Buying this car... Advice please

The multi colour smoke on start up is odd. A guy at work had a tdci which blew all three colours of smoke on start up.

Neighbour has an 08 car, black and white smoke on start up... and people go mad for diesels
 
If you must have a diesel at under a grand a 2.0 HDi unit is a good shout. Theyre loved by taxi drivers for a reason. We have one in the mrs 03 Xsara Picasso people carrier and I have to say its superb on a run and for town driving. Sounds like a bag of spanners being launched down the stairs as someone on here said, and belches out a comedy amount of black smoke on start up, but for £900 its awesome value.

It also means I dont have to use my e39 for short trips anymore ;)
 
Cheers for the replies.

I used to drive a Mondeo TDCI taxi and the only problem I came across was the turbo going. Expensive yes, but still a good runner.

I'm open to the idea of a petrol but doesn't the petrol version only get something like 30mpg and the Diesel gets 45mpg.
 
Matt82 said:
The multi colour smoke on start up is odd. A guy at work had a tdci which blew all three colours of smoke on start up.

Neighbour has an 08 car, black and white smoke on start up... and people go mad for diesels
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black smoke doesnt sound right but surely a bit of white smoke/steam being visible before the engine has warmed up on a cold and/or damp morning is normal? Pretty much every car on the road during the winter in the mornings is doing this :p
 
I'm looking at a petrol 1.8 mondeo 52 plate tonight, it's up for £999 but I shall try not to be paying that if possible, I'll walk away otherwise.

Also was doing some late night reading and that inlet manifold business is quite worrying. I hope at 98k on the clock someone had the foresight to already do it. Will never know though just have to check the engine noise
 
It's not being stubborn it's seeing the car for what it's worth. There's no tax on it, unknown recent service history, the inlet manifold issue on the duratec engine might not have been fixed, might new discs and pads and a whole number of things. It's from a trader so he's bound to have paid a lot lot less than the price on sale.

A wise mate told me once go to look at a car like you don't want it. If the car sells it to you then buy it otherwise walk away.
 
MooMoo444 said:
Sounds like you dodged a bullet with the Mondeo
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Absolutely… Thankfully I was stung so badly on my last private sale car sale I’ve learnt a huge amount about basic tell tale signs!

Now I:

Check the Oil Levels
Check the water levels
Check if the water tank for dirt/mucky water
Turn the car on while checking the exhaust fumes
Get him to rev the car high to see what it spits out.

Then I drive it:

Checking for clunking of gear box/rattling
Listening to clutch when lifting up and down
Check the turbo is working fine
Brakes
Tyres etc etc

When I get back:

Re-check the water levels
Look under the engine
Ask for both sets of keys
Signed Log book
All service history


Anything else I’ve missed?
 
Bounce the corners
turn full lock each way listen for any noises, drive it on full lock slowly too to check the driveshafts /cv's
Check the engine bay isn't too clean (i.e hiding a leak)
Check for previous coolant stains in the engine bay too
Check passenger carpet is dry
 
Jono8 said:
black smoke doesnt sound right but surely a bit of white smoke/steam being visible before the engine has warmed up on a cold and/or damp morning is normal? Pretty much every car on the road during the winter in the mornings is doing this :p
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Next time to get a chance to see a tdci start, youll see what i mean.

you get a puff of white, puff of black, puff of blue.... its not the same white condensation that normal (non screwed) cars do
 
Ok, guys i'm going to get ripped apart for this... I'm sorry!

I just couldn't buy a Petrol Mondeo, towing my Caravan on the back would have cost me a small fortune.

That said, I honestly was about to look at a petrol until i saw the below. Long story short, everything looked good. Full service history from fords, recently changed the DMF etc etc...

So i had to go and see it. When i got there he had £1000's of receipts for work done on it, he said its been maintained regardless of cost. So went thro my checks, the water was stunning, anti freeze sitting perfectly. It was on a straight road so i was able to see where the coolant level was.. No smoke at all. Took it to 4500 rev's not a single bit of smoke. All suspension working great...

Took it out for a good 20mins, really really pushed it hard. Didn't miss a beat. Turbo was pulling between 1300 rev's all the way up.

Got back checked the coolant checked the oil ... It was honestly and mean honestly like driving it brand new!

£1150 i decided to buy it. I've also paid £90 for AA brake down repair. I've used this on my other cars and they've paid out for Head gasket, oil coolers turbo's injectors everything so i think i'm on to a winner... 80k miles. FSH every single year its stamped beginning of the month!

Also on a side note after i bought it they give me this thing for the BBC, turns out it was in the last every episode of being human and a few other big time TV shows (13:27.)

I'm happy, if it wasn't near enough perfect i wouldn't have bought it! Either way thanks for your help!

£1150 ... 7 months tax and half a tank of fuel 2004! Drove it 102miles 2day, didn't miss a single thing.... AMAZED by it!



 
Aslong as you're aware of the possible pitfalls/likely bills and are happy with it, I don't see the problem. :)
 
Seems like a pretty good price for a 2004 one with 80k miles, especially if it as good as you say it is.
 
Cheers, No matter how good it looks and feels you never truly knows what going on half the time.

All i know is, No oil in header tank, water level hasn't dropped at all. Turbo feels brand new.

If it lasts me the year i'l be over the moon!

I've got AA brakedown repair so that should cover a few hundred quid should something go wrong.

Its been so well looked after, its in better nick that the Vectra i bought which was only 2 years old.
 
That's very good. I only managed to get £50 off my 1.8 L petrol.

As stated earlier in a post, I went to view my Mondeo with no intent to buy but as soon as I saw it, checked it over and test drove it I loved it. Definitely a me car. There are some little issues but nothing drastic as far as I know. No knocking noises, no engine rattle, just smooth driving.

I hope your diesel lasts a long time same as I hope mine lasts a while too. You never really know until a few months down the line i guess.
 
I will NEVER buy another Mondeo. I bought a VERY tidy 2.0 TDCI 130, 2 owner car, 74,000 miles, full history etc. And had nothing but troubles with it. After a while I had a clunking in the drivers suspension. I replaced everything bar the bottom suspension arm (Inc the driveshaft) and still couldn't sort. Then it started having starting problems. Basically spinning a couple of times when trying to start, a sign that the DMF is falling to bits . After a while I just through in the towel flogged it on ebay and bought my Lexus.
 
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