Faults:

Car came with lousy brakes/disks. Total of £600 for all new pads and disks plus 2 rear calipers.

Odometer works when it feels like it so mileage is probably nearer to 150,000+

One connector in engine caused intermittent engine cut outs on left hand bends. Traced faulty connector and spent 70pence on a cable tie - cured problem.

One catalytic converter failed, they come in pairs and there are four on mine. Local exhaust place said Ford wanted £980 for one pair!!!. They searched locally and found a hand made unit with the two in for £500 so a bit better in price, but not much...

Rear wheel arches rusting slightly.

Air-con failed last year - not bothered to fixed it as I really like to hear that engine purr or growl.

General Comments:

An awesome performer:-

0-60mph in 7.1 seconds.!

0-130 in 24 seconds.!

I've had 165mph out of mine and it still had a spare 1400 rpm on the clock!!!

Oh and by the way - the antilock braking system is stunningly powerful. Stand on the anchor pedal at 145mph and your heart will stop beating for a second or two whilst your face will feel like its falling off - but stop you surely will!!

With these kinds of speeds so easy to achieve you must make sure the brakes and tyres are in REALLY GOOD CONDITION.

I get 22-24 mpg around town and on motorway cruise (even fully loaded & @ 85mph) i get 29-31mpg so economy is great for such a big bruiser of a car.

Oh yeah I recently bought a sectional 8ft x 6ft shed, folded the back seats down, laid it all in the back and went home at a steady 125mph up the A1. NO problem.

Faults:

Fuel injection cutout switch can cause non starting.

General Comments:

This is a car that surprises many a baseball capped boy racer. Chipped, air induction, big decatted stainless exhaust, catch me if you can.

Faults:

Small rust spots on the rear wheel arch.

Far side rear electric seat motor no longer works.

Fuse box prone to water invasion.

Air intakes needed replacing (after driving through a flood that would have stopped a Land Rover).

General Comments:

An absolutely outstanding car. Bought for £1000.

The comfort can only be described as luxurious, full leather everything, internal lights everywhere and a marvelously light steering combined with so much room in the front and back that one is as comfortable as one can be in a car.

The power is very sporty for such a big car, with a safe feel.

The fuel consumption is fine on motorways, 33mpg, however, on short runs it is very heavy and if you're stuck in traffic it would be bad for your health to look at the fuel used on the on board computer.

Faults:

Transmission forever hunting up & down the gearbox.

Rear diff is noisy.

Driver's seat leather is cracking badly.

Aircon VERY cold!! - Fault?

General Comments:

This is one car I hated owning at the time! (Fuel protests in the UK etc). With its average 15-18 mpg reported by my pocket and the on board fuel computer, this car was an expensive nightmare to run. However, £500 for a two owner car with all working features, full service history and a "pebbledashed nose!" The car's an absolute bargain.

I have not bettered it with my latest car at all.

The 2.9i engine has Cosworth heads, and at the point of disposing of the car was using about 1 litre of oil every 800-1000 miles, started 1st time hot or cold and would frequently make cars "Tailgating" on the motorway a small spec in the rear view mirror! To help things out a bit, the engine had a "Superchip" fitted to the engine management system, a 3" bore stainless steel exhaust (purchased after buying the car) and 2 "Cone" airfilters by K&N.

This car was very quick on motorways, bloody dangerous on twisty country roads! (Tail out with an auto is somthing I never liked!).

Check your auctions, find a high miles example of this car, (the 24v not the 2.9i 12v!!), run it for a while, sell it easily for more than you paid for it!

My car finally sold, albeit with paint touched up here & there, and a genuine 209800 miles on the clock for £950, and is still going strong on the same engine & gearbox.. If only my 1992 BMW 525i 24v was half as reliable @ 126000 miles!

Faults:

Exhaust at 82,000.

Air conditioning heat exchanger electric fan failed 3 times.

Fuse box intermittent.

Auxillery warning system intermittent.

Rear calliper handbrake levers prone to seize.

New front discs at 77,000.

Radio amplifier failed at 51,000.

Auxilary alarm failed at 44,000.

General Comments:

Excellent bodywork to date, only a couple of blebs over the rear arches to date.

Not a town car, auto-box hunts about at lower speeds - excellent cruiser returning good consumption on motorway runs.

Overall excellent value with only minor and comparatively inexpensive niggles.

Wish Ford had paid more attention to providing a more flexable auto box.