Thinking of upgrading from 1.8LX Mk3 Mondeo to ST220 - advice please

smr · 1 Jan 2011 at 17:56

Hi guys,

I currently own a Silver 2001 Mk3 Mondeo 1.8 LX model, 96,000 miles on the clock, very good condition but am considering upgrading to an ST220.

I would have got an ST220 when I picked up the LX but didn't have the finances. I have however seen that the prices of them are around £3,000 - £3,500 for some excellent condition ST220s such as 2003 FORD MONDEO 3.0 V6 ST220 5DR SAT NAV FACELIFT MODEL which looks absoluetly mint.

I love everything about these cars, the look, the drive (i know this from driving a similar car obviously) and was even considering getting ST220 alloys to fit onto my LX a year ago very seriously but never did in the end as it was too much money just for wheels.

If I can sell my MK3 for £1000 which I am confident I can then I would effectively be buying an ST220 for £2- 2.5k.

A few concerns would be the petrol consumption though, how dramatically different would it be and also insurance wise, how much would this go up?

I am 27 in February, with NO claim bonuses and pay £50 a month for my LX at teh moment (after having a bump into someone at the end of 2009) which I shouldnt have told the cow about but nevermind!

Cheers for any advice.

smr · 2 Jan 2011 at 00:27

Janesy B said:
How can you possibly say it looks okay given its covered in snow and two grand cheaper than it should be. You got called out for peddling BS, no need to back track.

Christ, he said it "looks" ok, not that it IS (beyond doubt) ok... Keep your knickers on

For the record it does look ok (I am judging the pics solely and not stating that it is AFFIRMATIVELY ok) lol , and minus the *****y attacks some people seem to be suffering from thanks for the replies... much food for thought.

smr · 2 Jan 2011 at 00:50

Janesy B said:
I'm just advising you to be cautious, last thing you want is a total money pit and you might have to ditch the idea or up the budget to avoid buying into trouble.

Then thanks for advice, seeing the prices they were when i just did a search on autotrader is what made me think there are a few decent spec/condition ones going for that kind of price... like this one below:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../page/1/postcode/le60dt/radius/1500?logcode=p

Obviously when purchasing a car I'd go over it with a fine tooth comb and try and take a proper petrol head with me but he moved to America :/

smr · 2 Jan 2011 at 18:57

daveydave said:
As usual motors never ceases to amaze me in by providing off topic conjecture which doesn't answer the OP. Let's just wait and see what the OP can find for £3.5k, I assure you it will have NSH/extremely worn.

Your point surrounding the ST24 and 200 are valid on the grounds that they are respectively 2 body shapes behind the current Mondeo. I would be very surprised if they did not follow the same curve as the 220 when the Mk 3 Mondeo was released.

However it would be ignorant to ignore the fact that, a vehicles RV is not only driven by its own attributes, but those of other available vehicles on the market that sit within its competitive set. Both at release and now.

So what should I be looking at spending on a nice looking/well looked after ST220 with FSH ?

I don't want to plunge £3,000 into a car with worn seats/steering wheel / scuffed alloys etc. so tell me what I should spend please

smr · 2 Jan 2011 at 19:04

Thanks for the ball park, what about this though...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...ge/2/keywords/st220/postcode/le60dt?logcode=p

65k isn't bad. FSH and 2 previous owners and it looks ok

also and it shouldn't be taken too seriously but I like the idea of the house being "nice" ... it fills me with more confident that the people are not poor and so look after things better... geeze how generalising and stereotypical am I? lol!

smr · 2 Jan 2011 at 19:14

Howard said:
It's not a facelift. Get a facelift.

Yep I thought that about a minute or two after posting the link! They deffo looks so much better :cool:

smr · 2 Jan 2011 at 20:13

R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
It never ceases to amaze me how many people buy cars without doing either of those things!

You're joking? I drove my mate nuts I bought my Mondeo getting him to drive me to several places all over the midlands to go and see the cars and test drive them until I was satisfied with my last visit.

How people can bid on 3k cars on ebay is beyond me, without obviously having seem them or even driving them!