Faults:

Turbo failed. Oil seal failure allowed engine oil into turbo, inter-cooler and on into the combustion chambers. Engine 'ran away'.

Engine "hydraulicked". In other words it started burning its own engine oil. Car went out of control on the motorway. Unable to stop the engine even with ignition turned off. Engine was revving beyond the rev limiter.

Very dangerous situation. Eventually managed to stop the engine by stalling it on the hard shoulder, plus the engine also seized due to lack of oil. The car is just ten months old.

No problems up until then.

General Comments:

I would advise anyone thinking of buying a new Ford to look very closely at the 'Contract of Assistance'. If your new Ford goes badly wrong UK Ford Assist is contracted to the AA who can provide a hire car for only up to two days. My Mondeo was supplied in France. Here Mondial are 'Ford Assist'. They can arrange a loan car for up to four days.

The problem is that my car broke down in the UK on my way back to France. Mondial did not know what to do with me. I had the car towed to a Ford dealer in the South of the UK on a Sunday. They would not even look at my car until the Wednesday. I have had to pay for a hire car and now I have no car at all, yet I am paying for my new one and have nothing to drive. I do not know when I will get it back.

If your Ford is a UK one and it goes seriously wrong like mine, your dealer may sanction a loan car through Ford's warranty department, especially if any parts are on 'Back 'Order'. Ford France will not give you anything, they do not care. I have never experienced such arrogant and uncaring customer service. My Mondeo cost me over 29,000 Euros ten months ago. I might as well have bought secondhand.

As a footnote, I collected my Mondeo from the Ford dealer in the UK and drove it back to France. Coming off of the A16 autoroute at a junction ramp, the brakes completely failed. The foot brake pedal went straight to the floor. I very nearly crashed the car. There was no warning at all, no warning light and no secondary or back up braking system. My car is now waiting to go into a Ford dealer in France and I am without a car again.

After investigation it turned out that the mechanic(s) who replaced the engine, had not noticed that the front r/h/s flexible brake hose was not fastened into its clip. On my journey back to France, the hose had rubbed against the wheel until it ruptured and the brake fluid simply sprayed out of the hole when you pushed the brake pedal.

As a warning to all potential Ford purchasers in France, parts supply is very slow. The Ford dealer in the UK was able to get a flexible brake hose and courier it over, a day before the dealer in France could obtain one from their own parts distribution network! Imagine how long my engine wold have taken to fix in France? Then to add insult to injury, my garage in France charged me for the labour and brake fluid to do the job!! They wouldn't give me back my car key until I paid up. They said it was not a warranty claim and the cost was down to the dealer in the UK. You couldn't make it up.

Faults:

Nothing at all, except that it had a small steering vibration which was solved by balancing the wheels.

General Comments:

Just one word describes this car: FABULOUS. Yes, the car is really fabulous, and has corrected all the wrong notions I had regarding Ford vehicles! Got the car on April 30th and I have done 7000 kms in just over a month. I'm one person who does a lot of driving in a day, and this car is just the one made for me.

Its got a 2L gasoline power unit under the hood which does its job quite well. Acceleration may not be really good compared to other cars with an engine of the same power, but its good enough considering the size and weight of the car... so don't feel bad if a 1.8 accelerates faster than you. It has a 4-speed automatic transmission which performs pretty well in all conditions. The interior is extra spacious and the seats are very comfortable. ABS with EBD is standard for all models of Mondeo and perform well.

The Mondeo Trend comes with alloy wheels, rear armrest, cruise control, front and rear fog lamps and electronic climate control (which make it sit a little higher than the basic model, the Mondeo Ambiente). All Models come with a remote control for the audio system, which comprise a single changer CD player and radio with RDS sattelite. The unit cannot play MP3's, but thats OK since there is an auxillary input which allows you 2 connect your MP3 player so the sound comes through the car's speakers. And yes, talking about the speakers; the stock speakers rock!!

There is ample legroom for both front and rear passengers. The boot is quite spacious, too. Handling is excellent and the car is absolutely stable even at high speeds... the car can easily accelerate to 180 kph; and when pushed, can touch 205 kph. There is almost no road or wind noise until 160 kph...after that, both tyre and wind noise can be heard. There is absolutely no vibration or unstability at such speeds.

Other options include front driver and passenger airbags and side airbags; headlight leveller, anti-theft system with immobilizer, and rear door/window child locks.

Regarding mileage; the best mileage I've gotten so far is 11.6 kms/litre...and that was during a long drive. Normally, I get between 9~10 kms/litre; ie. a mix of highway and congested city driving.

The maintenance service is carried out every 10000 kms, unlike most other cars where the service should be carried out every 5000 kms. There is no 1000 kms service required for this car. The first service is at 10000 kms. The cost of parts is not as low as its Japanese competitors, but through inquiries I have found that it is not as costly as people believe, so is pretty much affordable.

The cost of the car (here in UAE) is 62000 dhs ($16,825). The basic model retails for 58000 dhs ($15,740).

Hence, we can call it a perfect and affordable family car.

I hope this review was of use!

Faults:

Heater packer in after 3 weeks (on the coldest day of the year)

Refill windscreen wiper light stays on all the time.

Car won't start after I fill the tank to the top, take about 5 minutes to get it going, garage said the solution is not to fill it to the top.

General Comments:

Comfortable and fairly powerful, not near as good as the 406 HDI.