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Ok?
One of my daughter's car has died, in all fairness it has been in the family for 15 years and has 230 k on it, VW golf 1.9 TDI pd, electric s have died rather than the engine.
Problem is she has no car and starts a new job on Monday.....typical, desperate need for a car.
Oddly she had seen a MB ML300 09 plate 60k, with Merc service history, diesel, will fit dogs and bikes in back plus assorted urchins and Muppets. Reality golf was too small
This is a facelift model rather than the dodgy pre 07 ml.
Personally not a option as
Diesels of that age are not good DPF, DMF, glow plugs.
Lots to go wrong...look at the wiring
Tax on diesels will rocket...
Poor resale if any value
She says
MB of that age well built
Engines are reasonably fuel efficient
Fits in all they need
Cannot be as bad as the VW T5 bag of shipment she had.
In true family arguement she says ask STW....so here I am asking your thoughts on and experience of MB of that age.
Alternative suggestions welcome, but needs to be estate ( Volvo?) And under 10k with lowish miles.
Cheers, yours in second hand car market frustration and depression.
Mondeo... it's the answer you want.
Smiles....her partner had one......hated it, vehemently...... won't consider one....
What can you possibly hate about a Mondeo ?
Got one, love it. ML250, efficient and comfy compared to the VW Touareg it replaced.
Buy only if a) you have a well priced independent on hand to service. Check with costs for service A and B and brake fluid costs.
B) it hasn't got stupidly big wheels and therefore stupidly big tyre costs.
C) the FSH is a proper FSH.
They are good value for money as people shy away from them due to size. Build quality is very good, the command centre and sat nav is a bit clunky and map upgrades about £100+ a pop
Engine cut out on motorway.....prior to that issues with oil pump, pulleys and filters....Friday afternoon manufacturered car
Cheers Withersea
Nice Ford Galaxy on classifieds if the Mondeo there is no good.
APF
Go for an X5 for full potential bork factor.
2006 ml 320 here, first of the gen2 model which was light years ahead of the 1st gen. 120000 miles now from 66000 when i got it 6 years ago, does 30mpg,( hit 40mpg once going to scotland when they had 50mph speed limit in place) £560 year road tax and £500 a year on servicing, tyres are £130 a pop and last 30000 miles.
Its super comfy, great for long distances on motorway, good over fields for camping, and loads of room in the back for dogs bikes, hay bales etc.
Only had a new battery and a rear console unit blown, other than consumables its been the most reliable car Ive had.
Feels very well made. Worth about £3500, was £50k new!
get one with FSH though!
I had a Gen 1 V8 ML and it was the worst car against my expectations I have ever owned.
Slow, thirsty, unstable, plasticy, unreliable, expensive to maintain...
Actually the last one was expected but sooooo sloooow unless you really booted it in which case you could regularly get single figure MPG.
Hateful thing.
What can you possibly hate about a Mondeo ?
I owned one once, I hated it on a molecular level.
I'll say now, before anyone gets too upset, I specifically hated my 2006 Mondeo 'LX' Hatchback diesel in flat Burgundy. I'm sure of the millions of Mondeos they produced some really charming cars which have never given their owners a moments concern and welcome them like a beloved, but sadly passed, Grandparent at the end of a long hard day. Just from the sheer number of them produced, someone, somewhere must actually like their Mondeo, not just respect it's VFM, it's 'it's only a car mateness'.
I, am not, one of them.
I hated it the same was I'd hate a pair of Trainers from ASDA, it's not that they're cheap, it's that the makers have so little respect for their customers that it feels like they're mocking them for buying them by making them just so unpleasant.
To me a Mondeo is fake leather shoes with white socks under a tracksuit, it's dirty Christmas decoration in May, it's a naked lightbulb. It's broken soul of a Man (I've never known of a Women owning one) with so much self loathing they can't bring themselves to choose anything else because deep down, they know they don't deserve anything better than a smelly, bottom spec Mondeo in the worst colour.
