Mondeo Mk3, problems etc?

Max Power1

Following on from my thread about the ex taxi merc E Class, (I decided to abandon that one), is there any glaring design faults or any other reason not to buy a mk3 mondeo. Its an 01 with 75k miles. What price should I be looking at also?

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Mondeo/1.8-I-LX/201014197560501/advert?channel=CARS

squod

I bought one, April last year. 02, diesel, 117k, nct, FSH new rubber, brakes, valeted, etc, etc.. €3500. Seen a few petrol ones also for `€2k-ish. Have they gone up in price since then?

I have found the bonnet switch in mine is dodgy. Bypassing it today. Generally reliable IMO.

Max Power1

squod wrote: »

I bought one, April last year. 02, diesel, 117k, nct, FSH new rubber, brakes, valeted, etc, etc.. €3500. Seen a few petrol ones also for `€2k-ish. Have they gone up in price since then?

I have found the bonnet switch in mine is dodgy. Bypassing it today. Generally reliable IMO.

where was that? Im looking around and the best (with some nct left) is the one I linked to earlier. In saying that, youd probably pay no more than 2.2k going by the carzone price

vengeance52

check the inside edges of the doors at the bottom, esp the back doors, as there was an issue with the paint and they are prone to a bit of rust. its not a major thing, but may be a good bargining tool.

squod

Max Power1 wrote: »

where was that? Im looking around and the best (with some nct left) is the one I linked to earlier. In saying that, youd probably pay no more than 2.2k going by the carzone price

Local trader magazine Cavan/Meath/Monaghan. Carzone prices are more than a little misleading IMO. Have you bought buy&sell on Sat?

squod

vengeance52 wrote: »

check the inside edges of the doors at the bottom, esp the back doors, as there was an issue with the paint and they are prone to a bit of rust. its not a major thing, but may be a good bargining tool.

Yep rubbers around the windows can leak also. One to watch.

Max Power1

squod wrote: »

Local trader magazine Cavan/Meath/Monaghan. Carzone prices are more than a little misleading IMO. Have you bought buy&sell on Sat?

nah, isnt Buy&sell more geared towards private sales? I am only looking at car dealers, wouldnt touch a private sale as no comeback.

squod

Yep, B&S for private sales. There's still a few dealers around with sensable prices though. Seem to remember this place quoting reasonable prices before.
Dunno about now.
http://www.glasnevinautos.ie/usedcars.php?make_id=26&model_id=259&price_id=

Max Power1

squod wrote: »

Yep, B&S for private sales. There's still a few dealers around with sensable prices though. Seem to remember this place quoting reasonable prices before.
Dunno about now.
http://www.glasnevinautos.ie/usedcars.php?make_id=26&model_id=259&price_id=

Yeah they are normally quite good (and just down the road from me) but the 2 there would be a bit out of price range

dirtydiesel

I am sure someone mentioned in another post about the mondeo diesel prone to clutch and flywheel failure after 100k , looking for the tread , will put up link if I find it.

johndaman66

Max Power1 wrote: »

nah, isnt Buy&sell more geared towards private sales? I am only looking at car dealers, wouldnt touch a private sale as no comeback.

I wont absolutely disagree with your statement but will somewhat disagree with your reasoning Max Power1. No doubt it will vary from dealer to dealer but quite often in my experience a written guarntee from many dealers is no more than worth the paper it is written on. Do bear in mind that more than likely a guarntee you will get from any dealer on a car such as that you have linked to will be a three month guarntee on the engine, gearbox and back axle only.....whatever a back axle is on a 2001 Mondeo???

There is a 2001 Mondeo Duratec 1.8 in this family and although it seems a nice smooth, powerful and comfortable car it is not without its faults. Brakes seem to be a weak point in them...not overly reassuring and the handbrake has stopped working completely of late too:eek: ...Must try to have a look at that next weekend. Also the previous owner did say he needed to replace a rear caliper not long before he sold the car to my brother which he said was an expensive job. Brothers Mondeo also seems to have a considerable appetitie for tyres and rear nearside tyre is continuiously wearing down unevenly despite him replacing bushings and shock and having it tracked on a number of occassions. Also front shcok completely collapsed on him once for no apparent reason which he then replaced. Apart from this the rubbers around the inside tops of the front doors were worked loose when he got the car, leading to considerable road noise. He pushed them back in and they have not caused him any problems since.

