Faults:

Air conditioning failed twice and was very expensive to replace both times.

Left side rear electric window motor failed after 50,000 miles.

Stereo failed after 55,000 miles and I bought a replacement stereo for nearly £1,000.

General Comments:

Aside the three electrical problems mentioned above, the Mondeo was a reliable and solid car which gave me excellent motoring for a period of one year.

But the automatic transmission was difficult to operate and I decided to sell the car after just one year. I had paid £9,500 for it and sold it for £7,500. I can say that I was given good value for money. The dealer service was also good value.

Faults:

Rear exhaust box fractured, fell off.

Squeaking clutch when depressed.

General Comments:

This Mondeo had led a hard life prior to purchasing it, originally an area managers company car, than used as a taxi for a year. It was however very cheap, I literally had to race to pick it up to beat dealers also on the road to buy it, they were not at all happy!

The car now has 127000 miles, the interior shows no wear, apart from the steering wheel, everything still works.

Being the 2.0 TDDI diesel it is noisy when cold, but I'm more than pleased with the performance, it overtakes very quickly without changing down, eats up the miles on motorways at high speeds with ease. Economy was a main reason also for choosing this car and I've not been disappointed with its 45 MPG even though I tend to drive it fast. The boot is huge, interior space very generous and even my basic LX is well equipped. My only problems have been the back exhaust box fracturing (forgivable at 124000 miles) and the cluch squealed when depressed, I was told it needed a new slave cylinder so I had a new clutch fitted too, this all cost £370, some garages quoted up to £680 so it pays to shop around!

Ultimately I love my Mondeo and plan to replace it with another diesel engined one, hopefully a TDCI 130 when this one bites the dust.

Faults:

Initially when we got it home the reversing light didn't work. This required the dealer (under warranty thankfully) to pull the gearbox apart and rebuild it.

Drivers seat ran over its own electric adjustment cables, causing shorts. This happened twice before dealer finally rigged up the cables so they were out of the way.

Centre seat-belt in the back seats frequently stuck.

Rear sub-frame went quite early on and had to be completely replaced (rubbers had perished and you can't just get replacements, you have to change the whole sub-frame!). Sounded like it was on its way out again when we got rid of the car.

Ford replaced the boot after a hit-and-run crash and since then it's leaked like a sieve. Similarly with the rear side door.

Handle above rear door came out.

General Comments:

General build quality was cr*p. After only 45000 miles the car was groinching and creaking whenever it went over a speed bump.

Couldn't fault the engine though - it never once let us down. Had power when you needed it, and motorway driving was a pleasure.

Fuel economy wasn't great, but on long runs it could manage 35mpg.

The seats were the most comfortable I've found in any car. Long distances no problem.

Basically the interior just kept dropping to bits around us, and with the leak in the boot and the inability to get off our (steep) driveway without spinning the wheels we'd just had enough by the end. Cost in tyres alone stopped in being worthwhile.

We'll miss the heated seats and the fast de-misting windscreen though.