Faults:
Only had it about a year, so not much. History appears to be complete. There are a few rattles but I think it's just loose interior trim, and not suspension or anything just yet.
The DPF (Diesel Particle Filter) warning light has been on a couple of times, but after a long drive it is cleared - I hope it stays that way.
General Comments:
Needed a bigger car after my ageing 2001 Audi A3 was on its last legs, though it was a good little car. Always liked Mondeos (family had two of them in the 1990s and they were bullet proof) and this modern 2012 Mondeo feels massive after driving a much smaller car like the Audi. I thought quality would feel under par after driving an Audi but I was surprised - this Ford is a solid car and very capable in every department.
The interior in general is very nice if a little dull with black plastic everywhere. The boot is huge and can swallow tonnes of luggage. Climate control is fiddly but you could say that about all modern cars and it's not a big deal once you are used to it. Zetec model is about middle of the range, but as with most modern cars, you get a lot of electric kit as standard.
On the outside it is dark blue. It's a decent looker, but won't win any awards. Lots of silver/white ones about that don't really stand out, but get a darker colour with bigger alloy wheels and it does make all the difference.
To drive the handling is very sharp and I like the gear change. Seats feel very comfortable; even for me at about 6 foot tall, I have no problems.
The engine is the typical 2.0 diesel TDCi in most models. The performance is fine and it does over 50 MPG on average. This is all fine and well, but I was really looking for a petrol believe it or not, but could not find any for sale at the time I needed a car - I know this has been said lots of times on here and on other reviews sites, and is a much debated topic, but the facts about modern diesels are this - they are not as clean as we thought, and the long term repairs for things like DPF filters, dual mass flywheel (clutch) and various other parts is always very expensive, thus defeating the purpose of any savings you made from greater MPG.
A lot of people I know now that always drove diesels in the last 10 years or so are going back to petrol to save on repairs in the long run, despite the worse MPG. I've got my fingers crossed for my diesel, but I'll probably sell it when it gets past the infamous 100,000 mile mark - that's not to say it can't handle it, I expect it will no problem as all my previous cars have made it to very high mileages without major issues, however I just don't think it will be worth it in a few years time if things go majorly wrong. The fact the DPF light has already been does not exactly fill me with confidence. I'll probably try a trusted independent if things go wrong - Ford dealers in general are OK to be fair, but when cars get older you really are better finding a cheaper independent, but again, any major repairs still won't be cheap to a diesel.
11th May 2018, 13:25
Interesting points on the diesels. And as of this year (2018) in the UK, the new MOT rules are getting stricter - things like DPFs will fail unless they are in perfect order.
It seems there are always ways to make sure a car is useless/not economically viable at about 10 years old or less now. Shocking when you think back to the 80s and 90s, there were cars that were still running well if you looked after them and could easily last a long time.
Now the problem with more modern cars is the engine and bodywork may be perfect and looked after, but what's the point of the rest of the car is falling apart around about it, and costs thousands to fix? I'll buy petrol from now on as well, probably cheaper in the long run.