After approximately 50 miles of cruising constantly at motorway speeds it jumps out of 5th gear.
Initially impressed with the car (my previous being a Mercedes C180) I had looked at VW Passat & Vauxhall Vectra, but chose the mondeo because it represented a good all round package being practical great to drive handles like a dream. But if the gearbox problem cannot be rectified the car the car will have to go back.
Exactly the same thing happened to my 02 Ford Mondeo Zetec (23,000 miles on the clock) in August 05 four hours after a Ford Garage had put in a new clutch. It jumped out of 5th gear into neutral three times in close succession whilst I was cruising along the motor way. Then it suddenly broke down (luckily I wasn't killed although this was all down to the avoiding action of the good drivers behind who were all doing well over 70 at the time). The AA relayed it back to the garage who put in a new gear box (unfortunately for me the three year warranty had just expired). This saga has been going on for nearly three weeks has cost me a fortune so far and they won't even let me have a courtesy car. Yet still the car is not safe to drive because it needs 4 wheel realignment according to Ford Dagenham Motors and they say they don't have the equipment to do this. In addition the ESP light now stays on, but they say they don't know why because the computer says there is nothing wrong. Ford wanted me to drive it 15 miles to the nearest auto centre (at my expense of course) who have the equipment as they said the ESP light would go out once the car is straight. I drove it a few yards and it didn't feel safe so I took it back to Ford. I phoned the auto-centre who advised me not to drive it in this condition and said the garage who replaced the clutch and gear box should do the realignment. So I am stymied. Ford want me to drive off in an unsafe vehicle and take the problem elsewhere. I asked them to drive it and they said "our driver is sick". I asked can he do it when he gets back. They said "We don't know when he'll be back" This is my third Mondeo, all bought brand new, all with full Ford service records and the very first time I've had anything go wrong in any of them. Are clutch/gear box replacements so uncommon and complicated in Mondeos? Could this be why Ford Dagenham Motors won't invest in the equipment to finish the job? Is there an inherent design fault in Mondeos that makes the sub-frame so difficult to realign? Three years ago I paid £18,400 for what now seems to be nothing more than a beautiful looking unsafe lump of metal. Does anyone have any ideas where I should go from here?
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