I am thinking of getting a 12 plate Ford Mondeo hatchback as a new car. Does anyone have any experience of the Thule roofrack options? How easy are they too fit and take on and off to save fuel?

And whilst I am on how do the 140 TDCI engines fair compared with the 163 TDCI? Obviously I would prefer the 163 since the official fuel consumption are the same, but they seem to be harder to find.

Have you had any issues with the Mondeo ?

Thanks for your help.

Leave the rack on or take it off they have negligible effect on fuel consumption. The 140 and 160 are basically the same engine with a few tweaks i think. If its the engine i think its used in all-sorts of cars citroen peugeot for a start. Well proven lump that given correct servicing is capable of moon mileage.

I’ve got an 09 hatchback with the 2.0 diesel.

I haven’t got a roof rack for it so can’t comment on that but the car’s great – comfortable (and plenty of room if you’re tall like me), reliable (so far!), reasonably efficient, huge boot.

The only thing I can say is that it does go through tyres fairly fast and they’re not cheap but that’s probably the case for most big, diesel cars.

Oh and maybe that it can be a pain to park because it’s long and mine at least doesn’t have parking sensors and the shape/visibility makes judging the length tricky.