Faults:

When I test drove the car the speedometer was not working. The dealer was aware of the problem, however when I went to pick up the car it was still broken. It was fixed free of charge of course. It turned out to be a plastic coupling at the rear.

Other than that absolutely nothing.

General Comments:

Best car I've owned for reliability, the build quality was good and the general dynamics were excellent. The performance however was not brilliant, the auto box was a bit of a let down. In normal mode it liked to change gear all the time. In sport mode it liked to hold on to gears for a long time resulting in a less than smooth acceleration. Having said that, kick down was great for overtaking, helped by the Overdrive selector being on the shifter.

I decided to part with it after being on holiday in the states, after driving a big Buick for two weeks this car seemed a bit harsh noisy and under-powered. Wish I'd kept it.

Faults:

Poor starting due to faulty glow plugs.

Remote central locking would not work. Renewing key fob rectified the problem.

Play in wish bone bushes (common fault) accompanied by knocking from suspension. Never replaced.

Gearbox self destructed, probably due to constant hard driving over the many miles.

Engine mount deteriorated. Accompanied by deep rumbling noise coming through bulkhead. Easily replaced if you have mechanical experience.

General Comments:

I was more than happy with the reliability of the Mondeo. After the glow plug problem was addressed, starting in any condition was easy and fuss free.

The car coped with motorways with little fuss and had plenty of get up and go at seventy miles per hour.

I was impressed with the low down torque of the engine. Would easily pull in third at ten miles per hour without judder.

The boot space was very useful and practical.

The engine bay had adequate space to carry out routine maintenance and servicing, unlike many other modern cars that have an over cluttered engine bay, thus making much needed components inaccessible.

The electric sunroof was useful on warm days.

Gear changes were smooth and easy.

Handling could have been better as it was easy to understeer.

Seats were reasonably comfortable, but did cause a bit of back ache on much longer journeys.

The biggest drawback with the car were interior rattles. Doors felt a bit flimsy when closed, and didn`t have the lovely door thud of my old '83 Volvo 340.

The interior layout was good and felt uncluttered, thus allowing one to activate much needed and essential controls when driving.

The various intermittent wiper speed settings, although could have been useful, only required the use of one setting.

Visibility was good.

Fuel economy around town with average driving was around forty miles per gallon. Very reasonable.

Despite the high mileage of the car, paint work seemed to hold well and only showed a few chips here and there. The engine didn`t smoke and never used much oil.

Faults:

Almost nothing. Driver's seat feels a bit loose and Ford wants £300 to replace the bracket. Uh huh.

Passenger airbag cover has popped up. Don't know how that happened. Nothing wrong with the airbag. It looks tatty, but isn't an MOT failure.

Gaskets around tail light lenses were letting a bit of water into the spare tyre area.

Windows are always fogging up... even without any noticeable water in the wheel well.

All minor stuff, really. Even has original clutch!

General Comments:

Sounds good, brilliant to drive... though I agree it can be a bit of a problem to park in tight spots... usually have to do a 3-point turn to get it in to a spot at the shops, but you get used to it after a while.

Finish is still good, even after 6 years of being left outside in North Yorkshire weather. Still a quick, smooth car that sticks to the road. BMWs are nice motors, I can't argue, but the ST24 can hold its own against a 325, has more room all around, and is far less nickable. And I like the look of my old ST better than the squarish new ones. Though I do like the ST220 colours.