Back to my Op… If The Mighty Vectra was dead I was going to have a look at This

No room for my Evian 😉 but plenty of space for everything else.

after seeing the pro team cars tear-arse past us as we sat outside a cafe at the Giro D’Italia earlier this year, I now want a Skoda Octavia. One of those 4 wheel drive ones.

Mondeo…i made the mistake of getting a golf instead of the mondeo because my dad has a battered old mondeo…big mistake…the mondeo, is bigger, faster, more efficient, quieter, better to drive, more fun, cheaper….in the ideal world every1 would have a ford mondeo….my housemate has an 2006 Audi A6 which he wants to swap for a mondeo because the current mondeo beats it in everyway….Just buy a mondeo…the onse with triangle lights are cheap and great to drive…

the 100,000mile diesel self distruct button where the DMF, turbo, injectors and fuel pump all seem to go wrong

Utter, utter, rubbish spoken by a true “something I read on the internet so it must be correct” man…

I had an 05 Mondeo ST TDCI for a 120mile a day round trip commute. Apart from an alternator and tyres, it was perfect. Missed this magical 100,000 mile destruct way point by about 20k miles and admittadely, it did need the DMF doing when I sold it but I certainly don’t remember it ‘self destructing’. Quite the opposite. Guy I sold it to knew his Fords inside out and was dead chuffed with the car, despite the DMF needing doing…

Own another suggestion now (Octy vRS estate) and whilst its good fun shoving your foot down, I preferred the build quality, ride and epic amounts of space my old Mondeo provided. Come the end of the year I’m hoping to get rid of the Octy and get another Mondeo… either a new shape 2.2 TDCI Titanium X or one of the very last of the old shape ST TDCI estates with all the optional extras like Recaros and sat nav etc ticked…

To clarify, when I say is missed the 100,000 mile point at which someone on the internet said it should explode and kill me, I mean it went waay past that. Was on 120,000+ when I sold it.

Mk3 Mondeo is a great car to own and drive (Mine had only a split rubber inlet hose in 110K miles). The size was just about right for me.

Mk4 Mondeo is also a great car to own and drive (better in some ways, not in others), if a little too wide/small windows. The engine is superior.

A lot of people know that they are great cars although a lot of people do turn their noses up at a Ford (or a Skoda). This puzzles me. Why?

I work in a company in which half of the people drive ‘expensive’ German (or Land Rover) cars and SUVs. The others, in similar jobs, drive a mix of ‘non-prestige’ cars. People don’t look up to the flash car drivers, everyone gets to work and back, most of the cars have more luxuries than you need or can shake a stick at, it just costs some people more than others.

Mondeo.
Accord.
V70.
Probably in that order.
.
And no-one has mentioned yet, but on that budget you could have the pick of the MG ZT-Ts an still have plenty of change. Comfy, quick, 55mpg, but they do get through front brakes quickly and aren’t as big as Mondeos/Passats/Vectras, bigger than 159s though.

Aristotle – interesting, I was going to ask at some point whether anyone on her had real life experience of the mk3 and mk4 Mondeos. I know even the very last mk3 is nearing 5 years old now but I still think the look of both the hatchback and estates is nicer than the current ones (unless you throw a load of extra money at it and get the Sport exterior pack etc).

What do you think are the main differences? Would be looking for a 2.0 or 2.2L mk4. As much/similar space inside and in the boot?

Mondeo is probably the sensible option, however if like me you just cant stand ford and teh cheapness of them id go for an Accord.

I did and while i have had a couple of problems i think i have been unlucky but they have cost next to nothing to fix.

The car was £6500 with 103K on it on an 07, 2.2diesel and has ever conceivable extra, leather, sat nav, posh sound system, tow bar etc, penta alloys, etc.

The Manifold cracked first putting fumes in the cab but Honda have extended the warranty to 7yrs/125K so that was done free by Honda.

And in the last couple of weeks the rear callipers ceased and needed replacing, recon ones cost £65 each and did the pads and discs too which were £28 for discs (pair) and £15ish for pads. Im replacing the brake lines too as they had corroded.

Sounds bad but thats basically the two known problems sorted, total cost of a full service, parts and labour around £300 (luckily know a great guy in Mossley).

On a plus, its massive, nice to drive, more refined than a mondeo/vecra, loads cheaper than a bmw/audi, pretty efficient if you stay under 70 (over 60mpg on a run)

My second choice was a passat, now these have more known problems than is healthy so glad i avoided it!

Also try automatic geared car but not those with fancy tiptronic auto gear system or those with paddles at the steering. Just traditional automatic geared.

Mk3 estate was a good size, comfortable, nice place to sit and very good handling (suspensions might be getting tired now. I fitted new rear shocks to mine after one leaked at 80k miles which revived the handling).
The TDCI 130 was adequately powerful (120mph cruising across Europe), but not as smooth, linear or economical as the Mk4 (Peugeot) TDCI 140. There’s a reputation for unreliability, but I had no issues. warming up a turbo diesel properly and not thrashing from cold can only help. The 1.8 (or 2.0, but quite thirsty) petrol might be a good used buy if you’re not too worried about performance when fully laden.

