Used Ford Mondeo Estate 1993 - 2000 reliability

Mondeos are basically very tough cars, and can cope well with whatever owners throw at them. The Warranty Direct Reliability Index puts the Mondeo ahead of contemporary rivals, such as the Vectra, Passat and Laguna, and shows that later cars are better than the early models.

At all ages, though, it's the suspension that gives the most problems. It's responsible for over a third of claims to Warranty Direct on '93-'96 cars, and almost half on the later models. The brakes, too, may require attention, the diesel engines can be weak if the service intervals are not observed, and the cambelt can break if it isn't changed on time.

On the other hand, the petrols have proved very tough, and owners are almost all very positive about the car. The only problems reported are quite minor and, as proved by Warranty Direct's figures, generally quite easy and cheap to fix.