yet another mondeo thread

Adam_151

Adam_151

Adam_151

Soldato
Joined
18 May 2004
Posts
2,894
Location
Lincoln, Uk
Looking to get myself a tidyish car in the sub 2k price range, after looking at a few different things, and trying them for size (long legs- some cars can be uncomfortable), nearly bought a Carisma (yes, I know, dull, but it suited me!), but that fell through because garage had booked it into main dealer to have something sorted on it, and the monkys somehow apparently broke the ECU because they were incorrectly set up to work on GDI engines..., so car dealer gave me my deposit back and I'm looking for something else.

Looking at tidyish MKII mondeos atm, around the years 1999/2000, and ideally a 1.8 but got a few questions:

1) whats the cambelt interval on these? someone told me 80k miles, and no age requirement, but this seems high?, also what is reasonable to pay, Ford main dealer have it down as £290, but obviously probably foolish to use a main dealer for a car this age!

2) Do they all have ABS? or only certain trim levels, or was it an option?

3) That niffy powered seat adjust? they all have that? (and if not, the ones without, I assume they have a winder/lever to adjust seat?)

4) Electrically heated front screen... same question as above

5) £1700 possibly a tad on the high side for a 1.8 Zetec on a T plate isn't it?, tidy enough and full MOT, but without a service record book, 74k, or is it about right for a screen price at a used car dealership

6) Anything specific to be carful of on these?



... Thanks in advance Mr Fox.... :p
 
They've all got ABS, the cambelt interval is 10 years/100k miles for post 98 and 5 years/80k miles for pre 98. Most have heated front screen.

£1700 is ridiculous. With no history treat it was 170k miles and thus worth under a grand.
 
Adam_151 said:
5) £1700 possibly a tad on the high side for a 1.8 Zetec on a T plate isn't it?
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Yes, very

I just paid £735 for a 1.8 Zetec on a T plate with 100,000 miles, and the cam belt, clutch and front brakes had all been done.

Ebay is your friend. :)
 
[TW]Fox;11812723 said:
£1700 is ridiculous. With no history treat it was 170k miles and thus worth under a grand.
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Thanks fox,

ABS: I'm sure I read somewhere that ABS was an option on some trim levels and not standard, perhaps I'm getting confused :confused:

Price: Thought as much, most things on his forcourt seemed a bit on the high side, struck me that (assuming mileage was genuine, its still at least £400 too much?)

Though he does have a HPI check report which seems to reckon that the mileage is about right, but no idea how reliable these things are, and tbh the fact that someone would totally loose a service record card (as opposed to having say one that had maybe dragged the intervals out as it got older) seems to indicate a somwhat lack of care...!
 
Adam_151 said:
Thanks fox,

ABS: I'm sure I read somewhere that ABS was an option on some trim levels and not standard, perhaps I'm getting confused :confused:

Price: Thought as much, most things on his forcourt seemed a bit on the high side, struck me that (assuming mileage was genuine, its still at least £400 too much?)

Though he does have a HPI check report which seems to reckon that the mileage is about right, but no idea how reliable these things are, and tbh the fact that someone would totally loose a service record card (as opposed to having say one that had maybe dragged the intervals out as it got older) seems to indicate a somwhat lack of care...!
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Just buy private. Cheaper, less BS, and people tend to look after their own cars better than a dealer will.
 
I had this similar dilema very recently until i bought a car last week. I couldn't justify spending 6k on a car right now with the new tax laws coming in and a lot of the cars i'm after probably on the verge of nose diving.

I recently looked over and over again with a budget of basically 2k with the intention of keeping for 2 years.

It seemed whichever way i looked, the mondeo stood out as fantastic value for money whether it was mk2 or mk3 and i found myself looking really
hard for genuinely similar value for money competitors.

