[Closed] Tell me about Mondeos.

I did 90,000 miles in 2 years in a '11 163BHP estate. Fantastic car, albeit a bit of a sod to park sometimes. I've had a couple of the previous models, too. I'm not sure if the 163BHP engine is worth the extra though.
Handling wise, it's 95% as good as a 3 series in the dry, IMHO. Praise indeed. Streets ahead of Audis and VWs.

I can honestly say having owned a Mk3 and Mk4 Mondeo I've never given a seconds thought to how it handles. LOL. It's a Mondeo, I bought it for eating up journeys not as a go kart.

You've got a standard cruise control? Where would the speed limiter be useful that you can't use that?

Exactly those times when you can't use cruise control. If its busy cruise can be a pain, flicking it on/off all the time. At those times I find setting the speed limiter better, set it to X mph so you know you'll not exceed that, get on with the business of looking at the traffic and accelerating/slowing to suit. If you do need to exceed X mph for any reason then all you need do is floor it, it'll go through the limiter temporarily but will re-engage the limiter again as soon as you drop below X mph. Also, should you find yourself on a stretch at X mph, but still you can foresee that cruise would be on/off all the time, the limiter allows you to flex your ankle/depress the pedal different amounts with no change in speed. I find this improves comfort over long journeys.

I honestly can't work out what you mean fella... it's a lot of detail, but may as well be a different language as to what you're asking.

I understand what he means but I can't see that I'd ever use it since I find 'standard' cruise control spot on. I haven't ever heard of a cruise control with speed limit either, mind, though unless he's delusional it presumably does exist.

Also, should you find yourself on a stretch at X mph, but still you can foresee that cruise would be on/off all the time, the limiter allows you to flex your ankle/depress the pedal different amounts with no change in speed. I find this improves comfort over long journeys.

My sister in law has a 1.4 Astra with this feature, above 70mph pedal position makes no difference to speed. You can flex your ankle all you like! Not sure if that counts as proper "speed limited cruise control"

[i] I haven't ever heard of a cruise control with speed limit either.[/i]

I think I had a rental with this 'feature' - either a Peugeot or a Skoda. Found it to be completely pointless.

surely if you're in cruise control your foot is felxing/moving/positioned somewhere completely differently anyway, therefore negating the problem ?

Each to their own I guess but I found it more useful than cruise on our busy motorways. Perhaps [url= http://www.ford.co.uk/FordFleet/NewsAndReviews/FordForBusiness/2010/June/SpeedLimiter ]this[/url] is a better explanation.

What sort of discount do you generally get on a new one? On the Ford website they list a mid-level estate at around £27k. Would you expect a discount of thousands on this price?

Also, is depreciation steep on a Mondeo?

Do you use cruise when the motorway is busy and the speed is varying, say 50 to 90 mph?

Also, is depreciation steep on a Mondeo?

I paid £8000 for a 2010 back early 2013. So assuming that was lower spec of say £22,000 then it would seem depreciation is massive yes !

[i]On the Ford website they list a mid-level estate at around £27k[/i]

Blinkin flip, that's a lot of money.

Deejayen - the Whatcar website has all the info you need.

vito van has a speed limiter and cruise and i find i use the speed limiter a lot, especially in road works and around town. its just one more think not to worry about so you can concentrate on where you are going and not constantly check your speedo.

Blinkin flip, that's a lot of money.

Also, is depreciation steep on a Mondeo?

Huge used choice means you can take your pick. If you want to spend a bit less there'll be another one nearby same spec/colour with a few more miles on it. I looked at 8 or 9 in the Stafford/Cannock area so it's not like you have to travel miles

On the Ford website they list a mid-level estate at around £27k

[url= http://www.arnoldclark.com/used-cars/ford/mondeo/2.0-tdci-140-zetec-business-edition-5dr-powershift/2013-(13)/ref/arnfx-u-651529/ ]2013 (13) Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 140 Zetec Business Edition [/url]

13 plate, 11k miles and £15,488. Would you really consider buying new?

The first mk4 I bought was the 2.5t titanium x estate, with all the toys, nav, radar cruise blah blah blah and cost me £14000, it was 10 months old with 2k on the clock and dealer owned, list price was £30k for the same spec new, so yeah they depreciate pretty rapidly, although the ST220 estate I had before that cost me £5500 and I sold it for £5800 after 18 months of ownership, so that was nice.

