20th Jan 2010, 16:38
I do take the point that any Cav still on the road now seems to be in generally better shape than the same age Mondeo, obviously that's only til 95/96 when the Vectra was launched.
I think that the paint was thinner on Mondeos of that era, maybe that's why they look tattier?
However, I still do think that my point stands about the general safety and technical advances over a Cav, even on the older cars.
However, overall I guess it's 50/50 cause the Ford TD from back then was a nail, and not as good as the Vauxhall (Isuzu based?) TD, the Mondeo is heavier than the Cav and you certainly wouldn't be getting 60mpg out of one! Also, many Cavs of that age had ABS as standard, Mondeos didn't.
Incidentally, I would still have a Cav as a fun car for old times sake, it'd need to be a GSi, 2.5V6 or a Turbo 4x4 in good nick however, not easy to find i'd imagine.
I can still remember running a '95 Cav 1.8i Expression in Spectral Blue as a demo car, and thinking how lucky I was!
27th Jan 2010, 19:53
Well, barely three weeks into running it and I serviced it and stuck new tyres on it. No major rust on the bodywork but it sure isn't concours. Reliable so far, comfortable and easily capable of keeping up with everybody else.
Yes, it was the first car in its class as standard to have ABS. What amazed me more than anything else was how much it cost to buy! What's happening to the second-hand car market at the moment? Surely the scrappage can't be having that much of an effect?
19th Jan 2010, 02:25
I do apologise, I did not mean my enthusiasm for the car to be mistaken as encouraging anyone to buy one in preference to a modern car - and in no way did I wish to re-ignite the old Ford/Vauxhall rivalry. I too have many years experience of the motor trade and I maybe should've said 'would you rather have a Sierra?'. In 1994 I would far rather have had a Mondeo, but today? However, this is not the first Cavalier, or Sierra, or Mondeo I've had and I was just trying to add to the reviews already on the site. When looking to purchase this car I looked at equivalent Mondeos and was not (too) surprised to find them all rusty, border-line legal and generally worn out. Now, that happens to Cavaliers too, but on the whole there are far more of them still extant than there are equivalent Fords, so what does that tell you?
I wish I could afford a 2008 car, but I can't. For a £500, 15 year old banger, there's not much wrong with this one. Oh and MPG is now running at 60mpg... for a commute, for a hard-working poor guy, that's good news!