Ford Mondeo Estate MK3

[KLR600]

I'm looking to buy my first car. I'm 25, have had my license for 2 years and already have plenty of driving experience. I drove a minibus 5000 miles around Europe last year, drove my Mum's Rover 200 for about 6 months after I passed my test and have driven hire vans on occasion as well. Obviously I have a bike as well and have done around 100k miles over 8 years. The reason I mention that is because I'm not looking for a typical small hatchback first car.

I've been running some insurance quotes on the usual comparison websites and I've found that a Ford Mondeo estate comes up at around £50 a year more to insure than a Fiesta (around £750 if I put my parents as named drivers on the policy). I've run quotes on other estates and other non-typical first cars but there doesn't seem to be anything else that offers as much value than the Mondeo.

I would use the car mostly for motorway miles travelling between Manchester and North Wales as well as using it for mountain bike trips and possibly even the occasional trip to Berlin as my girlfriends family live there. That's ruled out a small hatchback type car as I'd like to be able to drive in comfort and I don't want a little 1 litre engine screaming it's way down the motorway every time I go anywhere. I don't need a car for fun either as I have the bike for that, it'll basically just be a utilitarian tool to enable me to do things that require the moving of things.

I'll have about £1,000 to spend on a car (it definitely won't be any more than that as I'll have to insure it too) and I've seen for that money that I should be able to pick up a 2001-2004 model with around 100k miles on it. As the insurance is only really affordable on the 1.8 litre LX models (petrol or diesel, zetec models are only a few more quid to insure though) I was hoping that anyone with experience of this model would be able to give me hints on anything to look out for or anything that is renowned for going wrong with these?

I've pretty much made up my mind that this is the car that I want unless I hear some real horror stories about them. I'm not set on a petrol or diesel and I guess whether I get an LX or a Zetec will depend on what's around when I look to buy (probably the end of June).

So does anyone have any good/bad stories/first hand experience with a 2001+ 1.8 Ford Mondeo LX or Zetec?
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[Boxing]

Insurance is a scam.

My advice is, get a 1.0 Fiesta or something, insure it for about three-four years, THEN get an estate. It's all based on no claims bonus now.

Also, don't forget it's actually insurance fraud to have your insurance in your parents names. If you're listed as a part time driver, and turn out to own the car, you'll get your insurance void, meaning if you had a crash, you'll have no insurance. And then you'll get disqualified from driving, or points.

[KLR600]

I'm well aware insurance is a scam and also that fronting is illegal. I'd be putting my parents on the policy as named drivers with the policy being in my name with me as the main driver which is totally legal. A 1 litre Fiesta is not really suitable for what I want and seeing as I can insure a Mondeo estate for only £50 a year more than a Fiesta and there's not much difference in price actually buying the car in the first place I'd rather get the bigger, more comfortable and better spec'd Mondeo.
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[Boxing]

OK, but I'd advise a better estate if so.

Maybe a Ford Focus estate?

The Mondeo is known to get cracks in the bumpers, all the time.

Check this site out: https://www.bba-reman.com/content.aspx?content=ford_mondeo_common_problems_and_solutions

[KLR600]

I've run quotes on Focus estates and they come in at another £100 more expensive than the Mondeo estates for some reason despite the smaller engines available, they're probably crashed/stolen more or something.

I think for the price I'm looking at spending on a car I can't afford to be fussy with cosmetic appearance as long as it's a solid car with plenty of life left in it. I'm 100% sure I'll be adding a few more dings and scrapes driving it to mountain bike spots and throwing bikes into and out of it all the time.

That website looks useful though, I'll have a scroll through it
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[nant]

I brought a ford mondeo estate ghia 2.2tdci about 2 years ago. 04 plate. For 1900 pounds with 89k on the clock. On about 130k at the moment. Its been fine for me so far really, only one major repair, where the oil cooler was leaking oil into the water tank. It goes quick enough for what i want too!

Cracks in the bumper? must be some people, the only cracks i got in the bumper was when i drove into the car park wall after some bad judgement! lol.

Good for transporting my mountain bikes, (managed to fit 4 bikes in back of car, wheels off and 4 passengers for a recent trip to wales) around and kite buggies and snowboards.

Yeh insurance is a bit pricey I find on estates. Going to go for a normal ford focus hatchback next time. Can just get a bike rack instead.

[KLR600]

Cool, sounds good 40,000 miles trouble free-ish sounds good, I've spent a fair amount keeping my bike on the road over the years and that's only just ticked over 40,000 miles so I'm not averse to spending a bit to keep something running.

