(Still!!!!) looking at motors. i know the Mondeo is full of practicality, but it just looks boring as **** and the steering wheel makes me wonder whether the guy responsible for designing it has sleepless nights (he should!)…

have seen an X-Type locally, HERE, that i like the look of. also has the added benefit that i’d get 19% of the price back from the taxman.

it may not have the load lugging capability of other estates, but i would get to say “Jag” a lot….

Have you seen an x-type interior?!

Have you heard an x type exhaust?

Yes it is, but not the mondeo you’re sat in. Go find an L-reg (1995) mk1 and re-suit that in some jag clothes. It’s still a good car though, just watch out for rust in the sills and rear arches. All the diesels (and 2.1 V6) are front wheel drive only.

It is a Merseyside Mondeo, the same platform as the Mark 3 Mondeo. I have a 2004 2.0d estate that’s done 137,000 miles. The only failure has been the injectors at 110,000 and the power steering pump at about 90,000. It still drives like new – but after 137,000 miles in it I’m getting a bit bored!

the same platform as the Mark 3 Mondeo

is it really that modern? I thought they were given the floorpan to work with well before the Mk3 started development and then spent an age refining the suspension?

Mk3 mondeos are surprisingly good to drive for fwd and v reliable IME. 150k on my V6 and still gets rev limiter now and then.

Don’t do it!! Had a 3.0 sport x-type that I traded a mondeo st estate in for, worst thing I ever did, probably the most unreliable piece of junk to ever hit the roads, my old ST was quicker, handled better and was a lot better built.
I think even Jag bosses agree on how sh1t the x-type was http://www.autoblog.com/2013/09/19/jaguar-design-boss-admits-x-type-was-a-mistake/
Also the deisels are prone to issues, any savings you’ll make buying it will soon be lost when the injectors, dmf etc start playing up

Anyhow, to cut a long story short, I traded the Jag in after 6 weeks for a mk4 mondeo which felt like a luxery car after my short spell in the Jag

What mpg do you average in yuor V6 mr plow??

@Alpin, my mondy has the fake walnut bits on the wheel, raises the stakes even further past that one 😆 There is enough plastic in the dashboard top to reupholster Jordan.

But still, it is a very good car and the Jag isn’t so different, it’s only when you get into the 4wd and the v6 that it goes a bit south as far as I could tell.

Its a Mk3 mondeo floor plan- which is a good thing.

taste is a personel thing, i really liked the x type estate when they were current, i still might be tempted by one. but they don’t off look their age and some now.
But i still rate the higher spec/ late model Mk3 mondeo, i think it has aged well. Almost better than the mk4!
If i could find a Mk3 STtdci estate that hadn’t been chasing rosseta i’d have one.
around here 2.5 X types pre facelift saloons are as cheap as chips.

You will require a flat cap, pringle jumper and driving gloves, a wig, a facelift, a fake tan, a builders yellow safety hat in the rear parcel shelf, a rubber chicken dangling from the interior mirror and a pipe.

These things you will find in the boot in the compartment where the spare wheel ought to be, standard kit on this heap of crap.
😉

Jag took a good car and made it worse. My old ST TDCI is the car I miss the most by a long shot… It was a great car.

Yes it is the same platform, they used it for the Mk1/2 and Mk3 Mondeo as well as the X-type. The x-type uses a lot of common components as the Mk3, brake systems / alternator etc (I’ve just change these and come up as the same parts) so can be cheaper if bought that route. Have looked at both in the past and the Mondeo (2 wheel drive diesels) drives better and is roomier inside, both cockpit and boot space.

Oops, I meant F type. 😳 no wonder I was confused!!!!

Hora – MPG usually sits around 33. Tested the computer between fill ups and it was pretty good although the speedo over reads a little so maybe the trip meter is optomistic… Can get high 30s on a long run but you are really trying and can slump to 29/30 if only doing short town work and not trying.

It is a very under stressed lazy american V6 unit and needs very little maintenance. I never serviced mine for 40k apart from having one very cheap oil change and nothing else (also doubt it was serviced at least for 10k before I got it as it was a close friends). My friend made me feel guilty so it got a full service late last year. Still on original clutch etc.

