2003 Mondeo 1.8 petrol, any good?

kermitpwee

As above are there any common problems with these, trying to get a car for my brother in England. He has spotted one with fsh and 60k on it, he knows nothing about cars. Are they reliable or troublesome?
Thanks

George Dalton

The engines aren't particularly long lasting, they tend to burn a lot of oil as the miles get high but with 60k done and FSH you should be ok.

EDIT: Forgot to say the rest of the car is pretty solid.

CharlieCroker

Good car to be fair. 2 different outputs on that 1.8.
LX models have 110bhp, zetec has 125bhp. Zetec has better spec as well.

colm_mcm

Far as I know they don't do the lower hp engine in the uk LX. they have the 125hp engine in the LX as we get in the zetec, they also have a 1.8 sci engine with 130hp in the ghia spec.

MICKEYG

kermitpwee wrote: »

As above are there any common problems with these, trying to get a car for my brother in England. He has spotted one with fsh and 60k on it, he knows nothing about cars. Are they reliable or troublesome?
Thanks

I have a 2002 from new (90k now). Only issues were starter motor and rear dampeners going. Small problem with a/c too. Otherwise great car, lovely to drive and never ever ever underestimate the wind screen demister! Brilliant feature. Why do no other brands have it?

Leonard Hofstadter

A facelift appeared in 2003, try and get one of those as they shouldn't have the oil burning problems.

bazz26

The early MkIII Mondeos also suffered from swirl flap issues similar to BMWs, just google Mondeo and butterfly values for more information. They started using the Mazda engine from late 2003 in the facelifted model and the butterfly valve issue was fixed.

mondymike

bazz26 wrote: »

The early MkIII Mondeos also suffered from swirl flap issues similar to BMWs, just google Mondeo and butterfly values for more information. They started using the Mazda engine from late 2003 in the facelifted model and the butterfly valve issue was fixed.

Mk3 mondeos also suffer from rear calipers sticking. They all seem to go, likewise on the sister car, mazda 6

knucklehead6

Drove one for 9 years, brilliant car.

Couple of things to watch out for.
Coil Pack. I had to replace 2 of these and also the Cat in the 170K miles I put up. Check the history to see of this has been done, cos otherwise you are going to end up doing it in the next 20K.

The seal around the light in the boot (hatchback) perished and I had water dripping in during heavy rain.

Oil burning and butterfly valve. Yep, had both of them.
Was putting a bottle of oil in every 2 or 3 months towards the end of my ownership.

The rubber seals around the drivers door went during the big freeze 2 years ago. I ended up with squelchy footwell-itis for a few weeks until I was able to get it fixed.

My car could still quite happily motor along at 135+ kph (burning oil and drinking fuel like both were going out of fashion) before I retired her. Still was a lovely car to drive. And to be honest, only for the oil consumption, (and the fact that I made the fatal mistake of going car shopping with a mate!! ) I'd probably still have her.

Replaced her with a 2010 Mondeo, so i can't be accused of losing faith with them!!

Leonard Hofstadter

mondymike wrote: »

Mk3 mondeos also suffer from rear calipers sticking. They all seem to go, likewise on the sister car, mazda 6

The Mazda 6 has nothing in common with the Mondeo (bar some petrol engines), and it never has had. The US based Fusion and some other US market Fords do use the Mazda platform. Even the side for the fuel filler is different on both the Mondeo and 6 (driver's side on the Mondeo, passenger's side on the 6).

OldmanMondeo

captainspeed wrote: »

A facelift appeared in 2003, try and get one of those as they shouldn't have the oil burning problems.

Sept 2004 was the facelift model, easy way to know these is the round front foglight replaced with square-er ones and the front grille is flush with the bonnet.

knucklehead6

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

Sept 2004 was the facelift model, easy way to know these is the round front foglight replaced with square-er ones and the front grille is flush with the bonnet.

Also the centre console has an 'electronic' style heating controls as opposed to the twisty turnys!

Breaker19

I still have my 01 model. Driving it for the last 7 years. Great car. The coil went (replaced in scrap yard for €50) and the cat went. Only trouble I've had. With regards to burning oil, she never burned a drop up to a year ago. Starting to burn abut now but I just started using thicker oil and it reduced the amount of oil been burned a lot. In fairness, there's 152k miles on her now.

Next car will be another mondeo. Love them and would thoroughly recommend it

Cungi

Bought my 05 LX 2 yrs ago (90,000km). The only issues i've had were having to replace brake pads and calipers and a splashguard (Now 140,000km).

Great car to drive. Will probably get another. Maybe an 07 ST Tdci