2000 Ford Mondeo LX from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

I have had the Ford Mondeo Station Wagon for almost three years. It was purchased second hand with 22,000 km on the clock, and I have added another 53,000 since then. The car had two years left on the warranty when I got it. After having the car one week, none of the doors would close, so the locks all had to be replaced. Several months later the drivers inside door handle had to be replaced.

Two years later (now out of warranty) the hand break needed to be replaced, the rear bearing was ready to collapse (caught this in time when I took it in because something squeaked when braking). The wheel would have collapsed soon. These two repairs cost over $1000.oo. One week later the clutch needed to be replaced. This is major labour as the engine has to be taken out, and the car has been in the garage for over a week, and will cost another $1000.oo to fix.

The car is great to drive when it is working; this car was a replacement for the Ford Telstar (which at the time was very similar to the Mazda 626). I had that car for about ten years until the automatic transmission gave way, and repairs would cost more than the car was worth then.

These recent repairs did raise some concerns on reliability of Ford Modeos, at least this model vintage. I talked to the two mechanics working on the car, and asked them if they would keep this car. They said even though it only has 75,000 km on it, I can expect expensive repairs to keep coming. They have seen this with other Mondeos and European cars in general. Even though they are Ford mechanics, the do not recommend Ford cars, and state I would be better off with a Japanese car that are far more reliable (there choice a Mazda 6).

The Ford Mondeo is a well designed car that performs well, but is let down by reliability problems, once there is 70,000 km on the clock.

Repairs are expensive.

Mechanics do not recommend these cars.

I used to own a 98 Contour (the American Mondeo). I agree with your comments about the clutch. Ford took a 15 minute job and turned into a 8 hour job. This requires the engine to be lifted out of the engine compartment and the tranny to be taken apart (in order to get to it comfortably). Thanks Ford.

Odd, because here (UK), these are known for being solid, reliable, cheap to run workhorses. I know of several with well over 100,000 miles (160,000 km) that are still driven a couple of thousand kilometres around mainland Europe on holidays and don't give any trouble. What's more they're comfortable, well specified (particularly the later ones) and apart from some cheap looking dash plastics, as well built and durable as many more "prestigious" badged cars.

Of course, like every car ever built, they are prone to some common faults, and yes the amount of work involved to change the clutch is beyond a joke, but cheap Ford spares and relative mechanical simplicity means you need to be very unlucky to get a ridiculous bill. The Zetec, Duratec and turbo diesel engines might not be cutting edge, but all perform at least adequately, and all are utterly bombproof given half competent servicing. All should (and are known to) last 200,000 miles (320,000 k's) without major overhaul.

A Mazda 6 is a mondeo!

I've had a 2.0 lx with the Mazda engine. It's been superb, and has done 83,000 miles. It drives superb, is a bit rattly, but it is chain driven after all. I'm a mechanic, and I swear by Fords to my customers. I tell to stay away from Citroen, Peugeot and Renault.