1997 Ford Mondeo Ghia from UK and Ireland - Comments

I've only had the car since June so its still early days.

It was in excellent condition when I got it. However with 2 boys (aged 2&6) it never takes long to get that 'trashed' look inside!

The only thing has been rattling rear speakers which appear to have resolved itself.

Someone stole the aerial when on holiday but it makes no difference to FM reception and have not replaced it yet.

Compared to my previous car this is like a limo. It is very comfortable and quiet on the road.

We travel on motor-ways a lot on holiday and it eats up the miles effortlessly so everyone is less stressed. Its so much less noisy on the motorway than the old Volvo. A car obviously designed for motorway travel. It cruises at 85-90 MPH without any trouble.

The boot is pretty big and enough for most family trips. We went on a camping holiday for a week and the boot managed to take most stuff although there is also plenty of space between seats and at feet etc. Even with this extra stuff inside my two sons were comfortable enough in the back.

I have been surprised at the petrol consumption. Our last car was a 1400cc and really ate up the petrol about town. This car is certainly heavier around town but no worse than the Volvo on the motorway or on smaller roads.

The air con is useful although you really need to use it to demist the windscreen.

Seating is comfortable and the height adjustable drivers seat means you can get an excellent driving position.

Off the motorway on smaller roads the car handles very well on corners and has bags of acceleration when you need it - although it sounds a bit gruff when you do. Otherwise the engine ticks over very quietly.

Full electric windows and mirrors is useful and the extras like front fog lights are welcome. However can someone tell me why you need more than 5 different time settings on the intermittent wiper setting?

There could be more storage in the cabin but it is adequate.

The car is pretty unspectacular and to be frank, boring, to look at but my model looks very sleek and uncomplicated which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned - a bit of a wolf in sheeps clothing.

I find the 5 wiper time delay settings great. The Sierra 2.0 GLX had a variable control which worked fine also. Both above types allow you to match the wiper delay to the rate of rain fall - the wipers are not wiping a nearly dry screen.

The Base Escort has only 1 speed intermittent and many times the rain is too light for single continuous, but too heavy for the single intermittent. Then when stopped at traffic lights, the single intermittent is then too fast.

Concur with previous comment. I too had a Sierra 2ltr Ghia with variable speed wiper dealay. Better than 6 selections. It accommodates the variables, ie: volume of rain, forward plus windspeed (if any) plus size of droplets. Gives the capability of an exact wipe periodicity to avoid wiper scrape (too often) or lack of visibility (too infrequent) Probably most useful at night on long distance. Driver fatigue is a big factor. Any fool can be uncomfortable!

Roger Bigden.