Faults:

Throttle cable started to fray at 70k. Changed as a precaution (UKP 18 for a genuine Ford part)

Otherwise faultless - consumables/servicing only.

General Comments:

One of the best bargains on the road.

Great to drive, fantastic handling, gutsy (if slightly noisy) engine, confidence inspiring brakes and solid build quality. As an all rounder you really can't do better without spending significantly more.

All day comfy thanks to great seats and more driving position adjustment than I have ever seen on any car.

More reliable and just as well screwed together as my previous 1998 Passat. Much more of a drivers car too. Excellent ABS which doesn't cut in unnecessarily - most mainstream manufacturers (including VW) can't do this.

Some shiny plastics let the interior down, but there's no faulting the design, ergonomics or construction quality. Bombproof mechanicals have needed no attention between services and if this engine didn't breeze 150,000 miles based on current feel at 77k I would be astonished. Run it on good semi synthetic 5W/30 oil and it will go on and on.

33 mpg average with low insurance costs. Depreciation if you buy at 4+ years old is negligible. A very cheap car to own.

A safe, solidly engineered, great handling and utterly dependable car available for absolute peanuts. Cheap parts, helpful and reasonably priced dealers if you put the effort into finding them, and it owes me in total, with depreciation and maintenance factored in, about four months PCP payments on a new mid spec 3-series. I guess it depends how much "image" is worth.

Faults:

Clutch at 130,000 (expensive as the front of the car basically has to come off!!)

Four quid vacuum pipe at 152,000.

Original CD player quit at 160,000.

Outer CV joints at 172,000.

Front wheel bearings just starting to protest (in the last 2,000 miles)

General Comments:

As well engineered as any German car, and I have the evidence to prove it.

185k up, it still drives beautifully. Although it's no sports car, the 2.0 engine is lively and punchy, if a little coarse at higher revs. Frugal too, with 35 mpg easily achievable on the motorway, and 40 if you're gentle on the throttle. Oil consumption is nil, rattles and odd noises are nil, and has never gone wrong in 185,000 miles.

Handling is still sharp (although the shocks are past their best), and reliability is first class. It's a comfortable motorway cruiser, reasonable entertainment on B-roads, seats 5 in comfort and even still looks okay. Unless you're bothered about image (and I don't need to rely on my car to somehow validate my life), it's all the car you will ever need.

Bought off my old company just before I left, and it's only needed routine servicing, plus a few odds and ends to keep it running sweetly. I trust the car to get me anywhere reliably and on time, and it shows no signs of getting tired just yet.

If I had bought a Mercedes or BMW and had this kind of build and engineering quality I would have been impressed. Looking in the classifieds there are scores of Mondeos with 130k+ for sale which proves the durability of this one isn't a fluke. Behind the car's ubiquity and anonymous styling hides one of the best built, best driving and capable mass produced cars in recent memory.