I've got an MOT tester friend who's offered to come and look at any car I want before I buy so that's useful, he's also offered to help out with any car related maintenance issues I may have regardless of car so I'm not worried about major failures TOO much (although obviously I don't want a high mileage time bomb!!)

It seems this Mondeo estate may be a bit of an insurance anomaly for me. It's cheaper to insure than the hatchback or saloon model and the focus is also more expensive.
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[MG]

Regarding your point about wanting a bigger car for the longer journeys, granted I haven't driven anything else, but I drive a 2.0 HDI Peugeot 206 and that sits at 87 on the motorway with ease. Pretty comfortable too, I've done 4 hours in one go and it was fine.
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[Llama-Farmer]

I would advise against something that old with that many miles. If you're looking to keep it a while and do quite a lot of distance, a lower mileage car would be better.


I've just blown up my old car and sent it to the scrapyard. I got it at 40k and put a further 80k on it since I owned it, finally shat all its bits out (DMF went, then moments later catastrophically failed, taking the clutch, gearbox and part of the engine block with it) at 120k and 8 years 2 months old. And I looked after it very well as well, at a greater expensive, I (major) serviced it every year with oil changes every quarter. All I had to show for it was a £1500 car with a £2500 + VAT repair bill.

Is the mondeo hatch the same roughly to insure? Would have thought you'd get a lower mileage hatch for same price as an estate of the same age & spec.

[-LG-]

Mileage isn't a huge problem really. When your spending £1k on a car, buy on the condition rather than the mileage. If one has 100k+ but well looked after (full service history etc), or one has 50k but my mates dads sisters uncle did all the work on the cheap, so no paperwork to back it up.
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[Llama-Farmer]

[D O G]

If you are going to be making semi regular trips to Europe in it, definitely get a diesel. You probably noticed that diesel is cheaper than petrol in Europe, plus you get better mpg.

Brilliant cars IMO, my friend had one, it was a lovely thing. Not sure how good a £1k will be tho...

[AndyB1989]

1997 ish 1.9tdi audi a4 or passat estate 60mpg cheap parts and comfy as you like

[KLR600]

[AndyB1989]

51 plate mondeo that needs subframe bushes RUN THE FUCK AWAY !

[AndyB1989]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A4-1-9-TDI-SE-/320905781899?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4ab779a28b#ht_887wt_1139

[KLR600]

[neatbik]

My 's worth...

If you are doing less than 10k miles a year, go for a petrol version.
We used to have a diesel Focus. Lovely car, 50mpg, plenty of torque.
But when we had to swap to a 7 seater ( ) i realised that with the mileage we do in it (roughly 6k per year) the extra expense of a diesel just wasnt worth it.

They cost more to buy (a good one anyway), diesel is more per litre, plus there is more to go wrong.
Turbo's, stupid dual mass flywheels, expensive fuel pumps, etc etc.
Yes, stuff can go wrong with petrol engines too, but not as much in my experience.

Plus the Mondeo diesels of that vintage arent known for their reliability....

My petrol Scenic can hit 44mpg on a motorway run, fully loaded with crap, so its not that thirsty really.

Tl;Dr
Go for a nicely looked after petrol Mondeo estate.

[KLR600]

[angryjonny]

[neatbik]

If i had to get a car just for my usage, then i would go for a Mondeo estate aswell. Lots of room to carry stuff, fairly comfortable and although they are far from sporty, there are worse handling cars out there.

Just make sure you buy a good one and all should be fine and dandy.

[MG]

[KLR600]

My parents had a MK2 Mondeo Estate for years. Not sure what engine it had but they toured Europe with a folk trio (one of which played a harp...) a few times, drove all over the UK doing various folk festivals as well as my dad using it as his daily driver for work and general shopping and taking me out mountain biking and it never missed a beat. They put some heavy duty shocks on the rear (sweet coil-overs bro!) but that was the only mod they did. They sold it on after putting some ridiculous miles on it and it's apparently still going somewhere up in North Wales!

I just want a no fuss, A to B car that I can throw a load of stuff into the back of without having to fold it up or take it to a million pieces just to fit it in and this seems to fit the bill perfectly.
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[The Shaggy D.A.]

Here's the Which? Mondeo 2000-2007 report for your viewing pleasure
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[Shaft]

Nothing much wrong with the Mondeo, the main thing it suffers from is lack of badge.

In the same vein, run some quotes on Vectra estates; very unloved, it's another no nonsense car that shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg to run and, because of an intense lack of buying enthusiasm, for your budget you ought to be able to get a newer/lower mileage car than the Ford.
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