[quote=porter_jamie ]vito van has a speed limiter and cruise and i find i use the speed limiter a lot, especially in road works and around town.

In those situations I just use normal cruise (I'm assuming you mean motorway 50 limit roadworks with average speed cams - cruise is brilliant for them).

Though I can understand daveh's point, and yes it might be useful but not something I miss all that much - if it's too busy to use cruise I just use the old fashioned technique as I did for the previous 25 years I was driving.

Oh and you'd have to be absolutely mad to buy a new one. Mine lost 75%+ of it's original value in 4 years (though that was with a lot of miles).

The first mk4 I bought was the 2.5t titanium x estate, with all the toys, nav, radar cruise blah blah blah and cost me £14000

I bought very similar, twas a great car and much nicer to drive than the TDCI's. When I bought mine, the 2.2 TDCI w/10K on the clock was about 19K, and the 2.5T was 13K. Lovely car. I didn't find tyre wear bad on 18's, didn't think the ride was harsh either. Great cars, I found the seats very comfortable. I had a few electrical issues, which were sorted by rebooting the car (kept a ring spanner in the glove box to disconnect the battery). Only sold it as I got a caravan 😥

I had a 2.0 Diesel Auto and a friend currently has the newer 2.0 diesel powershift auto.

I did 35'000 mile a year in mine and it was excellent, saw up to about 55 mpg on the motorway and about 40 - 45 around town.

Supremely good at cruising on the motorway and a boot big enough to swallow most stuff. I made the decision of having a Golf as my next company car but wish I'd gone for a newer Mondeo business with all the toys.

anyone driven the 1.6 or 2.0 ecoboost petrol variants?

anyone driven the 1.6 or 2.0 ecoboost petrol variants?

Yes, test drove the 1.6. It went well for a 1.6 but in a heavy car like the Mondeo you wouldn't call it quick, perfectly adequate perhaps 😀 ! I went for the 2.0 diesel as the two felt quite similar however on the mixed test route the diesel returned mid 40s mpg, the petrol low 30s.

I've driven my mates SMax with the 2.0ltr ecoboot with Powershift gearbox. It was lush - i'd forgotten how much nicer a decent petrol engine is over a diesel - quiet, smooth, nice progressive power delivery though the whole rev range and not everything by 3krpm and the only thing generated above 3krpm being more noise. The only problem with it in an SMax is fuel economy. He's getting mid 20's/low 30's at best. Also tax is twice as much. My SMax has the 2.2 ltd diesel engine and i'm getting 40mpg for normal day to day driving and around 50mpg on a long uninterrupted run. I guess you'd get more than that in a lighter and more aerodynamic Mondeo.

The 2.2ltr diesel is a lovely engine too for an oil burner, especially at motorway speeds. I just wish mine had come with the Powershift gearbox - it would have been a nice combo.

[i]I can honestly say having owned a Mk3 and Mk4 Mondeo I've never given a seconds thought to how it handles[/i]

Bit late in the day, i know, but I call BULLSHIT! on this! How can you drive a car, any car, and not notice how it handles? Unless you're just driving in a straight line...

Or unless you drive like Mrs Brady. Or like me. 😀

Bit late in the day, i know, but I call BULLSHIT! on this! How can you drive a car, any car, and not notice how it handles? Unless you're just driving in a straight line...

Because its a car, I just drive to work and round to shopping etc. I have never cornered hard in it, pushed it, slid it etc. So I have no concept how it handles.

To be fair I know plenty of people of both sexes who haven't got a clue what 'Handling' actually means. A car is just a car to them and the concept of understeer, oversteer and balance is alien to them.

A car is just a car to me, but I can tell there's a big difference in handling going from driving my old Saab 9-3 to the Mondeo. Massive difference.

My SMax has the 2.2 ltd diesel engine and i'm getting 40mpg for normal day to day driving and around 50mpg on a long uninterrupted run

Really? My 2.2 Smax won't get above 48mpg driving at 56 and following trucks. I have never seen 50 on the OBC, which is pretty optimistic. The economy on mine has improved since changing tyres, but I can't see any way it would get to 50mpg. Is yours 175 or 200bhp? Normal driving I get high 30's (not thrashing it). I wonder if there is something which needs tweaking on mine.