However, i eventually settled on getting a 'lazy car' for the time being and opted for a 2ltr 2000 reg (because of the tax laws :p) honda accord SE exec with tiptronic / leather heated seats / air con / all electrics x4 electric windows + electric seats etc / cruise / seemingly a really nice place to be for the money / a little more exclusive than a ford badge / honda reliability etc and so far i've been extremely happy with it, certainly for the 2k i paid and you can get them a fair bit cheaper if you go for slightly higher miles than i got mine (mines got 44k on the clock). It sits me in easily and comfortably and i'm 6ft 8, but i'd possibly struggle with the manual variant.

I know your after a mondeo by the sounds of it but thought maybe this suggestion may be of some use, who knows :)
 
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Cheers rob,

I did see an Accord on autotrader a little while back that looked quite good, and then I realised it had an automatic transmission.:(:p

(perhaps my hatred of autos is a little irrational considering I've never driven one, but I don't like the idea of something that saps MPG and doesn't provide me personally with any advantage, my father had an automatic ford escort on a P plate (CVT), and I know ford autos are not among the best, but it got terrible MPG, and the box started to misbehave at around 65k, got traded in before it needed a new autobox!)
 
Yer i'm not getting amazing mpg but i suspect its about 35mpg on a run. Its just so lazy it suits me right now :)

The auto's as far as these accords are concerned seem to command a big premium over the manual ones (i believe 2/3'rds of them are auto's, other 1/3rd manual). It wouldnt be unrealistic to be able to get a relatively low miles manual with the extras mine has for 1.5k which aint so bad for what you get and its a little bit more exclusive than other alternatives with ridiculously faultless reliability records. The only real known fault is the main relay in hot weather which is a £40 fix (replacement box). Engine + transmission probs seem to be really rare.

Its just a suggestion i thought i'd chuck in really, its maybe not a better option than a mondeo if you look at the specs overall but its an alternative thats worth some consideration perhaps.
 
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is a mondeo big enough? i am only 6ft 3 and had the seat full back and fully down yet could still do with a bit more
 
Sone said:
is a mondeo big enough? i am only 6ft 3 and had the seat full back and fully down yet could still do with a bit more
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The Mondeo (Mk2) is a strage one. Im 6'4" and have miles of room up top, but I have long legs. I could do with having the seat one notch further forwards to allow some slack in my arms, but doing that means i cant get my knees under the wheel. It could do with having the pedals a few inches further back in relation to the wheel.

But its huge inside.
 
Skeeter said:
The Mondeo (Mk2) is a strage one. Im 6'4" and have miles of room up top, but I have long legs. I could do with having the seat one notch further forwards to allow some slack in my arms, but doing that means i cant get my knees under the wheel. It could do with having the pedals a few inches further back in relation to the wheel.

But its huge inside.
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Similar here, same height, same long legs :p


The mondy feels quite cramped with knees against the wheel until you remember to move the seat down as well as back :o , and then it does feel like you are sat a little low and a little far back from the wheel, but the leg room is about right! Its a lot more comfortable than a lot of things though (astra estates to start with, that made me feel like an extra value chicken...:p )
 
abs was an optional extra in a bundle with traction control aswell

£1700 is mk3 money, my mk3 was £1400 and is reasonably tidy
 
Sone said:
is a mondeo big enough? i am only 6ft 3 and had the seat full back and fully down yet could still do with a bit more
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I'm 6'2", plenty of room in my MK3. So much that if I have the seat as far back as it can I struggle to reach the pedals!

Not sure if the MK2 has tilt and reach adjustable steering wheel (i.e. up an down and in and out - on my MK3 i need the wheel right up and as far out as it can.)
 
greengiant said:
I'm 6'2", plenty of room in my MK3. So much that if I have the seat as far back as it can I struggle to reach the pedals!

Not sure if the MK2 has tilt and reach adjustable steering wheel (i.e. up an down and in and out - on my MK3 i need the wheel right up and as far out as it can.)
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My V-reg Zetec built in 99 had reach and rake.
 
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