Mondeo - Opinions

Shred · 07-03-2014 1:12pm #1

I'm in the market for a car and have been looking at the TDI (Titanium ideally) Mondeos. So some questions:

1. Engine size - Originally I was considering a 1.6 but a few people I know have commented that they're underpowered and eat juice as a result, whether that's true or not I can't say personally. For instance, a friend of mine has a 2.0 which I never would have considered previously until he told me he's putting €85 into it every 10 days and doing almost 1,000k in that time (he's in sales). My current car (1.4 petrol) costs me €65 per week and I'd get less than 500k out of it... Having said that, he wouldn't be in the city anywhere near as much as I would (I'd be in and around the 'burbs mostly).
2. Price - I'm looking for a 2011 minimum, ideally 2012. I'm seeing quite a few of the 2.0 models (not necessarily Titanium's though) around carzone etc for in and around 16-18,000 (mileage can be high on some of them though).
3. Budget - Mine would be towards mid teens but I could potentially stretch it further for the right car.

So, does anyone have any thoughts?

tin79 · 07-03-2014 1:23pm

Shred wrote: »

I'm in the market for a car and have been looking at the TDI (Titanium ideally) Mondeos. So some questions:

1. Engine size - Originally I was considering a 1.6 but a few people I know have commented that they're underpowered and eat juice as a result, whether that's true or not I can't say personally. For instance, a friend of mine has a 2.0 which I never would have considered previously until he told me he's putting €85 into it every 10 days and doing almost 1,000k in that time (he's in sales). My current car (1.4 petrol) costs me €65 per week and I'd get less than 500k out of it... Having said that, he wouldn't be in the city anywhere near as much as I would (I'd be in and around the 'burbs mostly).
2. Price - I'm looking for a 2011 minimum, ideally 2012. I'm seeing quite a few of the 2.0 models (not necessarily Titanium's though) around carzone etc for in and around 16-18,000 (mileage can be high on some of them though).
3. Budget - Mine would be towards mid teens but I could potentially stretch it further for the right car.

So, does anyone have any thoughts?

The 1.6 Mondeo is awful. I wouldn't go near it. I would go , and have gone, for the 2.0.

Shred · 07-03-2014 1:27pm

Yeah that's something else I forgot to mention was a mechanic I know reckoned the fuel injection and a number of other things are problematic on the 1.6s. What kind of driving would you do yourself and how do you find the 2.0 on fuel?

MuppetCheck · 07-03-2014 1:30pm

2 litre all day long, although if you're doing small miles around town or urban areas a petrol might be a better bet but almost impossible to find in a car like that.

There's a 1.6 petrol Avensis, 1.4 Turbo Insignia and Passat that might fit the bill instead? You seem to do ~20k km a year so I'm making an assumption that you do shorter driving - correct me if I'm wrong.

MidlandsM · 07-03-2014 1:31pm

The 2.0 diesel psa unit give plenty of injectors issues too, like them all.

Shred · 07-03-2014 1:34pm

On average I'd do circa 60k per weekday between North county Dublin & D7. I don't really want another petrol car TBH and I do need a large boot as I'm a drummer (I meant to mention that also).

racso1975 · 07-03-2014 1:39pm

Shred wrote: »

On average I'd do circa 60k per week day between North county Dublin & D7. I don't really want another petrol car TBH and I do need a large boot as I'm a drummer (I meant to mention that also).

Large boot.....octavia :-)

Shred · 07-03-2014 1:41pm

racso1975 wrote: »

Large boot.....octavia :-)

Yeah I've been considering those too.

MuppetCheck · 07-03-2014 1:44pm

Shred wrote: »

On average I'd do circa 60k per weekday between North county Dublin & D7. I don't really want another petrol car TBH and I do need a large boot as I'm a drummer (I meant to mention that also).

The thing with diesels is they are not suited to urban driving if that's what you do and could wind up costing you more on repairs. It's not guaranteed but there is a stronger chance of it happening. Also diesels aren't all that much cheaper to run in those conditions and the motor tax differences aren't huge either.

I wouldn't bother with an Octavia - smaller class to the Mondeo, get rattly with age, are noisy and feel cheap.

R.O.R · 07-03-2014 1:52pm

I was pleasantly surprised when I drove the Mondeo 1.6Tdci 115ps. Went in with low expectations, but found it quite nippy. Was only a 2km round trip up to the fuel station, so not really that much to gauge from it.

Won't be great at higher speeds, and would use more fuel then the 2.0 version once you get it over 100km/h, but if you are doing North County Dublin to D7, I'm guessing M1/M50 where you'd struggle to get over 100km/h unless it's middle of the night.

If your budget is mid 20's, I'd be tempted to hold off for a little while and maybe hit a dealership mid June and price up a new one. Ford will surely start to give bigger and bigger incentives to off load current models, so they aren't left with stock when the new model comes.

Titanium Plus now comes with Full Leather and touch screen Nav. Even the Zetec gets Nav as standard nowadays.

Shred · 07-03-2014 1:58pm

MuppetCheck wrote: »

The thing with diesels is they are not suited to urban driving if that's what you do and could wind up costing you more on repairs. It's not guaranteed but there is a stronger chance of it happening. Also diesels aren't all that much cheaper to run in those conditions and the motor tax differences aren't huge either.

