2008 mondeo buying advice

JAMES VTI S

My dad's thinking about buying a 08 mondeo and I'm wondering what peoples experience is with these cars. What's the MPG like and is there any common issues one needs to watch out for.

Thanks.

Stoolbend

If it's 1.8 diesel the first thing to check is the wet timing belt. Check if it has one and if it's been changed.

martinr5232

If it has a build date after 10/07 1.8 tdci has two timing belts very important they are done if not you could be looking at a recon engine.
Rear trailing arm bushings wear.
Flywheels again on the 1.8 are prone
Other than that they are fairly reliable.

bazz26

In 2008 the following engines were available in the Mondeo:

Petrol:
1.6 litre
2.0 litre
2.3 litre

Diesel:
1.8 litre
2.0 litre
2.2 litre

Which one?

JAMES VTI S

He thinks it's the 1.8 but will have a better look tomorrow

bazz26

I'd have the 2.0 TDCi over the 1.8 TDCi. Other than the odd injector issue they are pretty solid. More powerful and refined than the older 1.8 TDCi.

tanko

Apologies for butting in here, can anyone say what year of a decent specced diesel mondeo would €14K buy?

Noccy_Mondy

tanko wrote:

Apologies for butting in here, can anyone say what year of a decent specced diesel mondeo would €14K buy?

You'd get a 12/13 titanium or titanium x 2.0 for that money handy enough

Noccy_Mondy

Have a 2008 one James. 1.8 tdci

In 4 years of ownership it needed

Front/rear pads
1 wheel bearing
Timing belt
Clutch/flywheel

Don't think there was anything else major bar the regular services.

Timing needs to be done at 100k miles, about 6/700 cost

Clutch and flywheel is expensive too at 1000+

Once those are taken care of it should be fairly straight forward

Bit of a lull at low speeds before it starts to pull.

Good car, nice power supply at 125bhp, comfortable place to be.

MPG would be high 40's. Not that thirsty of a car.

JAMES VTI S

Thanks

JAMES VTI S

How can I check if the flywheel is in fair nick.

R.O.R

JAMES VTI S wrote: »

How can I check if the flywheel is in fair nick.

If it's on it's way out, you'll notice a rythmic judder at idle. Gets progressively worse as the flywheel gets nearer to self destruction.

JAMES VTI S

A judge like the the wheel is unbalanced

R.O.R

JAMES VTI S wrote: »

A judge like the the wheel is unbalanced

Not quite that bad, but you'll get a vibration through the seats which is noticeably worse than just a diesel at idle.

Noccy_Mondy

JAMES VTI S wrote:

How can I check if the flywheel is in fair nick.

Ya, vibration inside and rattling are the main things. At idle, the vibration would knock my phone off the seat, if it was left near the edge. That was the weeks prior to me doing it.

You'd see everything shaking, including your hand, if you left it on the armrest!

The Diddakoi

Is it a hatchback or saloon?

This may be of no importance to your Dad, by when you lift the tailgate on the 08 Mondeo hatchback after it has been raining, the water runs straight into the boot and all over your shopping...drives me nuts.
You can get plastic strips off Ford to fix this apparently.

Noccy_Mondy

Ya, it's annoying alright, a rubber strip stops it though.

Lifting the boot on them is no joke either, if it's a hatch. If the mother ever opens it, she struggles to push it up, and shes not an old frail woman!

nice_guy80

get a 2011 newer model, with 2.0 engine

nice_guy80

alf66 wrote: »

Is it a hatchback or saloon?

This may be of no importance to your Dad, by when you lift the tailgate on the 08 Mondeo hatchback after it has been raining, the water runs straight into the boot and all over your shopping...drives me nuts.
You can get plastic strips off Ford to fix this apparently.

if you open the front window, just a small bit, as you are driving on a wet day, rain literally flows in off the windscreen.
really annoying too