The Mk4 estate is wider and longer. It fills UK parking spaces. The width is accentuated by the way the doors bulge outwards halfway down, obscuring the ground. (I’d read about it and didn’t believe it, but the Mk4 is the most awkward car to park that I’ve driven), but it’s not that bad.

The boot is even bigger than the Mk3, but it might not be necessary for most people. The roof line is quite low, so a bike with long forks/high bars won’t go in upright (unlike they would in my old Mk1 Focus estate.)

The handling, ride and grip are very, very good for a big car and it is surprisingly ‘composed’, although it does feel slightly bigger/heavier than the Mk3 when threading it enthusiastically down a twisting road. It requires a little bit more ‘smoothness’, but most people probably wouldn’t notice this ….or care.

The Mk4 interior is very spacious and nicely-laid out, albeit with a few too many bits of shiny chrome for my tastes, but I don’t care that much (at all)

The TDCI 140 is a great engine with a good, broad torque curve, even if it doesn’t have a headline-grabbing peak bhp. Economy is good if serviced properly and driven on long runs. Not ideal for dawdling around town.

“ford and teh cheapness”

I’m sorry but the interior of my 04 plate Mondeo is far superior quality than VW’s I have owned.

In fact Mrs FD recently looked at a new car and Ford was certainly nearly on a par with Audi.

I had an 05 Mondeo ST TDCI for a 120mile a day round trip commute. Apart from an alternator and tyres, it was perfect. Missed this magical 100,000 mile destruct way point by about 20k miles and admittadely, it did need the DMF doing when I sold it but I certainly don’t remember it ‘self destructing’. Quite the opposite. Guy I sold it to knew his Fords inside out and was dead chuffed with the car, despite the DMF needing doing…

So you had it for a 20k, the £800 DMF failed and you still think it was good? How much needs to go wrong for a car to be considered bad? My petrol one’s got half the miles on the clock for the same price, did 20k last year and the only thing it’s needed was a hose on the steering pump (which is probably a common part accros both fuel types so can’t really hold that against it, warrentied but would have been £20 and DIY otherwise) and front tyres.

Not that anyone will care, but I also drive a Mighty Vectra. Estate. Diesel. Owned from new (2008). Not necessarily the most involving or exciting car to drive but it has been pretty reliable, pretty comfortable and pretty easy to own. One issue with a seized water pump at around 80,000 miles. Currently has 108,000 miles. Aside from the water pump (and cam belt done at the same time) all it has had are the regular services (every 20,000 miles) and tyres. This is the 3rd Vectra I have owned and the story has been the same with all of them. Father in law has a Touran and it has been the most unreliable heap of junk he has had in all his motoring years (and he has quite a collection of highly “unfashionable” cars in his time).

Personally I quite like the Vectra as a car. And the Astra. I also like the Fords although, for me, the Fords tend to have softer, more squidgy seating compared to the Vauxhalls. Anyway, try one. You never know, you might just find that in your own opinion it’s not that bad. 🙂

Not that anyone will care

Thats just it- you have a valid contribution taken from actual experience and not heresay.

How did you spot the water pump? Usually the first time someone notices is when its too late!!

No, I had it for 18 months and 35k miles. Alternators go on all cars, fact of life. As do tyres.

The DMF Ford reccommend changing at around 100k miles and I when I bought the car I knew it’d need doing (unfortunately I then got a job with an epic commute so the need to do it rolled around a little quicker than I was expecting).

Still, when I did over 3 years worth of average mileage in 18 months, I didn’t think the work that needed doing on it was too bad. Looking back through the history of the car, it’d never needed anything but consumables before I got it so 80k+ on consumables which any car would need isn’t too bad… If I’d had it from new, I wouldn’t have put up too much complaint at having to spend a grand on a DMF after 100k of motoring.

Another vote for the mighty Mondeo

Crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their vimmin

Sorry wrong forum

A funny noise and steam were the giveaway signs. Fortunately we spotted quickly enough and were handy enough to our local garage to take it in for a look. Agreed, it could have been a lot more concerning if we hadn’t spotted it or it had happened while we were thrashing along the motorway! 🙂

Just back from picking The Mighty Vectra up. Problem was a split hose on the variable intake flap (oo-err missus). It must have been going for ages as the bloody thing took off like a rocket! They also replaced a drop link which was clunking away.

Damn thing drives like new. It will be with me forever… like herpes.

ps. If you buy a Mk4 Mondeo, legend has it that the 18″ wheels/sports suspension are very hard riding.

My Mk4 car has 16″ wheels, which won’t win any Top Trumps, but ride well and have cheaper tyres

Quick note… Octavia has a crap boot entry, smaller than it should be and with a big lip which makes it much less easy to use the space it has. (put a washing machine in a Mondeo or other proper estate and it slides out, put one in an Octavia or other silly estate and it needs deadlifted out. Bikes get stuck, and you can’t sit on the edge. Sitting on the edge of the boot is the best thing about an estate- under the bootlid, out of the rain.

This annoyed me, you might be able to tell- I’d have had one like a shot if they’d just done that right. Instead I have a scabby 2.2 Mondeo that you could park an Octavia in.