I wouldn't bother with an Octavia - smaller class to the Mondeo, get rattly with age, are noisy and feel cheap.

Cheers. The chances are I will be potentially doing some countywide miles for gigs shortly, but on the whole it would be as I laid out above. I do agree with you on the Octavias based on one belonging to someone I know.

Shred · 07-03-2014 2:00pm

R.O.R wrote: »

I was pleasantly surprised when I drove the Mondeo 1.6Tdci 115ps. Went in with low expectations, but found it quite nippy. Was only a 2km round trip up to the fuel station, so not really that much to gauge from it.

Won't be great at higher speeds, and would use more fuel then the 2.0 version once you get it over 100km/h, but if you are doing North County Dublin to D7, I'm guessing M1/M50 where you'd struggle to get over 100km/h unless it's middle of the night.

If your budget is mid 20's, I'd be tempted to hold off for a little while and maybe hit a dealership mid June and price up a new one. Ford will surely start to give bigger and bigger incentives to off load current models, so they aren't left with stock when the new model comes.

Titanium Plus now comes with Full Leather and touch screen Nav. Even the Zetec gets Nav as standard nowadays.

Thanks for that, my budget is around 16k though, possibly stretching to 18k, I wouldn't be buying new either.

R.O.R · 07-03-2014 2:10pm

Shred wrote: »

Thanks for that, my budget is around 16k though, possibly stretching to 18k, I wouldn't be buying new either.

Sorry - you said mid teens, but for some reason I read it as mid twenties

On that budget, I'm not sure any of the 1.6Tdi's would fall in as they've not been around that long.

That would leave a choice between the 1.8 or the 2.0, and that's no contest, as the power delivery from the 1.8 is appalling.

Wouldn't be too worried about blocking a DPF with the usage you've described. Balbriggan to the Airport on a daily basis would be enough to burn off the soot.

bazz26 · 07-03-2014 2:47pm

A Skoda Superb is worth looking at, the boot on it is very big and has a dual opening boot which would be handy for a drum kit. Either that or an estate of some sort.

Shred · 07-03-2014 2:50pm

I do love the Superbs alright, but the missus thinks they're too big...I had some work to do in convincing her of the Mondeo, although there's probably not much between them tbf.

bazz26 · 07-03-2014 2:53pm

A Mondeo isn't much smaller. Most of these cars come with parking sensors anyway if that is an issue or can have been retro fitted cheaply enough.

Mc Love · 07-03-2014 2:58pm

Picked one up yesterday 2 litre Titanium X and I am in love!!

martinr5232 · 07-03-2014 3:07pm

Mc Love wrote: »

Picked one up yesterday 2 litre Titanium X and I am in love!!

Thats some piece of kit lovely car.

What engine ??

Mc Love · 07-03-2014 3:10pm

2.0 TDCI 163 HP - there is some amount of extra's it's unreal!! Wouldnt swap it for an audi, bmw or merc!

Shred · 07-03-2014 3:13pm

Mc Love wrote: »

Picked one up yesterday 2 litre Titanium X and I am in love!!

Ooh, very nice, congrats!

R.O.R · 07-03-2014 4:01pm

Mid-Teens, big boot, and the proper engine?

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Mondeo/ZETEC-2./42713940210432660/advert?channel=CARS

Reg number should move some people out of your way, and a full Ford service history

Shred · 07-03-2014 4:13pm

Thanks for that, is mileage not a little high on that though? I know a diesel could go potentially to 3-400,000kms, but still.

What about these (albeit Zetecs)?

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Mondeo/-ZETEC-2/44213941058801750/advert?channel=CARS
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Mondeo/-ZETEC-2/38313926473249160/advert?channel=CARS

They both seem suspiciously low priced to me or am I wrong?

kmc25_1 · 07-03-2014 4:32pm

As far as I can see Ford has dropped the new price of Mondeos.
The sticker price of a 1.6 Graphite is less than 24,000

Knock 3 grand a year off for depreciation and you are in the ball park for those cars. Considering they are Zetecs and not Graphites they are good value alright.

Mondeo Graphite 1.6TDCi 115PS starts at €23,950; Mondeo Zetec 1.6TDCi 115PS starts at €27,020 with Satellite Navigation as standard; Mondeo Titanium Plus 1.6TDCi 115PS starts at €30,070 with Full Leather Trim.

dodzy · 07-03-2014 4:33pm

Mc Love wrote: »

2.0 TDCI 163 HP - there is some amount of extra's it's unreal!! Wouldnt swap it for an audi, bmw or merc![/QUOTE You bstrd . Any pics ? Year ? Price ?

Mc Love · 07-03-2014 4:34pm

Will try to upload some later

Shred · 07-03-2014 4:36pm

kmc25_1 wrote: »

As far as I can see Ford has dropped the new price of Mondeos.
The sticker price of a 1.6 Graphite is less than 24,000

Knock 3 grand a year off for depreciation and you are in the ball park for those cars. Considering they are Zetecs and not Graphites they are good value alright.

Mondeo Graphite 1.6TDCi 115PS starts at €23,950; Mondeo Zetec 1.6TDCi 115PS starts at €27,020 with Satellite Navigation as standard; Mondeo Titanium Plus 1.6TDCi 115PS starts at €30,070 with Full Leather Trim.

That's good info, thanks.