Faults:

Clutch, oil leak, and the A/C broke.

Small electrical faults, mostly stemmed from a bad alternator which was eventually changed.

The rest was wear and tear expected of age and miles (exhaust, suspension, brakes, and so on).

The car was serviced on time, all belts changed as applicable.

General Comments:

For 16 years old, this Mondeo is still soldiering on!

I have the Ghia model - a high spec for Fords so that means alloy wheels, and all electric in the interior. Very comfortable seats, nice and quiet on the move, love driving this car. Boot space is huge.

Outside mines looks good in silver, although a very common color.

Biggest let down is the engine - the 1.8 TDCi is not very fast nor economical. It is OK for daily driving, but nothing special. Was expecting around 50 mpg, but really struggles for 45 mpg most of the time. I have heard the later 2.0 TDCi is the better one to go for. Still, this old 1.8 diesel is reliable enough if serviced on time.

Plenty on the used market if you just need a cheap used car that is reliable and modern enough, but at this age watch out for rust and only buy a looked after example.

Faults:

Misting on shocks, had both at front replaced.

Centre exhaust section.

ABS sensors.

Air con useless.

Really nothing out of the ordinary for an older car.

General Comments:

Great looking and performing car. This Mondeo looks great in top Titanium spec. All electrics and leather. Very comfortable car. Spacious.

A relaxing or fast driving experience, this car can do both. Rubbish on fuel though - 35 mpg at very best. Tax is a ridiculous £365 per year also! Insurance is cheap enough though and repairs can be cheap if you know a good garage.

15 years old now, but hope to have this car a few more years yet - seems to be plenty of life left in it. Keep up services and these are reliable cars.

Faults:

Ashtray doesn't stay shut.

Lumpy engine at certain revs (Fixed by dealer).

One-touch electric window and global opening / closing function stopped working. (Fixed by dealer)

General Comments:

I bought this car as a replacement for my 2007 (previous shape) Mondeo of the same spec, and it's a worthy replacement. It's better than the previous car in most respects, but not by as much as one might think, given the 7 year age difference in the original designs.

Interior space is fantastic, both front and rear, and the seats are very comfortable.

The boot is massive, although the bag hooks are too small and too high up to be useful.

Equipment levels are very good, although this model lacks the air-conditioned seats of the previous model.

The design of the dashboard is nice to look at, but has some serious usability flaws. All the buttons and switches are silver, and are labelled in grey, which makes them difficult to read whilst stationary, and impossible to read whilst driving.

The instrument binnacle on the Titanium X features a large, colour LCD display for the on board computer and audio, which again, looks snazzy, but is horrible to use. The default setting for this screen is for 60% of it to show you that you're listening the the radio (or CD), another 30% shows a diagram of the vehicle, and any useful info is crammed into the remaining 10%. To change any of the computer settings, you have to navigate through many layers of menus, and after a few seconds the screen always defaults back to showing you what you're listening too. Apparently Ford have released software to rectify some of the usability issues, but my local dealer refuses to install it in my car.

Another consequence of the large LCD display in the middle of the dash is that the rev counter is shoved out of eye-line, and rendered almost useless.

The car handles well, and has good grip, but the steering is lighter and perhaps less satisfying for keen drivers.

The engine is generally very strong, pulling well from about 1,700 RPM. It doesn't have as strong a mid-range as the previous model, but the power comes in more smoothly and stays with you beyond 3,000 RPM.

Rear privacy glass is effective in terms of making it impossible for people outside the car to see what's in the back, but the side-effect is that it makes the cabin very gloomy in the rear, and you can't see out of the back windows at night, which is a pain when parking.