I'm not a Designer, Engineer or Artist. My tastes have never been described as 'fussy'. Yet, I could tell with absolute certainly, whoever designed the Mondeo didn't want the job, they hated it, because even if you couldn't care less, some spark of joy would manage to transmit itself from your mind into the final design. During the design phase of the 2006 Mondeo if even one of the designers didn't hate it, one day, out of nowhere their Son or Daughter would have run up to them and unexpectedly hugged them and said "I love you" and that little, but oh so powerful bit of pure human emotion would have made the shape of latch that held the glove box lid in place would have had a tiny speck of joy to it, but there isn't. There is nothing there of their owners to love about them, nothing. No clever little design things, no joy, no excitement, nothing to evoke any pride of ownership. Frankly I'd be surprised if anyone has ever, even once paid for more than the very cheapest car wash they could, if they even washed them at all.
If you genuinely couldn't care less about your car, if you just want a metal box to use when it's too far to cycle and there isn't a train. If you can't stand the idea of a 4 wheel status symbol, if you find car people and car culture repugnant and spit at the very name "Jeremy Clarkson" then buy a Toyota of the correct size for your needs. At least it will be reliable and despite labelled as "soulless" by hard of thinking Boomers, they're actually quite charming in a their own way.
My Mondeo became a physical representation of everything that had gone with my life in the months leading up to having to buy it and the deep pool of depression I was in. I actually sold it 12 months later to someone who had a bit of bad luck and just needed a cheap car quickly, I recognised the look in his eyes, I hope he's recovered.
Wow....just wow.
Lol @ P-jay!
I'm not sure if I should laugh or be concerned for P-Jay's welfare.
P-jay are you my daughter's partner......????....,
@ P-Jay. Obviously never driven a Nissan Note. The car you buy when you have no interest in life anymore. Spectacularly good on diesel though
I’m not sure if I should laugh or be concerned for P-Jay’s welfare.
It's okay, I'm 6 years clear of the hateful thing.
The emotional scars are still there though, I'm trying to write tongue in cheek, but I genuinely couldn't own another Ford. Any Ford, it's doesn't matter which, any of the Cosworths, a GT/GT40 of any era, one of the new Mustangs or any of the other cool or interesting Fords made in the past, currently or in the future.
I don't judge people who do, my Sister has a Fiesta she likes and apart from that ****ing horrible, cheap, quartz clock they insist on throwing at them it doesn't share much with my old Mondeo, but no, couldn't do it. Just looking at that little shitty badge on the key makes the dark clouds of my mind roll over.
Obviously never driven a Nissan Note. The car you buy when you have no interest in life anymore. Spectacularly good on diesel though
I once knew of a friend of a friend who loved his Note so much he had a sun visor sticker made for the top of the windscreen that said "NOTE SE" so show off it was a slightly better than basic one, it, and indeed He became known as "Notesy" around these parts.
I have no problem with boring, reliable cars, I don't know Notes that well, but I'm sure they're sort of Micras with a taller roofline, so I'm sure they'll look after you as long as you look after them. You couldn't hate a Note any more than I could hate our Microwave at home, because despite being ugly, you know with near absolute certainty if you just want to warm some beans for the kids for lunch, it'll do it.
P-jay are you my daughter’s partner……????….,
Not unless you typed that with a Ouija board.
Drove an ML once, hated it. Didn't feel like any of the controls were attached to anything and the brakes were woeful for something that big.
Personally I'd say buy an estate. Either Golf or Passat, but I'm biased as I've had both 🙂
Wow P-Jay,
on the other hand i had a titanium 2005 mondeo at work. oooh it was like luxury. The thing had all these really useful additions that my car didnt. Like the ability to start and get more than 150 miles out of a full tank. Wonderful thing.
OK so if a Mondeo is totally out of the question...
How about a Mazda 6?
as people shy away from them due to size.
That’s odd, usually they’re really attracted to them, it’s the gravitational pull...
