tomorrow i pick up...

[Konan555]

with reliability to match.

head gasket, valve seals and turbo looking for a recon at 90K to 100K on that wonderous engine.

OK, the 2.3Dpug engine ford used before the 1.8TD did provide us with the slowst car on the face of the planet, but it was a hard sod.

[5lab]

Yes. I am a huge diesel fan. I owned a Xantia TD.

I test drove a Mondeo 1.8TD.

I bought a Mondeo 2.0 16v

Fantastic car, horrible engine. Ok if you want to get from A to B, but it's noisy, unrefined, not very powerful, and slow.

tbh, its not noisy.. perhaps it was more refined as it got on, but in mine you simply cant hear the engine once your going.. put your foot right down and it breaks through, but otherwise the only time to hear it is when you're idling, or if you let the revs drop below 1500 rpm (but a lot of diesels get noisy then - some vibrations from somewhere). its not that quick, but i dont really care about that.. and on a complete mix of driving (urban, bit of motorways and some a roads) i've so far done 230 miles on £20 (light is still not on). as economy goes, that kills the petrol by a long way.

as for reliability - there is no problems with that.. looking on the reliability index provided by warenteedirect (a good place for an idea of how decent a car is) - the mondeo is no worse than other cars, and a lot better than some early hdi engines (particularly the vauxhall one). granted the vw engine is better (more economy, more power), but a 99 plate passat is smaller in the boot than a mondeo, and costs three times as much.

as for power.. the td is actually quicker than the 1.8 from 40-70 (which is what you'll spend a lot of your time doing), and has very nearly the same amount of torque as the 2l block, at nearly half the rpm. so once you're going its fine. dangle, i'd like to see where you've read that. what diesel car (magazine) from the time rated the car as pretty good, more spacious than the competition, and more comfortable to drive.

[dangel]

I was in the market for a derv many years back and the mondeo was on the list - right up until i talked to my friends in the motor trade and was told to steer well clear. Compared to VAG's dervs it was agricultural and (as Konan555 said) had nowhere near the reputation for reliability. Don't get me wrong - when released the mondeo was a nice car to drive, and very comfortable, but Ford just weren't in the game as far as diesel technology was concerned compared to the Germans. What Car? use choice quotes like "Refinement Generally good, except with the diesel engine", "the diesel will better 40mpg, but is too rough and best avoided" and "1.8 and 2.0 petrols are best; diesel noisy" for good reason.. Parkers say "1.8 TD is very old-fashioned, only consider it if you must have a diesel." and on servicing "10,000 miles (petrol). diesel models 6,000 miles" too.

P.S. learn to spell my name please lol

[5lab]

yeah i read all those things and testdrove both.. its a bit more noisy, but tis not noticable when you're on the go, so figured i didnt really care. had a drive of some others as well, the vag group engine is much better, but teh prices are just plain silly.. i didnt really want an hdi engine because while they give more power and economy, when they go wrong its normally more expensive..

service is 10,000 on the later diesels - 6,000 is only the mk1 cars. i've a suspicion they changed something later on because i really dont see that the one i've got (which is very late) is any more noisy than my boss's st24..

[Butuz]

Ive had the misfortune to have drive a L reg mondeo 1.8td estate. Sounds like a tractor, goes like a tractor, handles like a tractor. On boost performance is very sluggish, off boost performance is downright dangerous.

Apart from that its a good car?

Butuz

[Moby-Dick]

the 1.8 Zetec is a much better choice , and not that much worse on the juice either.

[5lab]

perhaps they changed it. on boost its quicker (in the same rev range) than the 1.8, and a fair bit more frugal too (1.8 will average around 33-35mpg, derv will do 43-45.. thats enough to make me buy one). off boost is a little slow, agreed, but its not hard to do that.

they did (i believe) a lot to the handling when they did the facelift- it handles very nicely with very little bodyroll

[Konan555]

perhaps they changed it. on boost its quicker (in the same rev range) than the 1.8

1900rpm to 2000rpm?

[Fox]

the 1.8 Zetec is a much better choice , and not that much worse on the juice either.

2.0 Zetec is the best engine in the range if you take into account a combination of performance, running costs and economy. It'll do over 40mpg on the Motorway, well over 35mpg on regular roads and only dips below 30 if you spend all your time in town. It also doesn't have the potential for complex expense that the V6 does.

Like for like, I get roughly 7mpg less for any given circumstance than I used to with my 1.9TD Xantia. The VAG engines are good, shame the cars they are found in are either hopeless overpriced, hopelessly outdated, expensive to repair, or a combination of the three.

[Konan555]

It'll do over 40mpg on the Motorway, well over 35mpg on regular roads and only dips below 30 if you spend all your time in town.

With a tail wind and reduced gravity

Must just be my driving 'cause I couldn't get over 30mpg average out of the MK1 2L. Mind you, never did sus out where the 16V sweetspot is, 2500rpm is the magic area on my 2L that sees 50ish mpg instant economey.

[Fox]

With a tail wind and reduced gravity

Must just be my driving 'cause I couldn't get over 30mpg average out of the MK1 2L. Mind you, never did sus out where the 16V sweetspot is, 2500rpm is the magic area on my 2L that sees 50ish mpg instant economey.

Not at all, no special driving is required to get that, it just does it. Motorway is 75mph indicated on the cruise, regular A road driving is as quick as I can legally/sensibly manage and no adversity to overtaking.

[Konan555]

Must be something with the later ones then. None of the (bloody countless) mondys i've been lumpd with have done anything like that.

[Moby-Dick]

I didn't get the choice of engines , it was what ever was in Zak's bargain bin

I think I'd have been happier with the 2.0

[Zak33]

I didn't get the choice of engines , it was what ever was in Zak's bargain bin

I think I'd have been happier with the 2.0

nah.....that car was the right one. If you'd had a 2.0 you might have saved less money on insurance.

But either way....the wheel's might still have nearly fell off

[Moby-Dick]

Which reminds me - went thorough its MOT this week.

Had to replace the front springs ( one has split ) + wishbone and control arm.

other than that a set of front tyres and a headlamp bulb and it was fine.

It handles differently now , much more positive.

Thankfuly I'd cleaned the gunk from the bottom of the washer tank & replaced the pump earlier

[Konan555]

other than that a set of front tyres and a headlamp bulb and it was fine.

They got rather eaten didn't they?