I have read also that swirl flaps in the injectors on the duratec Mondeo can give and are expensive but touch would brother has had no problems in this regard. As far as I recall reading also it was suggested that the duratec engine is a somewhat better choice than the Zetec for various reasons but would imagine that the Zetec is perhaps more readily available on forecourts.

dirtydiesel

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055876078&highlight=mondeo+clutch
This is the link but it seems to be just be the diesel it refers to.

cyrusdvirus

have a 03 Zetec, with 140+k miles up on her.

Replaced coil pack twice, one wheel bearing, and cat convertor (driving with dodgy coil pack instead of pulling over for a tow to blame there, so my fault more than the cars!!)

In fairness, i know it sounds like a lot, but in general i find the car quite reliable, i've had her for 6 1/2 years (bought an ex demo) and most of that has been trouble free driving.

bazz26

The 1.8 litre LX only has 110bhp which is pretty poor for that capacity even back then and is a dog for any sort of overtaking. The higher spec 1.8 litre Zetec model has 15bhp more which makes a world of difference. They are also better speced, eg:

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201014197562330

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201011197249400

Max Power1

gatecrash wrote: »

have a 03 Zetec, with 140+k miles up on her.

Replaced coil pack twice, one wheel bearing, and cat convertor (driving with dodgy coil pack instead of pulling over for a tow to blame there, so my fault more than the cars!!)

In fairness, i know it sounds like a lot, but in general i find the car quite reliable, i've had her for 6 1/2 years (bought an ex demo) and most of that has been trouble free driving.

That sounds like not much hassle for almost 7years of driving, and putting up fair amount of mileage to be fair

@Bazz26 - pity that 1st link is in longford! Its exactly what im looking for tbh

Im sure theres good and bad in every model though and it seems, bar the inlet manifold issue, that there shouldnt be much to worry about.

Re the Zetec engines, werent they replaced with Duratec solely, when the Mk3 was launched in 2000?

bazz26

Max Power1 wrote: »

That sounds like not much hassle for almost 7years of driving, and putting up fair amount of mileage to be fair

@Bazz26 - pity that 1st link is in longford! Its exactly what im looking for tbh

Im sure theres good and bad in every model though and it seems, bar the inlet manifold issue, that there shouldnt be much to worry about.

Re the Zetec engines, werent they replaced with Duratec solely, when the Mk3 was launched in 2000?

Alot of info on Duratec here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Duratec_engine

Zetec became a trim level similar to LX or Ghia from the mid 1990s.

slavetothegrind

We also had a 1.8 duratec for three years.
Only issue was the coil pack ( a known issue with these cars) cost me 78 euro and 3 minutes to fit.
Otherwise plenty of go and a nice drive, couldn't recommend them enough.

By contrast we inherited a C4 and cannot wait to get rid of it.........

Max Power1

slavetothegrind wrote: »

We also had a 1.8 duratec for three years.
Only issue was the coil pack ( a known issue with these cars) cost me 78 euro and 3 minutes to fit.
Otherwise plenty of go and a nice drive, couldn't recommend them enough.

By contrast we inherited a C4 and cannot wait to get rid of it.........

Glad to hear the positive review! 2-2.5k would represent a large enough outlay for me in this climate so its good to hear the positivity. On the C4 - I dont know anyne who has/had a citroen that would reflect positively on it!

Harcrid

I also have owned a 2002 1.8 LX since January this year and I am very happy with it. I had to replace the thermostat and also removed the swirl flaps, but other than it has been very reliable so far. It's a bit underpowered but fine if you are not a mad overtaker!

If you are looking at one, listen for any clattering noises from the inlet manifold as this will indicate that the swirl flaps are in a bad way.