Mondeo ST hunting

brightside_

brightside_

brightside_

Associate
Joined
22 Jan 2006
Posts
494
Location
Lincoln
I'm interested in buying one of the Mondeo ST's , whether that be the V6 220, or the TDCI 150. Have been reading through the hundreds of threads on the forums, and eventually lost the will to live as they're so popular :o

Budget Wise, I'm pretty much looking up to £5k currently, however could push to £6k for the right one.

So far, i've had a test drive in a 2004 Facelift diesel for about 10 minutes. Felt pretty good, smooth at speed. This car however had a particularly lumpy idle, bit of throttle and it went smooth (for a diesel dagdagdag anyhow) I'd heard about the DMF + injector issue so have pretty much left that car well alone

My problem is weighing up the cost differences between the two. Since I've been looking at them the prices of a decent example of the diesel seem to be between £1500 to £2000 more than the average decent condition ST220 although both seem more expensive than I had remembered from having a look in February time :(

The diesel is - Cheaper to insure for me by nearly £400 (they still want £1100 off me for insurance on it >.> god knows why im -that- expensive; 24yrs old, 6 years driving, no accidents in last 3 yrs, no points or convictions, 4 years no claims :() Cheaper to fuel will nearly halve my current monthly fuel cost. Cheaper to tax (although i don't consider this a big issue, it is still cheaper)
Has 2 fairly common expensive potential issues (DMF + Injectors) and is generally less reliable than the 220 (from what I have read) ; Is slower than the 220; doesn't sound as nice

The petrol is - Expensive to insure, about £1450 for me, the mrs and my dad (£1650 on my own :eek:) More expensive to fuel - approx £40 a month more perhaps than current; Cheaper to maintain and reliable if looked after well.
Fair amount quicker than my Focus, More expensive Tax

I do have a "Emergency" car fund set aside for potential big bills but DMF failure would dint it considerably!

I'm just mulling over what to do to be honest, and for any tips in looking for the major issues on the diesels, and what are the main problems to look out for on both the TDCI and the 220.

Could any owners also give me an indication on general costs of running, such as decent tyre costs, Discs + pad costs (would generally do myself so just parts) Cambelt/chain change costs + schedule for both engines

ta, bright
 
That is an utter joke to insure for a 24 year old.

Im only 26 with only 1 years NCB and iam paying 680quid for a group 20 jap import.

I could not justifiy getting a car thats worth 5k and spending 1.5 insuring it, especially when it's a mondeo.

Iam amazed you are thinking of paying that much.

Change your insurers...........
 
That is a lot for insurance, I paid about £850 to insure mine - 23, almost 6 years experience, 5 years NCB, 3 points
 
Insurance has gone up horribly in the last 9 months. With no chance in circumstances my insurer tried to impose a 72% increase come renewal...
 
I really don't understand looking at st220's and diesels. Either you want the performance of a 220 or a normal 2.0 petrol will do the job for far less money.
 
Smokey26 said:
That is an utter joke to insure for a 24 year old.

Im only 26 with only 1 years NCB and iam paying 680quid for a group 20 jap import.

I could not justifiy getting a car thats worth 5k and spending 1.5 insuring it, especially when it's a mondeo.

Iam amazed you are thinking of paying that much.

Change your insurers...........
Click to expand...

Its not like i've done one quote and think thats the price mate, i have looked around :p

Howard said:
That is a lot for insurance, I paid about £850 to insure mine - 23, almost 6 years experience, 5 years NCB, 3 points
Click to expand...

I don't know whats going on to be honest, LN5 according to some list I've found, is a group B postcode so not completley crap. Only issue is that I have to park on the street as I'm in a terrace. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but not sure theres a lot I can do?
 
Gribs said:
I really don't understand looking at st220's and diesels. Either you want the performance of a 220 or a normal 2.0 petrol will do the job for far less money.
Click to expand...

The 2.0 in my focus is a slightly older design, but gives crap economy so i'm not expecting leaps and bounds from a 2.0 mondeo!
 
ST220 or TDCI 150.... Wow, wide range of choice there, its depressing that the ST mondeo even has that engine choice.
 
I feel your insurance pain. I couldn't get a quote for less than £880 for my Suzuki Swift Sport, and that was including Direct Line (they were the cheapest), who had previously sent me a renewal quote for £540(!?!).

Last year was £430 or so from Direct Line. I'm 28 with 6 years of holding a full licence, no accidents and 1 year NCD.
 
It's the 220 if you don't mind the fuel consumption. Injectors and DMF can be an issue, but just add the cost into a pot and leave it in an account.

It should feel very tight to drive - make sure you try a minter to feel what a good one feels like.
 
Running costs - Tyres are £90-£150 a corner depending on what you go for.

Discs and pads - Ford wanted almost £400 for discs and pads all round on my ST TDCi, I got Mintex parts and fitted them myself for under £100. Independent will be somewhere in between I guess.

No cambelt, and the chain should run forever if the oil has been looked after.

Servicing should not be expensive. They don't require any fancy oil, a basic service on the diesel is oil and filter, cabin filter and a once-over ever 12.5k, then every 37.5k its that plus fuel filter and air filter. The ST220 is generally about the same cost - the spark plugs need doing at 3 yrs but they are only about the same cost as the diesel fuel filter.

There's no doubt the ST220 is the better car, but it'll use 50% more fuel and has a considerably shorter range.

On the diesels there is a fairly common issue with the aux belt making like a drumming noise at idle that disappears as soon as you touch the throttle. It's the aux belt flapping/reasonating and makes them sound really rough. There is a revised tensioner and pulley that fixes it - if you asked it was generally fitted without issue under warranty, if it needs doing now you'll have to pay and I believe its a £200 job but it's worth looking out for. If its noisy but there's not much vibration, it could be that.
 
Try a decent insurance company that isn't going to rape you.

-Bell
-Adrian Flux
-Chris Knott
-Sky

Sky and Knott are usually over 25 and driven a performance car for a year but you never know.
 
thanks blueboy, running costs sound about what I was expecting. Does the chain ever have to be replaced, or is it just tensioning it?

Re: the aux belt tensioner- it does sound like it could be this causing the issue, was it ever fixed on new cars (i.e say 05 onwards doesn't suffer for example)

Smokey26 - Have tried Bell, Admiral, Direct Line it just is odd. An odd thing on Direct Line is they said I had to have a £400 compulsory excess, which it states is only for 17-21 yr olds? Smelt fishy to me.

I've talked with my dad and he reckons I should be asking an Insurance company why I'm considered such a risk. Admiral whom i'm with at the moment, want £700 for my Focus for this year which is a bit nuts.
 
brightside_ said:
The 2.0 in my focus is a slightly older design, but gives crap economy so i'm not expecting leaps and bounds from a 2.0 mondeo!
Click to expand...

I get low 30's from mine and it's not driven gently at all, a 3l v6 would be much worse. It's more that if you want the performace of a st220 then a diesel just won't cut it. If you don't then a petrol Zetec S looks nearly the same and doesn't have the same risk of DMF failure or injector problems which would soon negate any fuel cost savings, plus they're a fair bit cheaper to buy.
 
I think the problem a lot of people have with the st tdci is the st badge on the back. If you just take it for what it is - a well equipped, good looking, good handling large hatchback with warm performance and good fuel economy, it starts to make more sense. If you think of it as an afront to the st name and a shame to the st220, it's never going to make sense.
 
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