy now so I'm reluctant to cancel

It's worth it for the soundtrack

Get one test driven

[Taita]

t84 said:

ST220 is what I wanted, unfortunately my insurer is quoting me £3000+.

crumbs I liked them too.

[t84]

Just put my details into Confused and the cheapest is £1100 with £3000 excess! Ones without ridiculous excess start at £3100... LOL

[Ynox]

Confused etc are crap.

Try Admiral and/or going through the brokers - Brentacre/Chris Knott/Adrian Flux etc etc etc. It's a group 17 car but it shouldn't be £3k+ to insure unless you live in Baghdad and only have your licence for a month!

As for specs (at a risk of sounding like Fox):

Engines - derv - 115/130 2 litres, 155 2.2 litre (facelift only). My pick is the 130 bhp derv.
petrol - 1.8 120? bhp, 2.0 143 bhp, 2.5 v6 170ish bhp, 3.0 210 bhp (facelift only), 3.0 220 bhp (ST220). My pick is the 3.0 220 bhp, failing that go for the 2.0 with 143 bhp.

LX - basic spec. Cloth seats, steels, electric windows in front etc. Lots about but I'd avoid.

Then - 'sports':
Zetec - sporty mid-range spec. Few more toys (e.g. leather steering wheel, 16" alloys, 'sports' suspension).
Zetec S - like zetec, maybe a couple more toys but the main addition is a body kit and 18" rims.

'Luxury':
Ghia - luxury mid-range spec. Velour, fake wood etc. Few more toys again including 6 disc auto changer and 16" rims.
Ghia X - luxury top-range spec. Full leather, fake wood, climate control, 6 disc auto changer, 17" rims.

ST
ST TDCI - like ST220 but missing Recaros and with a derv engine.
ST220 - well, it's an ST220. So full Recaros etc.

Ford also listed some special editions - e.g. Edge. These are usually a pretty poverty spec so I'd avoid (plus I don't know much about them).

There was a facelift in 2003 on a 53 plate. All Mondeos after this had cruise control as standard (even LX). Later on they also brought in the Titanium and Titanium X specs. From what I know about these they're vaguely similar to Ghia but to appeal to a younger buyer with less fake wood.

Best bit of advice is to look around. They're not exactly rare cars (ST220s with a possibly exception).

Edited by Ynox on Monday 3rd May 12:44

[M1KEY]

Hi, I've had a 04 plate 130 TDi Zetec S estate for 3 years & generally it's been excellent. I've done about 60k in 3 years (now on 100k) and it's been pretty reliable with most jobs being consumables.

The 130 TDCi engine is pretty good. Fair bit of torque but the power band is pretty narrow. I normally get 45-50 mpg depending on driving style and the estates are pretty roomy. The ST TDCi's are nice but not that many around.

[t84]

Yeah I'm not sure whether I'd be better going for Ghia X or Zetec S, I do like my gadgets but I don't like fake wood