1995 Ford Mondeo GLX TD review from UK and Ireland

Electrics went wild, ABS light constantly flashing on and the speedo spinning over to 130mph and not moving, causing me to cut the engine and then restart. Found out it was a battery lead that hadn't been fastened securely!

Having owned a 1.8 Turbo Diesel Mondeo prior to this one, albeit my last one was a MK2 on an R plate, I picked this M reg one up from auction for a bargain £120, as I needed another cheap runabout. Turns out the car is a 1 owner car from new (2 owners on log book, was his company car until 1999 and then he bought it and was his own personal car up until 2007)

Inside, it feels a bit more antiquated than my last MK2 did, however the stereo system is a lot better quality. It drives excellent, the engine itself sounds a lot more solid than that of my previous Mondeo (which in all honesty had been neglected, this one has been well serviced, came with a pile of receipts, not bad for the price!)

All it needed when I bought it was a new set of wheel trims (£10) and the wing mirrors touching up where the paint has peeled (£15 for primer, paint & lacquer soon solved it)

It drives as well as my old one although the engine is a bit lacklustre very antiquated diesel engine that isn't going to win any performance trials, but at the end of the day I was looking for a cheap stopgap and this is perfect.

Being the 2nd Mondeo I have owned I knew what to expect with regards to build quality and I still maintain that the Mondeo is a lot better built than the equivalent Vectra. I am hoping to sell this on in the summer and buy a later, 2.0 Zetec engined Mondeo however, because despite me thinking they handle great etc, I have said from the day of buying my last one, that it would be so much a better car if it had a petrol engine!