Faults:

Electric sunroof motor seized.

Anti-roll bar bushes replaced 3 times.

General Comments:

An effortless high speed cruiser rather than a point to point racer, but it still looks great and the build quality is so much better than the Mk1. Only real drawback for me is that I would have to punch a hole in rear valance to fit a towbar which I normally fit to my cars.

Depreciation is sore on the wallet as it's tagged with the Dagenham dustbin label even though it's the pick of the range (even Jeremy Clarkson sings its praises).

Faults:

Seems to be a problem with the chrome wheels with the chrome coming off, apart from this nothing else.

General Comments:

Performance is excellent especially when put into sports mode. Handling is brillant. Interior is of good quality and is fairly roomy. Front of car is vunlerable to stone chips. Fuel economy is brilliant, about 38mpg+. A very good family car for the money.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

Gearshift is VERY hard. Almost impossible to block change from 4 to 2 quickly.

Anybody got any ideas how to overcome this problem, as otherwise the car is spot-on.

Faults:

Failed to start one morning, & needed a new rear suspension drop link after only 17,000 miles. Also began to shake a bit when it stopped in traffic sometimes after 15,000 miles. Otherwise it's generally quite a reliable car.

General Comments:

A great looking car, excellent interior, very comfortable, superb audio system, and very good handling. But the ride could be better, and the engine feels and sounds rather flimsy. It's also not very economical. Otherwise it's fine.

Faults:

Nothing. 20,000 miles in 20 months.

General Comments:

Economical if treated gently, gas guzzler if not ! However it is very smooth at high speed and does not appear to labor under the strain.

When I picked up the car (brand new) on the day of purchase the dealer tried to hand it over dirty and unpolished ! I sometimes think that Ford dealers see customers as things that get in their way.

Faults:

Loose connection on starter motor left me stranded in work 70 miles from home, RAC patrolman solved the problem though car suffered from intermittent failures to start until main dealer sorted out problem with new connections.

Reliability marks are slightly unfair due to the fact that I have only had the car for a few weeks.

General Comments:

The ST24 5-door looks fantastic, with a full sports body kit, de-chromed grille surround, chrome grille mesh, and large four spoke alloy wheels not featured on the more common and less expensive 4-door.

The performance is very good, while not feeling overly sporting. The V6 is more of a subtle and relaxed cruiser.

Disappointed with the fuel consumption, was expecting reasonable economy for long distance motorway runs due to the greater flexibility of a large engine.

In general I'm smittened with the car, the blend of sports looks, 5-door practicality and effortless cruising. The only black clouds are the question over reliability, prehaps due to poor quality control at manufacture, and the apprehension of approaching speed bumps due to the low front skirt.

Faults:

Fuse blown on seat height adjustment motor - but probably my own fault for leaving stuff under the seats and jamming the mechanism!

General Comments:

Did 50K miles in my old 1.6 Mondeo, and was pretty pleased. A few reliability troubles - but you gets what you pay for.

This time I decided to let the environment go hang, and went for the serious gas-guzzler. You get much more for your cash than some of the rivals (Audi A4, BMW 3 series). V6 engine is excellent - tons of power, very smooth on motorway journeys. Handling is wicked, but harder suspension and wide tyres on ST24 mean you've got to have a strong constitution to take on the speed humps in the supermarket car park.

Stereo is marvellous - very good sound quality, so easy to use. Only downside is 30mpg - and as bad as 27mpg with the air con on.

All in all, 10,000 miles done, pretty pleased.