I have driven a couple, and I enjoyed the comfy ride, but I would never own something that big, unless it was a van, plus there are certain things that just irritate me about Mercs, in particular their insistence on having the wiper control as an afterthought stuck on the end of the indicator stalk, with a column shift on the other side - something that everyone else gave up fifty years ago, apart from Americans.
I do find it a bit odd as well that someone can let their dislike of one particular car colour their opinion of every othe vehicle made by that maker.
I would hazard a guess that the Mondeo in question was an older one, because Ford interior design of about six or more years ago was both bland, and far too cluttered with loads of stupid little buttons, making the operation of anything an ergonomic nightmare, and with a piddly little screen for the radio, which was equally nightmarish to try to tune.
I drove many, many Fords and quickly developed a deep dislike of the dash design.
On the other hand, they all drive well, and are very comfy, the Fiesta in particular being a load of fun on twisty roads.
Newer Fords are a vast improvement, much better control layout, big, clear infotainment screen and excellent phone integration for things like navigation and music.
Which is why I’ve just bought one, after a fifteen year gap.
P-Jay ought to try driving a Partner or a Berlingo, they make a Mondeo seem like a Jaguar...
Last model Volvo V70 with the 2.4 D5 motor. Possibly one of the best Diesel engines ever made, will easily do 500k+ miles. Based on the Ford modular Galaxy/s-max/mondeo platform but with much better NVH qualities.
Lots of space in the back and easier to load bikes on a roof rack etc.
Buy highest spec possible and maintain it well and it will be in the family for a generation
Well within budget.Avoid the D2 with the PSA engine (injectors) D3 Mondeo Engine (DPF DMF issues) and D4 (egr issues unless driving motorway miles).
I wish I hated something as much as P-Jay hates Mondeos/Fords.
Exactly what WCA has clearly stated 👆
P-Jay ought to try driving a Partner or a Berlingo, they make a Mondeo seem like a Jaguar…
We used to have a basic, bottom of the range Berlingo van in work, it didn't have AC, it was the lowest powered one they made and didn't have a bulkhead so it was LOUD, especially as you had to rev it quite high to do 70. I LOVED it.
I drove it to Snowden, Llandegela, Cannock, Brechfa, I even used it for work now and again. The gear lever on the dash meant it feel like a touring car and I used to put my Daughter in her Car seat in the front with me and she'd laugh and clap the whole time.
It was like putting a Pet down when I sent it back the the Lease Co. But I just couldn't justify the spend on it when it never got used for work.
Well I have to say I’ve never had a bad Ford. I’ve had a fiesta, Focus and Mondeo. (The Mk3 Mondeo diesel 130Tdci Estate is probably the best car I’ve ever owned and the one I regret selling the most.) They have been amongst the best handling, most comfortable and reliable motors I’ve had. Infinitely more reliable than any of the so called prestige German motors I have had the misfortune to repair repeatedly. I’ve never known anybody have PTSD over a car manufacturer before and I’ve owned Peugeots.
Inbred, wait until you’ve owned a Renault.
I ****in hate them, all of them.
I wouldn’t even consider a nissan now, because Renault own part of them.
I wouldn’t even consider any french car, because Renault are french.
I wouldn’t even consider a mitsubishi, because they’re part owned by peugeot, who are french, just like Renault.
Utter crap.
Inbred, wait until you’ve owned a Renault.
I **** hate them, all of them.
I wouldn’t even consider a nissan now, because Renault own part of them.
I wouldn’t even consider any french car, because Renault are french.
I wouldn’t even consider a mitsubishi, because they’re part owned by peugeot, who are french, just like Renault.
By extension of that thought, you need to add a pile of Mercedes to that list then, with Renault engines.
Thanks...I went to see the ml with her and it was ok ..... However not in any shape or form what they needed.
She has ended up with a A6 2005 plate with a 3.0 TDI s line estate on 100k fsh, Audi, 2 owners.
P-jay thanks.