2002 Ford Mondeo ST220 from UK and Ireland - Comments

Will be ordering a st220 in the next month. Just looking for opinions on the following questions:

1) 4dr or 5dr - purely on appearance???

2) Performance blue or black???

Have seen a lot of nice blue ones, but the black st220`s have more of a subtle aggressive about them. Anyone agree?

All comments welcome.

I'm collecting my Performance Blue 5 door ST220 next Tuesday. The 4 door on appearance does look the cleaner of the two, but is not as practical as the 5 door so it's a toss up between practicality and style. Although I'm sure if they put a windscreen wiper on the back of the 4 door it would be hard to tell the difference.

I test drove the ST in black and it looked very smart, but by some quirk of fate there was a blue one in for a service at the dealership. The quality of the paint seemed far better than the black (could this be why it's an additional cost) so I plumped for the blue one instead. If you order in black remember to treat yourself to a new bucket and chamois, as you'll be cleaning it a lot more regularly!

See comment 8th May. After waiting the full 12 weeks for delivery I finally got behind the wheel of my 4 door performance blue ST on 24th May. The dealer experience was great. She was beautifully presented and a good deal of time was taken to go through everything; controls, recommended running in procedure, warranty etc etc. (My wife even got a bunch of flowers!) The first 2 weeks were a dream; the handling, appearance were everything that I was hoping for. Unfortunately in just 2 weeks (and 997 miles) the ignition warning light showed and according to the manual the journey should not be continued before the vehicle had been checked by a dealer. On inspection it was found that part of the sub loom had been incorrectly routed around the wrong side of the power steering system which had resulted in major damage to the wiring from the alternator. If that wasn't bad enough, FORD informed me that this particular item had no part number and until it was placed on their main system (in Germany) the necessary 'bits' could not be ordered. Consequently I have now been told that the part will arrive within the next 7 days which will bring the total of 'off road' time to just over a fortnight! That said, the dealership have been great throughout all this, with regular updates and of course a brand spanking new Zetec TDCi as a 'courtesy' car for as long as is necessary. There is one upside though - when it is finally ready it'll be like having the new car experience all over again! I still love it though!

Update. Decided to order 4dr in performance blue. Thankyou to the guy who responded to my question about colour and door options. Would be interested to see how your finding the car. That's assuming you got it last Tuesday as planned.

Update - Guy who just ordered the 4dr in Perf blue - you made the right choice!!

I collected my car on the 10 June as promised by the dealer. On inspection I found that the driver seat came with the 8 way power adjustment although I did not order this as an extra, who am I to argue!! The dealer did say that from time to time the factory gets "confused" with what should be added and what shouldn't (very re-assuring).

Anyway no problems so far and the power seat is lovely!!

Has anyone heard or seen the new interior design for the st220?

It is supposed to be in my blue st220 to be delivered in September. If they have added wood-details I will jump off the nearest bridge...

Well what a relief to read such reports. I can't remember the last time I read such positive reports on one car, and it's a ford! And I'm getting one!

I have had 2 cosworths (sierra) many moons ago and I now the kids have arrived, drive a saab! Great car, but no feel good factor. Well its time for a change and the wife has insisted that I MUST choose a family 4 door car. So I have and I can't wait to get the feel good factor back again just like I had with the cosworth's. Since the test drive of the ST220, I have been unable to sleep at night again as I am waiting for delivery. Its horrible, like being 6 years old and having Christmas Eve every night. COME ON DEALER!

15 months on and I still love my 220! Superb stability, excellent thrust, even Jezza Clarkson passed a favourable comment on it! Fuel consumption has averaged 30mpg over this period (according to the fuel computer). I read that the new 6-speed box is out now... can't imagine that it's going to be much use except on motorways and even then it's debatable. I think this is going to be my 25-year classic-car!

The new six speed gearbox makes a big difference, as does the revised interior. If you come to buy a second hand one and you have a choice, take the six speeder, here is why.

1) The new 6 speed box is fabulous to use, it has a very positive, clean change that is well weighted. However, the best part of the new gearbox is the increased fuel economy and the better performance. In the old car, 3rd gear would run to nearly 100 and 4th would go way past 120mph. Now, 3rd gear is all done by 80 and 4th is finished by 100mph, this means that the car is much quicker in the mid range and because of the slightly lower second gear, it really explodes when you give it full throttle. Also, as it now has a high sixth gear, 34 mpg on a gentle cruise controlled motorway trundle is easily attainable. - Trust me, this new gearbox makes a good car great!!.

