Diesel or Petrol Mk4 Mondeo

[kawakid]

Hello,

My car is getting a bit old now, had it about 13 years from nearly new.

Anyway I am looking at getting another Mondeo. The size suits me and 3 big lads in the back.

I have been looking and I would say 70% are Diesel.

However I am just a bit weary of buying a Diesel, especially as I would want to keep the car for say 8-10 years. I have also heard horror stories about costs of new Turbos.

The car is used by my wife daily to do a commute of about 10 miles. I use it once a week for about 55 miles. ( I being a biker).

Any advice greatly appreciated.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[Clutchy]

Which is cheaper to buy?
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[bikertomm]

For a commute of 10 miles, I'd probably prefer to take the hit and get a petrol.


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[Nb]

Petrol is the best choice.
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[clancy]

10 mile commute, I'd get a petrol

If on top of that you do a fair amount of long distance driving then id probavly get the diesel. And turbos for diesels are generally very cheap to buy and replace in my experience
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KLX 300r

[Kickstart]

Hi

That is 5000~6000 miles a year. If you get 30mpg from the petrol and 45mpg from the diesel (difference is probably less than that) that is £1150 petrol or £850 diesel. The £300 saving is hardly going to cover the cost of a new turbo or dpf.

All the best

Keith
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[Rogerborg]

A lot of it comes down to your right foot.

Mrs Borg typically gets about 30mpg from her petrol Zafira. I can get closer to 40 on the same trip, taking the same time, because awespme.

A turbodiesel will give it some if you hoof it, but that doesn't mean that you'll actually get where you're going any quicker in modern UK traffic.

So on balance I'm in favour of petrol unless you do a lot of NSL miles, or you drive like a girl.
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[Skudd]

I have a petrol Mondeo, commute 70 miles a day and costs about £60 each fill up.
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[P.addy]

[J4mes]

DPF, glow plugs which sheer in the head, turbos, egr valves, expensive injectors and fuel pumps.

All nightmare equipment fitted to modern diesels and cost a fortune.

Petrol. All day long!

[Robby]

There were a few problems with the diesel engine when they were new. I would expect that any still working now are good ones though.

To actually get 30mpg out of the 2l petrol you need to drive it very carefully, in reality it returns more like 25mpg. That said, petrol engined mondeos are cheap and reliable.

[Irn-Bru]

My 2.2 petrol Vectra does 25MPG on a good day, it's awful and not even remotely quick either. I would want either a diesel or a smaller petrol car, does it have to be a big heavy Mondeo just to get to work and back?
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[Rogerborg]

If you're looking at buying new (I suspect not, but...) a workmate reckons his Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI (petrol turbo) is genuinely returning 40-50 mpg. Even the 1.2 TSI gets decent reviews.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[kawakid]

[Skudd]

[Kickstart]

[J4mes]

Dude at work had one and got 35 around town and 44 on long runs

[stevo as b4]

The Duratec 2.0/2.3 is a great engine, very reliable and I'd say 30mpg is more than achieveable once out of town.

The only plus point to your diesel idea for your usage, is that diesels don't mind more stop start short distance driving and don't need to get as hot as petrol engines to burn off the deposits and the condensation in the oil etc.

I've never liked the sound of the TDCI, probably because it's in my Transit, but it's not a refined derv lump by any means, I'd prefer the loud diesel knock sound of the VW PD engine or Rover L-series, to the whine of the TDCI. It's certainly no 5cyl Fiat JTD that's for sure!

You'd get a much more mint mondeo for your money if you choose petrol, and as keith said there's not much to go wrong on the petrol compared to a high mile diesel version.

I bet the ST220 is pretty cheap now that people can't seem to afford to run petrol V6's and that the tax based on emissions has rocketed the price of taxing such cars.

[Rogerborg]

I've heard several tales of woe about the DPFs on modern diesels used for short / slow speed driving. Sounds like the return of the Italian Tune Up.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[nickyboy4]

Love the way the tdci mondeos drive but they are so unreliable with injectors, fuel pumps and a whole manner of stuff going wrong. Get a petrol at least you've got a chance of getting there!

[Andy S]

I had a 2.0 TDCI Ghia X Estate (05) and loved how it drove, loads and loads or cabin/boots space and I averaged 58mpg from it!

BUT it suffered the normal self destruction fuel pump which in turn fooked the injectors, one very expensive (amost 4 figure) repair.

Sold it on when the dual mass flywheel showed signs of needing doing (another known delight that will be costly)

[stevo as b4]

It's of no interest to the OP, but the Duratec's tune very nicely indeed, and have a cylinder head with over 200bhp potential fitted as std.

Getting rid of the restrictive std ECU and induction/exhaust set up makes a world of difference and the engine is still very reliable kept under 7500rpm.

[lukamon]

I find it hard to belive that a 2l petrol mondeo will only do 25MPG

my '06 mx5 has a variant of that engine, (called an MZR but has ford stamped on the dipstick) an even though that car has the aerodynamics of two mating housebricks, I still get 31 -34 with no effort to be careful at all.

nice an reliable too
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[RhynoCZ]

[Kickstart]