Mondeo R.I.P.

[JD6620]

Having just read this topic on another caravan forum I am severely depressed. I have just bought an 04 plate mondeo estate with 61000 miles on the clock, after having read all the good things about them and thier towing abillity. Reading this other post makes me think I have bought a car thats worth little more than scrap value due to the list of faults I am likely to incure. injectors, fuel pump, clutch, flywheel, ECU to name just a few. Are Mondeo's really that unreliable or am I worrying about nothing?

 

[MikeAce]

Hi Julian, i have an 03TDCI 130 Mondeo, its a hell of a good tow car, but sadly there are a long list of common faults that can go wrong, what you dont hear however is the thousands of people that have had nothing go wrong with them.

I have had mine just over 3 years, i have had new injectors at

 

[MikeAce]

In addition, the Estate was built with different rear suspension to the standard hatch backs so you will not suffer worn out sub frames etc.

 

[MartinJ]

We have an 05 Mondeo tdci 130 with 53k on the clock. The injectors have just been replaced 1 month from the end of the 3 year warranty by Ford (phew!!!). The Ford garage said that it is a common fault on the tdci engine and would have cost upwards of

 

[RogerL]

Julian - all modern cars are very reliable compared to the past and all modern cars have some components which are very expensive if they fail. Certain owners of any car model will be the unlucky ones because they had the failure and everyone else didn't.

If you want "facts" look at the Warranty Direct data for your model and compare it with other models. Warranty Direct are underwriting the cost of claims as well as the frequency and have no reason to distort any figure.

 

[MikeAce]

I got my Mondeo back from the garage again today, it just had the handbrake cables and drop links changed, very reasonable price, infact very cheap.

driving home it felt like a new car, knock and rattle free, a working hand brake and smooth as silk to drive, i now remember why i used to love the car, love restored.

 

[JD6620]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I have looked at the warranty direct website and it gives the Mondeo a very good reliability score, so fingers crossed. I have yet to tow with it, first time will be in two weeks time. The main reason I bought the car was the good towing reports, can't wait to find out.

 

[PeakPaul]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I have looked at the warranty direct website and it gives the Mondeo a very good reliability score, so fingers crossed. I have yet to tow with it, first time will be in two weeks time. The main reason I bought the car was the good towing reports, can't wait to find out.

I have an 03 TDCI Ghia X Estate from new, now with 77K on the clock, no real problems, a broken turbo bracket which rattled, a bust cam sensor (Cost

 

[albert3]

Hi Julian

I have at present have a 55 plate Titaniam X 2.2 estate with 14000 on the clock The speedo now reads 69000 I have only had tyres and servicing carried out. Previous to this I had an 03 plate mondeo estate Gia 2.0, 130 BHP. When bought it had 6500 when bought I sold it with 108000 on the clock again only tyres and and servicing apart from a new clutch. this goes to show that there are reliable ones on the road as well. I think that it is a great tow car with very few problems

Hope this restores some faith in the brand

 

[emmerson2]

Julian, its a bit like the Land Rover story. You only hear of the ones that go wrong. There's no news in writing about the thousands that go right!

 

[ValA.]

We've had loads of problems with our current Turbo Diesel 54 reg Mondeo estate - turbo, two clutches(!!!) - flywheel was mentioned the second time - , central locking, suspension, thermostatic sensors, ECU and this weekend noticed an ominous 'clutch' smell again (not whilst towing). We think it's a bit of a lemon (Friday afternoon build???). We've had three previous Mondeo's and didn't really have problems with any of the others, just long-term wear and tear type replacements.

It's a company car, and due for replacement in September, so we're wondering what to replace it with (we have a choice of several other cars - but don't want a big 4 x 4).

 

[ValA.]

Sorry, forgot to mention problems with the air-conditioning in all previous Mondeos, which in this one has actually been subject to an independent 'environmental' inspection and monitoring of output - and excess bacterial contamination, particulate dispersal and algae growth discovered (and sorted this time, thankfully!!!!).

 

[PaulHull]

My 2000Y Mondeo was a money pit. It's been enough to put me off buying another one even though it was a great car to drive. But if it could break it did.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Val,

"forgot to mention problems with the air-conditioning in all previous Mondeos - and excess bacterial contamination and algae growth discovered"

I'll make a sweeping generalisation - All car air-conditioning systems need "sterilising" once a year (or whatever the main service interval happens to be) - the air conditioning unit is nice damp place, away from any sun-light, that gets hot and cold - just like the inside of a caravan fridge - so yes, they can get a bit "smelly".

Robert

 

[ValA.]

Oh Yes - we had all that done regularly - it's a company car, and the servicing happens just as it should. It still smelled like a drain, with an overtone of TCP, tarry roads, and 'we're following a smelly bus' notes too. It was flushed, sterilised, and re-flushed several times, but what was worse was that it actually made me ill after I'd travelled in the last car for any length of time. I contracted a nasty chest infection, and doctors couldn't understand where it had come from (some very unusual pathogen which needed much investigation) - which was why the last car was thoroughly investigated. Ford actually took it back under their wing, and following the investigation agreed to 'modify' it - and we've not had a problem since.