2003 Ford Mondeo Reviews

My Mondeo has been very busy; nearly at 200,000 miles on the clock and still going strong.

Only one problem to report in my ownership, the car has gone into limp home mode a few times (only happens when the fuel level is below 1/4 tank). Although turning the car off and back on again removes any problem.

I paid £750 for my mk3 Mondeo Zetec. It's the 2.0 litre TDCi Zetec with 130 BHP and the very nice 6 speed manual gear box. I was fortunate enough to find the car, as the original owner had been given a new Mondeo as a company car.

The car has 188,000 miles on the clock, which is impressive considering the car still runs with no problems at all. Has been a pleasure to drive the last 8,000 miles, which have been trouble free minus a few issues with the car going into limp home mode.

Eats up miles on the motorway, feels very nice to drive and the TDCi lump is very quick and punchy. In gear acceleration is good, handling feels very nice, and the car feels very well planted on the road.

Starts first time with no issues on freezing mornings, and the quick clear screens shift ice and mist from the windows very quickly.

Many people report problems with their Mondeos; personally mine has been a very good runner.

After purchase, had to replace reverse light switch.

Had a rattle at idle; went away with clutch action. Replaced clutch/flywheel, clutch was fine, but flywheel was in bad shape at around 190k km.

Coolant hose leak around 193k.

Front stabilizer link bad around 196k.

Rust starting to form on all doors.

Hood/bonnet would not open at 199k.

This is in my opinion is a very comfortable car.

I have the Ghia edition, and the seats are very comfortable, and clean up easy.

Unlike some of its class competitors with the same mileage, it burns no oil and has no leaks.

I drive on the autobahn for 100km every day, regularly average between 5,7l/100km and 6,2l/100km as long as you don't have a heavy foot. It has a 55 liter tank, and I regularly get 850-1000km per tank.

Definitely not the best handling, but very secure. Do not feel a lot of roll, and the steering is not too light, not too heavy.

The backseat is very roomy with plenty of knee and head room.

Trunk/boot area is very big, and the seats fold down almost all the way flat, so it gets big in a hurry.

The above mentioned repair issues I consider to be nothing more than wear and tear. The service records were last updated with 67k more than 4 years ago with the first owner, so what was fixed until I bought it is a mystery. Underneath it is very solid, easy to work on, and parts can be found easily for reasonable prices. No joke, at least in this area of Germany, mk3 Mondeos are rare in junkyards.

Before I get into details about what is wrong with the car, I just wanted to say that I bought this car when it was 4 1/2 years old (6 months after warranty expired), and the car was maintained properly, as it was stated in the service book.

Had a clang noise when changing from 3rd to 4th gear, and when engaging in first gear. Thought that it was DMF, changed it, with the whole clutch assembly, but the problem persisted. Don't know what is it. My friend bought a new Mondeo same as mine, and at 80000 km it is starting to show the same symptoms.

At full throttle the car kinda stalls at 2700-3200 RPM. I was told that the fins on the turbo (variable geometry) are a little jammed, so it is not opening correctly. Turbo was serviced/ cleaned, but the problem is still there. Not as much as it used to be, but it is still there.

Rattle at steering rack when the car is at idle. Rattle is coming from where the steering rack is connected to the steering column. When I turn the steering wheel, the rattle disappears.

Rattle at dashboard, close to windscreen. I tried to screw it, but it is all tight as it should be.

Rattle at the drivers doors. It is particularly sensitive to acceleration and deceleration. When I accelerate - click, when I brake - click. So annoying!

When I got the car, I saw that almost a third of the windscreen heaters are not working.

Sometimes I cannot open the boot, since the lock when I press the button won't open, so I have to either use a key, or unlock it from the drivers inner commands.

A wobble appeared since 155000. It turned out to be tripod on the drive shafts (inner CV joint), so I had to change both of them. Why do I need to change this at 150000 km?

Self leveling on the lights (xenon), are not working most of the time. My lights are permanently down. One day they just move to the correct position by themselves.

Almost all of the doors had rust at their bottoms. I have a signature'd service book stating that the car what rust-free. What? How can the Ford dealer miss this? Probably they did not wanted to replace it under warranty.

My rear right brake caliper is jamming, and I can feel that the car is slowing rapidly, and the tyre rim can be very hot.

Besides the problems described above, the car is fairly nice to drive.

I replaced the braking pads for "EBC green stuff", but the car does not brake as it should do. I recently drove a Volvo, and I was thrilled to see how well this car brakes.

Transmission is well-balanced, and it can cruise on motorways effortless, and fast.

Cabin materials are nice to touch, and they feel and look expensive.

Sat nav is excellent, although it rattles. Sound system is very good. I am a musician, and I can tell you, the sound is very, very good.

When I try to maneuver the car to park or whenever I need to do fast, the car usually stalls. Like I need to press the gas pedal almost half a second earlier in order to get a response. Don't know if it's related to turbo jamming, or what. My mechanic told me that it was a safety measure to prevent premature wear on the DMF, so the car shuts itself off.