2) Ford have made some great changes to the interior which really help to improve the premium feel. The upper part of the door trims are now made of soft touch plastic, rather than the hard, easily scratchable plastic of old. The dashboard is now all one texture and the centre console now has aluminium buttons at the top, a brand new air con system (which is a vast improvement) and an awesome 6 cd Sony stereo which looks great complete the make over. There are some additional chrome details and the ST220 now has aluminium trim in place of the old dark stained wood trim.

It's great that so many people realise what a brilliant car the ST220 is, all I can say is, we all have great taste as the ST has had some top notch press reviews (in particular, from EVO magazine who ran one for 12 months and loved it).

The only downsides that I can see are the expensive insurance, the non premium badge and the crappy dealers, but you soon forget about all that when you take one for a drive.

Thanks to all who have added to this post, I have a test drive booked for this Saturday. I currently drive a 98 ST24 and have absolutely loved it since day one. Was thinking of a 330 beemer, but the st220 seems much better value, just hoping the fuel consumption is reasonable! Can't wait for my drive.

I too own an ST24, 1997, which has been a great car. Hoping to change it later this year. Was thinking of X-type 3.0 sport, Beemer 330i or Audi A4 3.0, maybe 1.8T. Now I must have an ST220 after all the positive comments. Would like to know how the previous contributor got on with his test drive. Also, are all you ST220 owners still happy with your cars now you've owned them for a while.

I bought a 12 month old ST220 about 5 months ago, and cannot believe how pleased I am with the car!! It looks superb in performance blue, and is rarer on the roads than many more high-priced cars of a similar ilk. The handling, for a car of this size, is an eye-opener, as is the flexibility of the engine in every gear. This car must be one of the most complete packages on the market, especially considering the price. So, to anybody out there debating whether or not to buy one (new or used), do yourself a massive favour and buy it. You won`t be sorry!

I own a 52 plate performance blue st220 which I have owned since new and I like the car so much I've decided to buy another new one. this time in machine silver. what a great car, for the money nothing comes anywhere near it.

I test drove the ST220 just before Christmas after the fleet company that provides my company cars brought all of their models to show (Jags, Mercs, Land Rovers, Toyotas, Vauxhalls, and Fords, about 30 cars in all). Although not as a prominent badge as the Jags or the Mercs, the ST220 still stood out amongst the other models in the car park. First I took the Focus 170 out to test drive and was somewhat disappointed with the handling and power. At the time I owned a new shape Toyota MR2 (sold yesterday to finance new car purchase) which is a similar size to the focus and has a similar size engine, but by nature of the car has much sharper handling, and is a lot more fun to drive. I soon decided that any car in the small to small medium range would never be as fun as my MR2 and so I needed something with different characteristics. Sitting there was the ST220, as Ford describe it ‘An Executive Express’. This offered very different characteristics. A 3.0 V6 should provide a nice cruise, and a bigger car should feel that much more luxurious. About 5 minutes into the test drive (and with a huge smile on my face), I’d realised that I’d found a car that could not only happily cruise along, but could also provide the performance and fun that I was craving. Plus the handling was absolutely superb, something of a surprise after driving the focus and being disappointed.

So, after an exhilarating drive, the ST220 went to the top of my wish list (and stayed there after driving several of the other makes and models on show that day).

3 months down the line, I decided that it was probably time to trade my MR2 and get a sensible car that I could fit my golf clubs in. With the ST220 still at the top of my list I started to trawl the Internet for car reviews, just to make sure. After about 3 days of using the Internet a bit too much at work, I’d seen plenty of reviews, and not one bad review in the whole lot. A couple of people had problems with their cars, but generally still loved it. So the decision was made. I’ve put down a deposit on a new ST220 in stardust silver and am awaiting its delivery with immense anticipation. The only downside with buying a new car is that I’ve still got an 8 week wait!

Roll on April.

After reading so many positive reviews I am on the verge of parting with the money to order a ST 220. I have been told that the 5dr will hold its value better than the 4dr - does anyone have any comments on this or heard anything similar?