USED Ford Mondeo Estate (07 - )

My car

Well, I've waited 3 months for the car to be delivered (new 2.2 twin turbo diesel) and during that time I've been wondering "will it be as good as I remember the test drive being?" Fear not, prospective buyers - it is BETTER than I expected! This car is a real pleasure to drive, is very well built, very roomy and, generally, well thought out. Oh, and it looks mighty fine too. But someone tell me: what on earth is the point of voice actuated controls? You can alter, for example, the heater fan speed or temperature etc. by voice control, but why go through three levels of verbal instruction (push button, then say "climate", wait for the beep then say "fan", wait for the question asking you which fan speed you want then say "three". Oh my God, lifes not long enough! Why not just jab the fan speed button up or down? Who do car manufacturers make these silly toys for? Presumably it's people with very easily impressed colleagues and friends! Other than the needless gadgets, my only other gripe is that the cruise control cancel button is on the "wrong" side of the steering wheel. They've put it on the left side, which - trust me on this - is not as convenient as having it on the right - assuming that you are in the habit of using indicators when you change lanes. You'll see what I mean when you drive it! In summary, a very, very impressive car, although Ford really have missed a trick in naming it Mondeo instead of something new.

My car

I was lucky to recieve a 2.0 TDCi Ghia Estate as a company car - and I have to say it's a fantastic drive and just eats up motorway miles, and very quiet with it. Good handling, slick gearbox and power when you need it. Comfortable driving position, huge, huge amount of space both front and back. Plenty of toys to play with - with all the buttons on the steering wheel it's like driving a Playstation! It is a step-change improvement on the previous model.

Small niggles exist - like the LED telling you the rear elecric windows are locked being hidden beind the drivers door handle (perfectly visible on left had drive cars), rubbish Bluetooth phone system (company car drivers, get a car-kit fitted) and my daughter can't see out the rear windows because they are too high!

More major issues are the failure of the power steering pump at 4k miles (Ford dealer hopless - no surprise there). A colleague has had his off the road for 8 weeks due to a failure of a door wiring loom. Ford very generously hired him a Zafira and then a Passat whilst waiting for the part.

Other big issue is woeful fuel consumption. For a modern diesel car, 39mpg average is just not good enough for a 2 hour run at 75-80mph. This poor mpg has been echoed by colleagues with similar new Mondeos.

Private owners, beware the cost of replacement tyres - Kwik fit list price for a new tyre approx £140.....

My car

After 40,000 hard miles I am having concerns regarding the build quality of the car. There has been a serious problem with the brake servo and now one of the suspension units has failed resulting in a load knocking sound over bumps. As usual the local Ford dealer was totally incapable of solving the problem at the first/second/third attempt. The road noise which was a problem with the original tyres has been reduced by fitting Continental tyres, which have also contributed to improved fuel consumption of up to 50mpg. Space and practicality is first class and if we have a lot of equipment to carry, the Mondeo is used rather than the relatively tiny Audi A6 Avant

My car

having had this car for 4 weeks now and driven 1200 miles i,ve found it a delight to drive its comfortable and quiet but compared to the older mondeo a tad slower response wise. but still you can,t have everything and as a driver who does 45 to 50,000 miles a year i have a feeling that its going to be every bit as good a work horse as the old 54 reg mondeo i,ve just got rid of which did 140,000 without any major problems