Mk 3 Mondeo - reliable?

E92

Just wondering are these any good on reliability? My hunch is that they are, but I just want some confirmation. Would the petrols be as reliable as a Toyota, say?

I think the petrols have Mazda engines, in fact I remember being told this here on boards, but I can't find anything that says they are. Wikipedia says that the Duratec engines are revamped versions of the Zetec engines in the Mk1 and Mk2 Mondeo, and that those engines are Ford designed, but then it says that the Duratec HE engines in the Mk3 Mondeo are from the Mazda MZR range.

Can anyone confirm where the petrol engines are sourced, and were any of them changed during the Mk3's lifecycle, apart from the addition of the SCi engine I'm not aware of any changes made to the petrol engines in the Mk3 Mondeo.

Thanks in advance.

groupb

I've run petrol 1.8 mondeos (mk2 & mk3) to over 100,000 mls , with no problems. Great car. Easily the best (rep) car I've had.

OldmanMondeo

Well there is the amount of threads on here about relialibity as there was when the current Golf came out. Remember reading 1 very log one about the GTi that have a lot of teething problems.

Like groupb, I am on my third Mondeo, 2 petrol and 1 diesel, and have never had a problem with any.

Pete67

I've an '01 1.8 petrol (Zetec) from new and I've never had a problem with it. The cams are chain driven which last the life of the engine (no timing belt to worry about). 70K miles on it now and its as good as the day I drove it out of the showroom. Service it regularly on schedule and you should be fine. Pity about the depreciation though!

JHMEG

Reliability Index it scores 63.23.

By comparison the 97-03 Avensis scores 80, the 98-04 Octavia 33, and the 99-03 Accord 13.48.

Lower is better.

E92

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Could someone please tell me who makes the petrol engines for the Mondeo(more specifically the 1.8 Duratec HE engine)? Are they Mazda engines or Ford engines?

Is there anything in them that's noted for going wrong? I know that the TDCis have injector problems, but are there things like electrical/mechanical etc that is noted for failing?

I know they are a great car, and I know about all the usual rules when looking at one, like it must have FSH, look for sings of accident damage, and I've no difficult in finding a good one, but I'm just not 100% on what goes wrong with them and how they fare on the whole reliability business.

What are Ford dealers like and who would be the best Ford dealer in Cork/Limerick to go to?

groupb

It's a ford engine! But as far as I'm concerned thats not a bad thing.

vengeance52

i had a mk3 TDDI and it was a great motor. one thing to look for is rust on the inside bottom of the doors, and this was common with them. but apart from that i loved it.

Plug

I have never seen problems with ford engines so far. The only bad things were from people not servicing the engine other than that I can't think of anything that went wrong. They are fairly reliable engines.

groupb

I remember years ago speaking to a ford service manager.
He told me the only problems they had with engines was that people were using 10w40 oil in them instead of 5w30 and this was causing premature wear.

maidhc

E92 wrote: »

What are Ford dealers like and who would be the best Ford dealer in Cork/Limerick to go to?

They are a shower of I won't say. Cavanaghs in Fermoy is where I go when I HAVE to, which to date has been never. CAB tried to get me to book in my car to programme a key, and Abernethys are half hearted about everything.

Cavanaghs in charelville are probably the most competitive. I almost bought a Mondeo from them a couple of years ago but ended up buying a focus from a non-ford garage.

bazz26

maidhc wrote: »

Cavanaghs in charelville are probably the most competitive. I almost bought a Mondeo from them a couple of years ago but ended up buying a focus from a non-ford garage.

I had a terrible experience with them.

When I was on the look out for a Focus TDCi I went to them as they had a silver Focus Ghia TDCi saloon with low mileage for sale. When I arrived it took them 10 mins to find the keys and another 10 mins to then find the car. Fair enough they have alot of used cars. Then when the car was eventually found it was filthy inside and out, there were cabage leaves in the boot I kid you not and about 1 million dead flies on the front of the car, I commented on the filth to which the answer was they only had the car on the forecourt a week! (how long does it take to wash and valet a car your trying to sell?). I wasn't interested in the car or the garage at that stage and left.

Incidently I found a much cleaner Focus TDCi with FFSH and similar mileage from the main VAG dealer in Limerick who has a reputation for being expensive and bought it for almost €2k less after some hard bargining.

Sorry for going a bit OT.

Sheils on the Ennis Road in Limerick are not too bad to be honest. Lyons on the other side of town I found expensive. Ford servicing and parts are not the most expensive in the world to be honest.

JHMEG

Are you buying a Mondeo E92.. surely the Volvo is destined to be replaced my something with a BMW badge on it?

E92

JHMEG wrote: »

Are you buying a Mondeo E92.. surely the Volvo is destined to be replaced by something with a BMW badge on it?

Watch this space.... I never said I was buying one;)!

Cheers for the info everyone though.