1995 Ford Mondeo LX 2.0 16V Zetec from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

A small European car without high insurance costs

Faults:

Minor things...

Rough gear change when cold (feels like someone runing into the back of you).

Dash board backlight.

Hubcaps (missiles).

Strange noises.

Major things:

Engine management system shuts down the engine when it gets very cold, which is not nice when you are doing about 130km/h and you loose power steering and brakes (takes a long time to stop).

----Can't find the problem!----

General Comments:

Overall not a bad car if you live in a town that only has horse drawn carts because it has NO overtaking power.

Good handling making the car a lot of fun.

Small steering wheel giving it a sporty feel to the driver.

A very fast car on the freeway.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 25th August, 2000

7th May 2003, 08:27

Sounds like you were sold a pup mate. A good 2.0 Mondeo while admittedly not the quickest thing on the planet, has plenty of overtaking power. Unless you're used to something quick of course. Your previous car being an X1/9, it would appear not.

You've either got a serious fault with the car (you admit the ECU is acting up), or you were sold a 1.6 with a different sticker on the plenum chamber. Believe it or not, this happens.

1995 Ford Mondeo LX 1.8 turbo diesel from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Don't pull out of a junction in a hurry!

Faults:

Nothing in 3 days!

General Comments:

This was a hire car, so perhaps needed more time to get used to it. As it was, this was the worst car I've ever driven. Spongy brakes, unresponsive steering, slushy gearbox etc.

Worst of all was the performance: felt like a milk float pulling away from junctions, almost dangerously slow!

Did pick up when the turbo kicked in though.

Perhaps this was just a poorly looked after hire car - I thought Mondeos were meant to be good.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 15th July, 2000

3rd Apr 2003, 16:52

Diesel-engined cars are like that - you just have to drive them accordingly and I don't think you've had the experience in such a short distance to comment so severely. I had a similar diesel for four years and it was spritely when pushed - but never like my new v6 Mondeo! Horses for courses, dude.

27th Mar 2005, 23:45

Yes, diesel's require more attention when pulling off quickly. My neighbour has a Mondeo TD, and you can get an awesome take off, but firstly, you need to plant your foot to the floor to get the turbo spinning, wait till your at about 3500rpm when the turbo's in full swing and you have plenty of torque and then feed the clutch in. Results are very surprising! But if you get it wrong you can just sit there crawling along waiting for the turbo to kick in.

24th May 2005, 15:14

I have an old TD Mondeo - 184500 miles at present and its incredible. all started when I had my company car (a p-reg mondeo TD estate) which ran forver on no diesel, and never ever failed once in the 3 years I had it, so when this one came up I jumped at it. the only failing is the diesel primer pump (I'm on my 2nd in less than 6 months and its still getting air in somewhere). All diesels are sluggish, but give them enough stick and they fly. they're rapid, economical, and reliable. what else do you want?

8th Jan 2010, 13:08

I drove a 1.8 TD with over 150k on the clock, it requires a different driving technique, as others have said you need to get the turbo spinning to extract any performance. I wouldn't have said they were slow, they give a good account of themselves for what is a pretty small diesel engine for the size of car. You don't know slow until you have driven a Sierra 2.3 diesel.

1995 Ford Mondeo Ghia 2.5 V6 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A very good car at everything, only dealerships letting it down

Faults:

Air-con didn't work when I bought the car, Ford fixed this for free. The car has also had various thumps and bangs from the rear, none of which Ford can fix. Apart from that, it's been very good, much better than the Toyota I previously had.

General Comments:

Really good car to drive, performance is good for an auto and I really like the way you can wipe the smile off of hot hatches in a normal looking Mondeo. I will be sad to see it go, but I have a new company car turning up soon (Ford Racing Puma). I don't think the car can be beat for second hand value.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th March, 2000

20th Mar 2005, 04:37

I am just about to buy one and this review was a great help!

Thank you and keep up the good reviews!!