Will i really end up with a Mondeo?!?!

drunken fool

drunken fool

drunken fool

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Firstly, let me explain the reasons behind this thread.

Currently i own an FTO and a Zafira. The Zafira is brilliant for moving the dog about and excellent for going away with the mountain bikes and a few mates. Just recently the missus has decided that she doesn't enjoy driving the FTO and it's a real pain to take the dog anywhere in it while i'm off mountain biking with the zafira. I would obviously take the FTO but i can't fit 1 bike in it let alone 3 and their respective owners! This leaves me with the sad but real truth of having to replace the FTO.

I expect to get betwen £3k and £3.5k for the FTO. It's not in bad condition and has had a full service and is mechanically sound. Over the last year or so i have come to love the sound of the V6 and have decided that whatever i replace it with must also have a V6 engine. It must also cost around the same as what i will get for the FTO.

So, i started to look around autotrader for a suitable vehicle. Initial ideas of anything as sporty as the FTO went straight out of the window and then for some reason i thought of a mondeo. It would seem that i can get a ST24 with reasonable milage for the required amount and that includes the estate model (perfect space for both dog and bike movement!). Then i dug around abit more and found out for a bit cheaper i can get a better specced Ghia X with the same engine with less miles and newer! This leads me onto a few questions -

1. What real differences are there between the Ghia X and the ST24
2. Anything really dodgy about the V6 engine and running costs
3. How cheap is it to squeeze a bit more power from the engine
4. Are there any other alternatives?!?!?

I await your informed answers :D
 
Will i really end up with a Mondeo?!?!

Not sure, he;s liking bemmers atm :D

Seriously though, you cant go wrong tbh. There are no alternatives either i dont think. The Vectra isnt as good and the rest of the range or in a different price bracket tbh, other than a nice Rover a Mondeo is the best bang for buck car around imo

If your looking at getting more power from one, then i wouldnt bother tbh, it is possible but for the price just not worth it.
 
1. What real differences are there between the Ghia X and the ST24
2. Anything really dodgy about the V6 engine and running costs
3. How cheap is it to squeeze a bit more power from the engine
4. Are there any other alternatives?!?!?

ANSWERS:

1. The ST24 will probably have the sports pack, different bumpers and side skirts. Also it has 1/2 leather bucket seats and 15mm lower suspension. Engine performace is the same as any other V6 Mk2 Mondeo (Excluding the ST200). It has a few less toys than the GhiaX.

2. Yes, The engines are pretty sound except for the water pump. More importantly the impellor. It's made of plastic and WILL brake down, when this happens no water is pumped around the engine so you can guess what happens. It's not expensive to get a metal impellor fitted though.

3. Depends what you want to do. Breathing and exhaust mods will get a little more but not much left in it for cheap.

4. No.
 
Alternatives found on MSM cars for £3-4k
Passat V6 syncro(estate)
an older Audi A6
Vauxhall Omega
Do you want/ need another people carrier? as the Galaxy is available with a V6 engine
 
Bill101 said:
Alternatives found on MSM cars for £3-4k
Passat V6 syncro(estate)
an older Audi A6
Vauxhall Omega
Click to expand...

These are not really direct alternatives, by older Audi A6 we are talking much older and much more expensive to fix when something goes wrong. I mean, technically you can buy an E39 523i Touring for this money as well but it's going to be P reg and it's going to cost a packet if it breaks. The Omega will break, they do it for a hobby, and the Passat will be hard to find and boring to drive.

As for the Mondeo, the ST24 has as standard (most of them..) RSAP bodystyling, sports half leather seats, silver interior trim and 15mm lower suspension. The Ghia X has full leather, heated electric seats, climate control, cruise control, onboard computer and a sunroof. The bodystyling is on the option list and there is the odd Estate around with it. IMHO the Estates with the kit look great. With the Estate you also get self levelling rear suspension on the Ghia X.

Performance between the two is identical. Reliability is very good, Tesla has covered the waterpump issue although most of the 2000 Mk2's had a metal impellor from the factory. It'll cause you little hassle, not cost much if anything does wrong, and they are good to drive.
 
D4VE said:
What's that based on?
Click to expand...

Even Omega owners won't try and convince you they are 100% reliable cars. At the peak of their production the most attended to broken down car in Germany - where they were, afaik, built, was not the BMW 5 Series, the ubiquitous Mondeo, the found-everywhere Golf but... the Vauxhall Omega. Even though there less of them than most of other models..

Shame really as its the closest Vauxhall have come to a properly good car for ages - reliability aside it was way ahead of stuff like the Scorpio or the Pug 605..
 
Thats because they cant handle speed!!!

However, contrary to that, they seem to be a firm favourite amongst taxi drivers!? Why is that!?
 
The vauxhall omega is a great car, i very much enjoyed mine and wouldnt have swapped it for anything else within their price range save for possibly an E34 540i - but this would be an older car.

Mine wasnt 100% reliable but never cost much to keep going because being a vauxhall it had parts available everywhere for very cheap prices. They can be a bit of a bitch to work on but i managed a lot of it myself, using the local garage to fit anything too hard.

Good cars, and you will get a pretty new one for the budget due to their stupidly bad depreciation :)
 
Oracle said:
However, contrary to that, they seem to be a firm favourite amongst taxi drivers!? Why is that!?
Click to expand...

It must be a local thing becuase as you typed that I've just realised I have never seen a SINGLE Omega taxi around here.

We've got all sorts of completely stupid choices for taxi's - theres a BMW 535i, several ST24's, one bloke even has an ST200 (poor car), but no Omegas.

Used to be loads of Xantia's but they've all gone now. Roughly 50% of the citys minicab fleet is Mk2 Mondeos. This does make it somewhat interesting driving through town at night when clubs are kicking out :p
 
All the cabs round here are toyota avensis' :( Couple of A6's too.

Never ever seen an omega taxi, but that doesnt make them a bad car and it doesnt mean they are expensive to run. They really are not (other than the V6 chewing through fuel in urban areas) :)
 
Jez said:
The vauxhall omega is a great car, i very much enjoyed mine and wouldnt have swapped it for anything else within their price range save for possibly an E34 540i - but this would be an older car.

Mine wasnt 100% reliable but never cost much to keep going because being a vauxhall it had parts available everywhere for very cheap prices. They can be a bit of a bitch to work on but i managed a lot of it myself, using the local garage to fit anything too hard.

Good cars, and you will get a pretty new one for the budget due to their stupidly bad depreciation :)
Click to expand...

Aye I thought they were pretty good. Im struggling to think what part(s) of the car caused all these breakdowns.
The Ecotec sensors are pretty rubbish and my brother replaced a few of them on his 2.0 Astra, but they didnt actually cause breakdown, the car never let him down in the time he had it.
Same engine in the Omega and the V6 ones are good engines I thought.

Oh well, Ill still maintain for the money its a LOT of car. :)
 
It might not be everyone's experience but my 3.0l Omega Elite was flawless in terms of reliability. It was, however, a complete pudding of a car compared to my Mk2 Mondeo. Great in a straight line and at speed but very detached and wallowy in the bends.

ST24 is honestly your best bet IMO. The boot in the hatch is huge, you might not even need the estate.

Edit: I mainly see Omega taxis out on the A23/M23, presumably on airport runs. They're everywhere!
 
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