So maybe I'm going to buy this...

Northwind

What do you reckon? From big red skip to blue whale...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201220471572010/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/5000/transmission/manual/body-type/estate/model/mondeo/make/ford/postcode/eh145lw/page/2/radius/40?logcode=p

Haven't had a proper look at it yet, hopefully going to give it a proper going over tomorrow but they seem confident in its condition from speaking to them on the phone. Any thoughts? Specific owner things to look for? I've been looking at 2.0s but this isn't much more to tax and insure.

Briggo

Good motors, plenty of gadgets as standard and good spacious motors and cheap to run, MPG is around the 30-35 for town and 45 for a run.

Recently sold my '56 plate, however they are littered with engine problems (I was lucky but it was starting to feel used at 88k). EGR failures and erratic idle, good job you can get cheapish parts and they're easy to work on.

Stevo_666

I've got a 2.0 TDCI with nearly 100k on the clock and it's been pretty damn reliable so far. Just needed the air con regassing and a couple of bulbs relacing in the 9 months I've had it. Look for the usual things like service history, fluid leaks, crash damage, rust, engine blowing excessive smoke etc.

Great bike lugger as you can fit pretty much anything 2 wheeled in the back with the seats folded (even DH bikes with massively wide handlebars).

Northwind

Yeah, tbh most of the ones I've seen are old enough/high enough miles to be a bit suspect so it's more a case of trying to find a tidy one and stacking the odds on my side, than of getting any sort of total peace of mind. But then I've kept the Skip on the road for 2 years now on a pretty tight budget and it's in better nick now than it was 20000 miles ago (*) so I don't mind a wee bit of a roll of the dice.

Fairly set now on a diesel mondeo- they're pretty ideal for my purposes, but I don't like the petrol engines much (except the V6 and they're not too common) The 2.0 tdci's quick enough for my taste but since I'm looking at dealers (want a trade-in, can't be bothered to sell the Focus) that knocks out most of the cheaper ones, and at this sort of price it seems like it's easier to get more engine and more toys, than it is to get less years or miles. So I figure what the heck I hate the wheels on this one but other'n that it's giving me warm vibes.

The 2.2 seems to have all the usual Ford diesel foibles with a dash of extra injector worries, does that seem about right?

(*- well, mechanically it's better. Cosmetically it's a little rougher because I keep driving it into the house)

sheepsteeth

do these come with the dual mass flywheels?

mine did and and it would have been an expensive repair job had i not offloaded it to webuyanyobvious.com as it was falling apart.

Northwind

Yep, one of the curses of the modern diesel (and not just diesels now either). They say it's had the DMF and clutch done at 60000 miles, will be wanting documentation for that though... Comes warrantied at least.

The Focus is still on its original at 120000 miles, then again, it has about half as much power.

Briggo

sheepsteeth wrote:

do these come with the dual mass flywheels?

mine did and and it would have been an expensive repair job had i not offloaded it to webuyanyobvious.com as it was falling apart.

Are there any diesels that don't come with a dual mass flywheel? (honest question)

To be fair Northwind its like any motor you can get a munter, it's just the EGR failure and erratic idle was a fault on mine. EGRs are £150 ish to replace and usually go around 50k miles in my experience, but like I said you can blank it off fine on the earlier diesel, I couldnt on mine as it was euro4.

The erratic idle can't be fixed easily and eventually leads to injectors, which is why I offloaded mine. It idles erraticly when you cold start up, maybe a puff of smoke but drive 500yds down the road and it disappears, the usual story is this eventually becomes worse and doesnt clear up after a short journey, blue smoke out the back and injectors go pop, but you can drive a long way on dieing injectors

For a 2.2 diesel lump its fairly quick it has the torque to overtake well.

sheepsteeth

Briggo wrote:

sheepsteeth wrote:

do these come with the dual mass flywheels?

mine did and and it would have been an expensive repair job had i not offloaded it to webuyanyobvious.com as it was falling apart.

Are there any diesels that don't come with a dual mass flywheel? (honest question)

i dont know, all know is that on the ford it was a particularly poor example which would chew itself to pieces. Mine was depositing a very finely ground metal pwder all over the place, first sign of which was the starter motor seizing up.

iirc, they changed it around 04-05 to a different set up which was less wank.

CraigXXL

Northwind, Mondeo's are good cars. I've had the 2.0 tdci Zetec hatch and now the 2.2 tdci Titanium X estate. I've not had any problems with mine other than the EGR which on a Euro 3 (up to 55 plate) is a simply clean and refit or buy a new from Jaguar at £65. They are very comfy, vast inside and still handle well. I get around 45mpg in town and fully loaded to Spain have seen nearly 60mpg, the 2.0 tdci is about 15% better on fuel. Servicing is cheap and easy to do yourself, a major service is only about £80 inc oil.
In standard tune they are quick, decat and a remap makes them very rapid. Downsides are the injectors can cause problems so make sure you visit the car on a morning with a cold engine and any signs of erratic idle just walk away. 18 inch alloys aren't great for ride comfort on our crap roads and tyres are about £100 a corner and will last around 12k miles depending on how you drive.
The car you have linked to seems cheap for a dealer so have it checked.

Northwind

Cheers, some very helpful answers here!

Briggo

45mpg in town driving? I seriously doubt that, with 3 years of ownership best I ever managed was the high 30's and no, there wasn't anything wrong with the car.

Suppose it depends on your definition of town driving, can't involve too much stop starting as it's a big car to keep accelerating with.

CraigXXL

From Heckmondwike to Leeds, 8 miles, 40 minute journey, average speed on the computer is 19mph. Supermarket fuel but do you use BG244 annually. Is that stop start / town driving enough for you?
I've had the current Mondeo estate for nearly 4 years and a hatchback 2.0 tdci for a year before that so aIso know the car pretty well. I was getting mid 30's mpg until I did the glowplugs and that made a big difference to the stop/start economy.

Northwind

Oh now don't bring glowplugs into this thread too

Briggo

CraigXXL wrote:

From Heckmondwike to Leeds, 8 miles, 40 minute journey, average speed on the computer is 19mph. Supermarket fuel but do you use BG244 annually. Is that stop start / town driving enough for you?
I've had the current Mondeo estate for nearly 4 years and a hatchback 2.0 tdci for a year before that so aIso know the car pretty well. I was getting mid 30's mpg until I did the glowplugs and that made a big difference to the stop/start economy.

Yeah I used BG244, good stuff and I'd highly recommend to anyone with a diesel.

Is that stop start enough? I have no idea of the route or the volume of traffic you experience and within my ownership the glowplugs were changed as one died shortly after a service (not that they would make that much difference I shouldn't think)

I suspect you werent actually driving your car, you were pushing it with a mate.

Still its a good car Northwind, you bought it yet? Your challenge is to beat Craigs 45mpg in solid town driving.

Northwind

It had a few niggles that I wasn't happy with- easy enough to sort but put me off the seller, they'd told me a couple of obvious fibs so I figure I couldn't trust them any further than that. But still looking for something along similiar lines so it's all useful info!

(in the meantime my Focus has eaten its slave cylinder... Anyone want to buy a singlespeed Focus Estate in Edinburgh area )