1999 Ford Mondeo Zetec 2.0 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Don't buy one - Awful car

Faults:

Airbag warning light came on for a few days. Changed a fuse, then it went away, odd!

General Comments:

Well, where do you start. I bought this to replace my beloved Calibra 16v, oh how I wish I'd kept it!

It's a 2 litre, yet it performs like a 1.3 or 1.4. Acceleration is very poor for a big engined car. Don't get me wrong, it will go a little, but the lower gears are too short and the higher gears too long meaning rubbish acceleration.

That said, it is a very quiet car considering it sits on 16" wheels with low-pro tyres.

The worst thing of all is the driving position, it is positively awkward, despite having height adjustment & lumbar support. I just can't get comfy in the thing and drive my girlfriends fiat instead whenever I can to save the backache it gives me.

Would I recommend you buy on of these cars? No.. The only choice I am left with is to either get the leather interior out of another Mundano (its new name) or sell it.. After having a relatively sporty Vauxhall, I wish I'd have saved a little more and got the Alfa Romeo I originally wanted.

I suppose it would be a great car if:

a) You drive slowly everywhere.

B) You want to walk like a hunch-back.

C) You have family and want a cheap car.

Any other reason, don't buy one! They are a hateful car and I wish I'd never bought it. I've never been so bored driving a car, and I arrive at my destination with a bad back every time!

My advice? Buy an Alfa Romeo 156 for the same price or thereabouts, more fun, more comfort and better looking.

If anybody wants a hateful, but clean Zetec Mondeo 2.0 in Panther Black metallic, give me a call with £1700 in your hand and its yours, that's with a 2 year warranty!

07740 368248

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th April, 2007

13th Apr 2007, 00:59

"It's a 2 litre, yet it performs like a 1.3 or 1.4."

Why didn't you test drive it? A healthy 2.0 Mondeo is lively enough for what it is with 136 bhp. 9. something to 60 and 130+ top end like pretty much every other 2.0 repmobile on the market.

"The worst thing of all is the driving position, it is positively awkward"

Again, why didn't you test drive it? No other review of this car either professional or amateur mentions this, and I did 40k in one in two years with no problems. My wife who is a foot and a half shorter than me also has no problems. The Mondeo has its faults, but comfort ain't one of them.

"I wish I'd have saved a little more and got the Alfa Romeo I originally wanted."

So do I. There's nothing worse than someone hating a car they've bought for reasons they should have picked up when they bought it (test drive again?) and then slagging it off on a review site.

"I've never been so bored driving a car"

This one really is nonsense. You won't find a more enjoyable, better handling family sized car for anything like the money. And a healthy Mondeo will run rings around your old Calibra in the twisty stuff, so your former standards aren't particularly high. Yours is either broken or you haven't a clue how to drive it.

"Buy an Alfa Romeo 156 for the same price or thereabouts, more fun, more comfort and better looking."

More fun and better looking maybe, but have you ever driven one?? Try one and then complain about the Mondeo's comfort. Also triple the maintenance and service costs, and get good breakdown cover. A mate had brand new 2.0TS as a company car and in 3 years it spent 6 whole months either being fixed or awaiting parts from Italy. Yes, it's quick and handles well, but it has to start first.

Funny that you don't mention any of the Mondeo's genuine faults (crap interior materials, high noise levels, slightly over-light steering, poor rear legroom, hopeless dealers) yet choose to slag off all the things that pretty much everyone who's ever driven one agrees it does very well.

I think you need to re-assess your expectations on a £1700 car, and drive some alternatives to see just how good the Mondeo is. I wouldn't urinate on a similarly aged Vectra or Peugeot 406 if it were on fire quite frankly.

1999 Ford Mondeo ST24 2.5 V6 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Buy something else!

Faults:

Moosing (that dreadful noise when idling / on throttle / off throttle / town driving / motorway driving etc etc.)

Wishbone bushes.

Rear lights leaked.

Remote central locking was hit and miss.

General Comments:

Where do I start?!

I had a Sierra 2.9 V6 4x4 many years back, so when it came time to change my Saab I thought the Mondeo ST24 would be a fitting replacement.

I chose a one owner 99 ST24 which had a very full and comprehensive Ford history. Drove well on the test drive and was very clean inside and out.

Well, I kept it four weeks then sold it as in that time it drove me mad!

Starting was hit and miss with a warm engine, the gearbox was crunchier than a bowl of Rice Krispies, the clutch was more vague than a cloud's shadow, the throttle made the car jerk when applied or released (great in town), racket from the engine was not pleasant, the moosing noise was horrible and it felt like the car had been made as an aside to Ford's main business.

Upon advice from the Mondeo forum, I changed the air intake to a K&N induction kit to "stop it moosing". The net result was it got louder, and more annoying!

As for being a 'performance' model. Utter piffle! Frankly our works VW Transporter 170's would leave my ST24 for dust. It's gutless at town speeds, gutless on A-roads and super-gutless on Motorways.

On the plus side, the handling is great and the seats are superb.

Some of the problem is that my recent cars have all been much more powerful than this so maybe I've become accustomed to having in excess of 260bhp. Even so a car of this power should be much quicker than this, the Sierra would have made mincemeat of this Mondeo performance wise and would have shamed it in the build quality stakes.

Such a shame because it looks really aggressive and turns heads, although half of the head turning ability lies in the fact that the car makes that awful noise.

I kept it four weeks then changed it for a Volvo V40 T4, which frankly destroys the Mondeo in every way, particularly performance.

Fords used to be really good cars, even the more basic models. Maybe I just got a Lemon, but I expected more than this.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 24th January, 2007

25th Jan 2007, 05:03

You definitely got a lemon, the Mondeo ST24 is a great car and should have been better than you describe, even if you've had 'faster and better' cars.

24th Feb 2008, 04:30

You obviously bought a normal 1.6 with a bodykit you plum I eat volvos for breakfast.

24th Feb 2008, 09:49

I doubt you eat T4s for breakfast in an ST24 somehow, considering your car is 30 bhp short and only 30kg lighter.