Broken trim on the front under the bumper.
Number plate lights both out.
Glove box light bulb missing.
Steering clonking and banging.
Terrible wiper blades.
This was a Ford Direct car and as such I was a little disappointed by the preparation of the car.
All has been fixed since under the warranty, but some of the things like the steering and number plate lights were a bit dangerous.
The steering clonked on take up and steering the car in a straight line on the motorway was quite a challenge. Ford have fitted some essential updates which have transformed the car into what it should have been in the first place.
Otherwise it's a good car, performance is OK for such a big beast with only a 1.8, but you do need to really rev it to get it going.
Quality seems OK and I like the silver effect interior, having the same CD player as the Focus is a bit disappointing though.
Brakes seem light and not very sharp, handling is good, but not as good as the Focus. It's also quite a firm car over bumps and it's not very forgiving on less than perfect roads.
The main problem is wind noise, it always seems like there is a window open even though they are all closed. This is a common problem with these cars so I hear.
My loan car was an updated 53 model and it is a much better car. Go for one of these if you can.
I have a facelifted '04' model and the Ford dealer explained that the wing mirrors were remodeled for the face lift. These were the cause of the 'window open' effect that affected previous Mondeos. Due to the sharp edges on the earlier wing mirrors air was deflected from them in such a way that it battered the B pillar and caused the excessive noise.
I've got one of the earlier "new shape" Mondeos, and the wind noise is a bit annoying.
My main gripe though is the rattles, mainly from the dash. A Ford main dealer refused to look at them under warranty, saying Ford won't countenance curing rattles on cars over 2000 miles!
I too find the ride too firm particularly on poor quality roads and at low speed.
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