Iodious - i'm rounding up a wee bit - for normal commuting and day to day driving I average about 38mpg on the computer, but I don't drive particularly economically all the time so reckon I could squeeze out another couple of mpg if I had the patience.

On long runs to and from somewhere, with some short journey's at the destinations i've seen high 40's on the computer (47 mpg I think), so again on the basis i'm cruising at 70mph and the short runs might be pulling my average down a bit i'm claiming 50mpg could be possible.

Its a MK1 Smax 2.2TDCi 170bhp manual.

I do do sometimes drive quite fast around the bends, so I guess I do notice the handling - which is pretty decent for a big heavy lump, but it is still a big heavy lump not a sports car. Most of the time though I would have no idea at all and wouldn't care about the handling and I imagine plenty of people always drive like that - after all it isn't a sports car. Nice that it does handle well, but far from the most important thing.

Cheers Wobbliscott...I might see what happens when I change my rear tyres back to something good. Changing the fronts has improved things by 7-10%, so maybe there is some more improvement to be made.

I like how mine handles. It's no sports car, but there's something really nicely poised about it- different sort of ride. Balletic, is a word I've used, if you can imagine a ballet dancer that weighs a ton.

Thanks for all the input so far, very informative (& entertaining)
So say I had 8-9K to spare, what can I get, diesel Mondeo estate wise?

(may need roof rails for the canoe)

I suppose my Passat handles poorly*, given the way people talk about it, but the bottom line is that you can't really chuck it about because it's just too big, and there simply isn't the room on windy roads.

* although it is really fine, just neutral

I think the thing that tells you that Mondeos handle decently is that you don't notice it. I remember driving a works Passat about 15 years ago and swinging into a corner at what would have been a comfortable speed in my own car (a Corrado at the time) and it just plowed straight on. No harm done but it was a horrendous handling thing and quite alarming, it surely had enough rubber on the road to turn in but it just didn't. These days I think almost everything is at least safe and grippy it's just a case of whether there's some degree of finesse and balance about it.

Nowt wrong with the Passat's handling. Just the Mondeo was better.

Grunty, I've a set of aerobars I'd let go for a nominal fee, together with (hatchback) Mondeo feet.

esselgruntfuttock - Member

So say I had 8-9K to spare, what can I get, diesel Mondeo estate wise?

2 ST155s and a bucket of injectors
Or an ST220 and shares in BP.

[quote=esselgruntfuttock ]Thanks for all the input so far, very informative (& entertaining)
So say I had 8-9K to spare, what can I get, diesel Mondeo estate wise?
(may need roof rails for the canoe)

That was my original budget when I bought 18 months ago, and you seemed to get something 3yo with ~80k miles. Though you're best off just looking on Autotrader to see. Roof rails is a slight issue, as they're not standard fit, so you're looking for somebody who's got them as an option - mostly that means you're looking at higher spec. models as there was an option pack for the Titanium which included them, though there are a few lower spec ones about with them if you get lucky. Unless of course your budget will get you an update one (sometime in 2011 on IIRC) which I think now all come with integrated low profile rails - not sure of the merits or otherwise of those as they were well out of my budget.

Depending on what you're carrying though, you don't need rails as you can just fit roof bars the same way as on a saloon - I'd be more than happy to use those if I was just carrying around slalom boats or playboats. However nowadays I mostly carry a 6m surfski or a 6.8m double sea kayak (after carrying two of those up to Fort Bill on my old 406 I had to pull the rooflining to tighten the rails, though the rails on my Mondeo are a lot more solid) for which roof rails provide a lot better stability as you can space the bars a lot further apart.

Mondeo DPFs... Are they a pricey service item on fords? (Our current diesel is just old enough to not have one)

The only problem with it in an SMax is fuel economy. He's getting mid 20's/low 30's at best. Also tax is twice as much.

Hmm, that's not so great, I guess, although the petrols are a bit cheaper to buy though - at the three year mark it seems to be 1k or 2k difference... 1 or 2k buys a lot of petrol.

Why do you want roof rails, incidentally? You can fit bike racks to cars without them.

EDIT D'oh, just read aracer's post.