Mondeo 2010 2 litre petrol auto estate with TC type transmission

[Petemate]

Is anyone on here towing with one of these? Toying with getting one for when our current car bites the dust. The performance figures aren't a million miles away from our Saab 1.9 Tid. The tax is about the same. The torque is only a bit less. The towing capacity also nearly the same. Fuel consumption is given as only a bit worse. We do a lot of short trips in our normal motoring and having to give the car a good run just to keep the DPF clear seems like poor economy as well as being a PITA. I am a big fan of TC transmissions and don't like the tales of poor control when slow driving, especially with a 'van on tow, with DSGs. As far as I can tell there are quite a few Mondys out there with TC. More research needed of course.
TIA
Pete

 

[otherclive]

If the torque isn’t too far from the Saab then all other things being equal it should be okay. You might have to see a few more revs at time than with the diesel Saab but that shouldn’t bother the engine. You could look at the outfit matching site Towcar.info. They also have reviews from vehicle users too.

 

[RogerL]

Be careful - the Mondeo mostly used a Jatco torque converter autobox or the infamous Powershift DCT, neither of which had good reputations - I believe that certain model years used an Aisin torque converter autobox, very similar to the Aisin used by Saab.

 

[Petemate]

Thanks Clive and Roger. I'm in the middle of finding out which models have the Aisin 'boxes. Ours in the Saab is perfect, and at just over 128k miles is as smooth as it must have been when new, certainly just as nice as it was when we got the car at about 47k miles. It is alleged that all Ecoboost cars have the TC but I'm sceptical about that until I get some more info from, perhaps, the Mondeo Owners' Forum. I'll also establish which TC they have!

 

[ProfJohnL]

I have had 5 Saabs since 1972, with a smattering of Renault GM and one Ford. I used to believe that buying a Ford estate would be like an IBM computer - not starting, but reliable and reasonable to maintain. What I found was:-

• Uncomfortable seats which I think gave me back pain,
• A disappointing 1.8L petrol engine which drank more fuel than I think it should,
• A throttle progression that was far too sensitive,
• Poor rear suspension which crashed over every bump
• And worst of all the brakes failed at speed with no warning.

I swapped it out for a Saab9-3 diesel which was nice until the GM lump refused to start reliably

I really miss Saab as a car maker, If GM hadn't pulled the mat from under them forcing them to close I'm pretty sure that's what Id be driving today. Instead I'm in a VW Passat, which is a nice car but not fault free (I'm on it's 4th engine! due to a faulty timing chain tensioner which broke after 2000M and two replacement engines were faulty when delivered to the garage.)

Volvo's are regaining a good reputation.

 

[Dustydog]

I had three Sierras, two 1.8 one 2 litre Ghia auto. All rubbish. Then a string of GM SRI cavaliers and Calibra. 2 litre engines were brilliant. All did 100k in three years.
German and Korean ever since.
Odd thing the Touareg worked out cheaper than the latest Sorento.
IMO go Korean with all the whistles and bells plus long warranties. The original Kia Sorento is still one of the best 4x4 on the market.

 

[Petemate]

Prof - I have enjoyed your posts in the past (been a long time since I have posted).

We are still enjoying our caravanning even though we are in our eighties. We realise that the saab will not go on for ever, but even at over 128k miles it is still a lovely car and it tows so well. the maintenance is so easy, the service parts being available and even genuine parts at reasonable cost. So we will probably keep it going for a while yet. Were something dreadful happen which would need a Tech 2 attention that would be hard for me as I haven't got an OBD reader.

Pete

 

[otherclive]

I have had 5 Saabs since 1972, with a smattering of Renault GM and one Ford. I used to believe that buying a Ford estate would be like an IBM computer - not starting, but reliable and reasonable to maintain. What I found was:-

• Uncomfortable seats which I think gave me back pain,
• A disappointing 1.8L petrol engine which drank more fuel than I think it should,
• A throttle progression that was far too sensitive,
• Poor rear suspension which crashed over every bump
• And worst of all the brakes failed at speed with no warning.

I swapped it out for a Saab9-3 diesel which was nice until the GM lump refused to start reliably

I really miss Saab as a car maker, If GM hadn't pulled the mat from under them forcing them to close I'm pretty sure that's what Id be driving today. Instead I'm in a VW Passat, which is a nice car but not fault free (I'm on it's 4th engine! due to a faulty timing chain tensioner which broke after 2000M and two replacement engines were faulty when delivered to the garage.)

Volvo's are regaining a good reputation.

Saab were partly responsible fir their own demise in that their development engineers consistently introduced aspects into the design that increased production costs, such that the 9-3 and last 9-5 became uneconomic given that Saab were always a niche market. We had a Saab 9000 CSE a lovely car with excellent build quality and our daughter had a Saab 9-3 Aero auto an excellent car which had 130 k at time of change. Her 2014 Focus with Powershift has had two gearbox rebuilds and is nowhere near the Saab’s quality even with GM being the parent company.

 

[RogerL]

Saab were partly responsible fir their own demise in that their development engineers consistently introduced aspects into the design that increased production costs, such that the 9-3 and last 9-5 became uneconomic given that Saab were always a niche market. We had a Saab 9000 CSE a lovely car with excellent build quality and our daughter had a Saab 9-3 Aero auto an excellent car which had 130 k at time of change. Her 2014 Focus with Powershift has had two gearbox rebuilds and is nowhere near the Saab’s quality even with GM being the parent company.

Saab spares were too cheap! The boy racers with Vauxhalls found it was cheaper to upgrade parts by buying the Saab parts rather than pay Vauxhall prices.

 

[otherclive]

Saab spares were too cheap! The boy racers with Vauxhalls found it was cheaper to upgrade parts by buying the Saab parts rather than pay Vauxhall prices.

Difficult to comment as our Saab 9000 didn’t put a foot wrong apart from normal servicing and routine wearing items. Great tow car as apart from its capacious load area under the hatch the seat bases came up and flipped forwards so awnings etc could be loaded there. And “oh” those Bridge of Weir hide seat...... never had better even in a Volvo.

 

[RogerL]

Difficult to comment as our Saab 9000 didn’t put a foot wrong apart from normal servicing and routine wearing items. Great tow car as apart from its capacious load area under the hatch the seat bases came up and flipped forwards so awnings etc could be loaded there. And “oh” those Bridge of Weir hide seat...... never had better even in a Volvo.

As a Vauxhall loyalist at the time, I looked forward to Saab's absorption into GM, hoping that their ideas would filter down into the Opel/Vauxhall models - but sadly it went the other way.

GM has an appalling record of destroying established car brands - Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Daewoo, Saab, Holden, Saturn, Geo