Ford Mondeo TDCI Mk III

FrontDoor

What are late model (06-07) versions of this car like?

I've always thought they were a very good car for their time and there are lots of them in the UK around £2-3k.

Are they are a good used buy? I know the earlier versions had problematic fuel systems.

sean1141

I had a 04. I think the tdci engines are the same in all years.
I think all tdcis gave injector trouble where as the older tddi gave injector pump trouble.

They are a nice drive. Lots of room and well finished inside. I would look for a ghia or ghia x trim. Engine is noisy on idle. Mine wasn't very powerful for the 130bhp it was supposed to be compared to a passat for example and was a little hard on diesel at motorway speeds..

Wicklowandy

Friend has an 04 facelift 130bhp 5spd since 06. It looks rough now but onto mega mileage (200mls+) Dmf at 80k, injectors at 100k, maybe starting to get a bit smoky lately, but driving well and used regularly to tow trailers and horse boxes.

Personally prefer VAG tdis of the age, but the Ford handles better and I've always thought it the match of a 130tdi. It feels slower perhaps because it build revs slower. Someone else told me (could be wrong) that torque is electronically limited in 1st and 2nd to increase clutch life, and they really have big lungs in third

A guy I used to work with had an ST 155 and it felt little faster:)

sean1141

I thought all facelift 130s were 6speed?? I know the older 130s were 5speed. My 04 had 200k miles on it then I sold it and would have passed for a car with half the millage. Then again it was a company car so most of that was motor way millage.

A 130 passat would have run rings around mine but maybe it was lacking in power a bit. I drove a few 115 mondeos too and they felt dead also

Wicklowandy

His is early 04 facelift 130 and definitely 5spd. When he got it we didn't believe him it was 130 until we checked chassis no.

Drove a 90 tddi and that made a 90tdi passat look like a rocket. The pedal on the right just seem to make it vibrate more

FrontDoor

Cheers fellas,

Would have no interest in the 90 bhp, but I'm sure the 130bhp would be fine.

Are they a money pit or relatively ok to maintain. What sort of wedge for injectors? Can they be refurbed, etc? Whats the economy like on them?

Looking at 2.0 HDI C5s of the same age. Lots of these seem to run forever as well.

Wicklowandy

His injectors were done at the main dealer, and came with a painful bill (have heard since of people getting the same job for 6-700, sure someone with direct recent advice will come along and advise you better)

His has used less consumable suspension parts (arb and wishbone bushes) than the VAG tdis I've ran in the same period, and he's towed a lot with his.

Usual dmf woes but that just goes with modern diesels of most varieties.

The best advice is probably to buy the best you can with evidence of having injectors and dmf looked at recently enough. You will come up against the problems; try and buy one that someone has already fettled.

C5s aren't my specialist subject (if I have one;)) but plenty of people here know them.

I know you said 06, but my 10c might point you to an avensis or VAG just because it's what I know and Mondeos are just not that much cheaper than them:)

sean1141

Wicklowandy wrote: »

His is early 04 facelift 130 and definitely 5spd. When he got it we didn't believe him it was 130 until we checked chassis no.

Drove a 90 tddi and that made a 90tdi passat look like a rocket. The pedal on the right just seem to make it vibrate more

Strange! Mine was a January 04 car built in late 03 and it was 6speed. Maybe because it was a ghia trim??

Common problems on them are injectors, dmf, rear calipers, rear subframe bushings, dash clocks and the simple bonnet catch! As said try get one someone has a lot of work done on! They are no more a money pit than any other car going.

FrontDoor

Thanks for the feedback.

I find the Passat Mk5.5 is not as nice a drive as the Mondeo and the C5 is an extremely comfortable car, so that's why I was leaning towards them.

Ideally, a MkVI passat would be what I would get, but perhaps a little outside my budget.

I find myself going through Donedeal looking at dozens of each type of car and I just have to glance at the picture to know that most of them are utter balls of ****e, with the odd fresh, one owner, fsh type car appearing for a day or two.

On the other hand, autotrader seems to have a lot of relatively fresh looking cars with history.

1.8 TDCI Focuses seem to work out fairly well in the UK also.

Wicklowandy

Everything except the bonnet catch has been done on my friends Sean! Clocks from abreakers a few months ago. His is not lx but zetec? Spec I think? Rear electrics and climate, 16" alloys?

I wouldn't think it's a great time price wise for importing, but it's true to say generally uk cars are better specced and minded but if your talking of a car that's done a minimum of 6 winters I'd be cautious of future rust

sean1141

Lx was the basic trim followed by zetec, ghia and ghia x. To confuse matters further there were platinum and titanium trims. I'm not sure where these fell into the line up!! I think the ghia had a sun roof auto dim mirror and auto headlights plus possibly chrome pack over the zetec. Ghia x had heated and cooled leather plus fully electric front seat and I think cruise and park sensors on the ghia.
UK and irish spec were different and the UK ones were built differently. They came wired for all the extras where as the irish and European ones were hit and miss!

Rust is an issue with them so keep a close eye out for that.

bazz26

LX, Zetec and Executive were available from launch in 2000 but there were also a high spec Ebony model around briefly too back then. Ghia replaced the Executive when it was facelifted in late 2003. Steel replaced the LX and Platinum replaced the Zetec spec around 2006 when it got equipment upgrades. Ghia was then replaced by the Titanium X.

R.O.R

Up until close to the end of the run, the LX was only available with the 90ps engine. The Zetec got the 115ps and the Ghia got the 130ps. Eventually they put the 130 in the Zetec and I think the LX was available with the 115ps.