2005 Ford Mondeo LX tdci 115ps 2.0 tdci 115ps

Summary:

Comfy, Quiet, Quick, Smart. Top Banana

Faults:

So far nothing has gone wrong with the car.

I stalled it this morning (very cold) whilst pulling out of a junction, then when I tried to start it again quickly the starter motor just kept turning over. I stopped for 5 seconds, then tried and it started no problems - think I was just a bit quick trying to get it going!

General Comments:

This car is, after just a week of ownership, spot on. Perfect would be too strong. Perfect can wear out, perfect can age quickly, perfect is more of an opinion than a fact. Whereas Spot On, is just that.

The tdci engine is very economical, a little noisy when moving off from a stop, but once you're on your way, you don't notice it.

The seats are incredibly comfy and will eat up motorway miles without any problems whatsoever. I jumped on the motorway late at night on my way home from work, and drove it like I was still in my old 1.6 petrol focus. Aiming for 80mph, I ended up hitting 115mph in no time (with plenty more left in it)... then slowed down to the limit.

The turbo kicks in at around 1800 revs, with lots of pull and slowly wears off over the next thousand revs. Cruising at 70 in 5th gear, the revs sit at around 2,000 so should you need to accelerate to get out of a stick situation the turbo is just about at peak on standby ready to help.

Being a motorway car, around town it's a little clunky. It takes some getting used to the 'clutch & diesel engine' combination. You have to rev a little harder to avoid a jerky start, and as a result if you slip back into a petrol state of mind, you can quite easily have judders as you set off. Once you've driven the car for a couple of days this wears off.

There is literally MILES of legroom. I am over 6 foot tall, and with the seat fully back there's still plenty of room for a passenger to sit behind me. The mondeo is a big car in comparison to the ford focus or other hatchbacks, because it is after all a family car. But when you open the boot, you realise just how well ford have managed the space available inside the car. When I first saw the inside of the boot, I remarked to the salesman "Jesus you could fit TWO bodies in there... or 4 suitcases with room to spare". It's like the tardis, normal looking on the outside, huge on the inside.

It has a 55 litre fuel tank, so depending on current prices, it can cost 45-55 quid to fill. I currently have around a quarter of a tank left, and have done 390 miles since the last refuel. I have had my foot down a couple of times on this tank full so I've yet to drive fully economically on one fill to find the maximum mileage on a tank. The trip computer reckons I've got around 150 miles till I need to refuel.

And that brings me on to the spec of this car. Being an LX (which is the one above the base (mondeo edge) model for the UK) you would expect to get the basics. Electric windows, power steering and ABS. The Mondeo has all this plus air conditioning, the ford patented heated front screen, cruise control, cd player, heated mirrors, trip computer which states the temperature, miles left til next refill and average speed. Also there's the stuff you expect like multipoint curtain airbags, passenger and driver airbags and ford's intelligent protection system.

I test drove both a new shape focus tdci and the mondeo, but due to less room in the drivers seat of the focus & the lack of heated screen, cruise control, trip computer or cd player - it had to be the mondeo.

I have yet to take the car for a service or discover any major problems, but fingers cross there won't be any. Also, the focus was 160 pounds for a service, so the mondeo could be the same/a little more.

Sales at Ringways, Leeds (where I bought the car), were very professional, efficient and friendly. Mondeo LX, one owner, 15,900 miles, up at 10,500 pounds with 6 months tax, 2 years ford direct cover including break down assistance, and 2 years unlimited mileage warranty.

Managed to get 5,000 for my '03 focus 1.6 with 35,000 miles in very good condition on part ex. Parkers valued it at 4,000 on part ex.

I get my services/parts from Clemo Ford (formerly Wright Ford) of Cleckheaton (west yorkshire).

I'll pop back in 6 months to update this review with any problems/experiences.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 6th October, 2006

23rd May 2007, 16:08

Update from me, the original author of this review.

8 months on from having first purchased the mondeo, I'm still more than happy. I recently completed a trip to Austria via France, Belgium and Germany. With me + 3 passengers + a weeks worth of luggage each, the car was rammed, but we were all comfy for the duration of the journey.

On the return journey, we managed to get from the southern border of Germany/Austria to the north west border of Germany/Belgium in just 5 hours with 2 stops. The car topped out at around 130mph (it would be rude not to on the german motorways - bit of advice: make sure it's safe to do so and you're on a straight with a good view of the road ahead before laying down major speed - common sense really).

The average fuel economy across europe was 49mpg with an average speed of 81mph over the whole 2000 mile round trip.

As for daily living with this car, it gets me around with ease, comfort and efficiency. Many of my friends (who're all petrol heads with Clio 172's and Peugeot 406 Coupes) think that my car is a little boring, but they all recognise the reliability and fuel economy when any roadtrip or other long journey is mentioned.

I still appreciate the finer and more subtle points of this car even if it is a little bland on the sensory scale. I am however taking my direct access bike test so I can get all the thrills I need from 2 wheels at the weekend.

I would still completely recommend this car to anyone considering something looking to buy in the large hatch/medium family car area of the market.

Other info: I had the car serviced around 3000 miles ago. Cost was 170 quid and about a tenner for little bits sorting (new wipers, rear side light, new fuse in cigarette lighter after I dropped my keys in it... etc).

4th Apr 2011, 14:52

I think the 115bhp has a five speed gearbox, and the more powerful ones have the six speed gearbox.

I am a cabbie by trade, and have always leased my cars, and now considering buying my own. I was looking at a mk3 Mondeo, but hope I don't end up with loads of problems. All I need is a basic diesel model, and not after anything top spec. I heard the dual mass flywheels can rattle at 40 000 miles and cost about 500 pounds to replace, excluding labour.

2005 Ford Mondeo Ghia 2.2 TDCI

Summary:

A highly recommendable family car

Faults:

As yet, no faults.

General Comments:

When I first saw the estate car I didn't think the handling would be particularly good, but I was proven very wrong. Taking into account the size of the car, I have to say it handles wonderfully and coupled with the 155 BHP diesel engine proves a real joy to drive (and impressively fast).

This model has the six speed gearbox which makes this car one of the quietest diesels I've ever driven on a motorway.

This particular model is well equipped with electric windows all round, electrically adjustable and folding wing mirrors, automatic headlights, automatic windscreen wipers auto-dipping rear view mirror, cruise control, climate control etc etc..

The trip computer tells me that I average between 48 - 56 MPG, a point worth mentioning I think.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 16th July, 2006

3rd Dec 2007, 17:06

I have a 55 plate st mondeo tdci, but I'm not sure if I have a problem with my mpg, i seem to average only 41mpg max, if I reset the trip, it will read high for first journey, them drop down to 32mpg-35mpg, other friend with same car seems to stay on around39-41 mpg, any ideas if I have a problem. thanks.