A 4 wheel bearings lifecycled around 110k miles and springs are also weak although pretty cheap. Last weak link for me was rear beam bushes which have been done. Maybe ont that reliable but it cost me just over a grand 6.5 years ago so not complaining.

i worked at halewood as a chassis engineer for a few years on x type. it is a mondeo cd132 with a different body and quite a few changes, mainly to suppliers of components:
zf rack, bilstein dampers, and so on. the wheel base is slightly shorter. the petrol engines are all v6 and jag unique, made in the states and have proper dohc bucket under shim cylinderheads. the 2.0 petrol is dog slow and is only 2wd, the 2.5 is awd (proper centre diff and viscous coupling) but isnt really any quicker because of the awd, and the 3.0 actually feels reasonably quick but has ruinous mpg.

the diesels are where it’s at the engines are the same as the transit/cd132 and the 2.2 has a 6 speed and doesnt really feel much slower than the 3.0
the estate looks much better than the saloon

THM, I did wonder what you were on about! 😀

Thing about the petrol is… The 2.5 v6 makes a bit more power than the 2.2 diesel but less torque, weighs more, burns about 50% more fuel and is more expensive to tax and insure. And the 4wd bruises the performance. Whereas if you chuck about £400 of remap and decat at a 2.2 TDCI, it almost matches the power and beats everything else, and weirdly still costs less to insure.

(OK, the decat is technically an MOT failure, but I’m yet to hear of anyone who fails on that point. Not everyone’s into remapping etc but even as standard it’s a hard sell)

Course, the plus side is no dmf, no injector failures, and it doesn’t sound like a cement mixer.

Just to add a bit of balance here…

I bought the father in laws 9 yr old 2.0 V6 sport X-type off him a year ago
50k miles perfect condition.
£1300

Whether it’s a jazzed up Mondeo is not really the point.
My voew is that it has a jaguar feel, it can waft you around or if I put my foot down it will shift.

Insurance is OK, economy not that great – around 30mpg put I do tend to enjoy myself.

For what I paid it’s excellent and I will keep it for quite a while I think

@ D Rambo… what is it like in the boot for lugging bikes and do the seats fold flat? want to be able to sleep in the back of it occasionally….

so are people saying yay or nay? diesels worth a shot or not?

i have driven around 30 mk3 mondeos, (company pool cars) and about half a dozen x types.
all either 2.0 or 2.2 tdci engines.
the jag is a little quieter when driving, and seems to ride a little smoother.
the mondeo was so good though, that i bought one, without doubt its the best car ive ever owned. mine has been reliable. my mate bought a similar vintage 3.0v6 x type, he said it was fantastic to drive, but 17mpg and a costly mot later he ditched it.
i might buy an x type, but it would defoe be a diesel.

MG ZT with the BMW diesel FTW 🙂

I’ve had 3 Mondeos (all diesel) and a 2.1 petrol auto X type. The x type was just not as sharp handling as a Mondeo, the seats were not as comfy, but it was nice and quiet. The fuel consumption on the X type was around 25 MPG, all the Mondeos 45-50, even the 163BHP one. I used to get two bikes in the boot of the Jag with the seats folded down, but it was bit of a squeeze. A friend had a 3 litre X type which was fast but thirsty.
I think the 2.2 X type estate would be a nice car to have, but ultimately the Mondeo’s a better car.

Cheers thats my next car sorted 😀

Good hora – you’ll love a mondeo st.

Don’t believe it! I’ve had a Mondeo and then a 3.0l V6 X-type Sport estate. Like night-and-day in terms of build quality and driving experience.

Full, proper leather, Jag’s J-Auto box, four wheel drive… which would allow the car to ‘launch’ down the road (hold the car on the hand-brake, lift the revs a bit and then off you go!!). You couldn’t dream of doing that in any Mondeo.
Only regret I have was selling it (my employer had a ‘must be less than 5-year old’ rule).

FWIW the claimed difference in 0-60 between the 3l auto Jag and ST is .2 seconds, so doesn’t seem to be that much more launchy.

People talk dispariginly about some car being a jazzed up something else. But it needn’t be a problem. What’s wrong with taking a good car and jazzing it up?

the 3.0 actually feels reasonably quick but has ruinous mpg.

I didn’t find that, averaged 27mpg from mine – quick too, and liked to rev.

What’s wrong with taking a good car and jazzing it up?

True.

Alpin

I have the saloon not the estate…
However I often put a bike in the boot when I work away – wheels off it fits in OK.

Rear seats fold down almost flat I think – not done it for ages – but there isn’t a large enough gap into the boot for a bike.