Ownership Verified: 2006 Ford Mondeo - Bangernomics Daily Hack

Andeh

is teahte tbungafloed
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Messages
3,514
Location
Cumbria, UK
Car(s)
Fiestas, Mondeos, Anglia, Austin 7, Corsair, Chrys
So, as a few of you know, my 2004 Fiesta has been in my family since new, and between 2004-2010 it wasn't used at all really, covering just 4,000 miles or so. Once I passed by test, it became my daily driver, but again this didn't entail much at the time. In the last year, I've started doing frequent 1,000 miles weekends to see friends in the south, and since last month now commute 150 miles a day for work. All of this was seriously taking it's toll on the poor Fiesta, and it now has 30k on the clock, and much minor body ailments to show it (stone chips and gravel rash...) as I intend to keep the Fiesta for life, owing to it's good condition and my connection to it, I wanted to keep the miles off it, before I wore the poor thing out decades before I want to.

As such, I picked up this locally for ?850 this evening. It's a 2006 Mondeo, 2.0 130ps, with the six speed box. It's got lots of torque and bags of comfort and general waftability. The killer on these is usually the dual mass flywheel, and the injectors, which both go around 100k miles. This one had both done around this mileage, or three years ago, with the ?1500 receipt to prove it. It's now on 146k, so fingers crossed should take me past 200k.

Plenty of toys, much more than I'm used to. Cruise, climate control, electric drivers seat, steering wheel radio controls, electric windows, mirrors, heated windscreen, bags of stuff I've never had in a car before! It really goes down the road nicely. Only minor concerns are a penny sized rust bubble on the N/S rear arch, and a N/S rear squeak, which I suspect is bushes as they're quite notorious for eating these. Planning on polybushing it so I can forget about them.

The clear pics are just from the eBay advert, will take more later! Only had time for a quick couple on my phone this evening.

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How can you get such a new car for so cheap? The USA has a variant of that perticular mondeo called the "Five-Hundred" and they're still at least 2,000 pounds or more.
 
?850 for a Mondy? Come on, you nicked it didn't you? :p A colleague of mine is looking at 06 plate Fiesta diesels with ~70k miles for 4 times that price!

Looks smart, hope it serves you well.
 
It really was a bit of a steal, they're usually around ?1500 for this sort of condition and spec. But, people don't want big cars, and they don't want to drive to rural Cumbria to buy them, so it all works in my favour!

I forget the big selling point too, easy 50+ mpg. Currently on 52MPG long-term average. :)
 
Yeah, that price baffles me too: For a Mondeo with comparable year/spec/milage you have to pay a lot more here in Switzerland. - Not that I want one, tough. ;)

Anyway, it's decent runabout. But you should have bought it sooner, before you slapped a few 1000 miles on the "year 2055 prize winner" Fiesta. :lol:
 
Congratulations, those are great cars to drive long distance. As long as you keep the rust under control, running costs should stay at very reasonable level. Great value for ?850.

Plenty of toys, much more than I'm used to.
That's funny how different it is depending on your previous cars. I've got all of those (except heated windshield) in my C class, and it feels really underequipped after my Caddy :)
 
What a steal. The mk3 Mondeo drives really well for what it is.

My mother still hangs onto the 2001 mk3 she bought new. It's funny to hear a woman nearly in her 60's complain about handling and lack of steering feel when she test drives current cars. :lol:
 
Chopped in some old winter wheels for some new tyres for the Mondeo, as the Indonesian all-terrains which were on it were terrifying. It's had a quick wash, and the rear indicator bulbs replaces for orange ones rather than white. Run up and down the motorway, and it's getting 58.3mpg on a 40 mile motorway trip sitting at 75 70.

:p
 
So, the alternator died on the way to work Wednesday. Driving to work the battery light came on, so I turned off my headlamps, this extinguished the light. Twenty minutes later the battery light came on, so I turned off the heater, this extinguished the light. Twenty minutes later, the battery light came on, so I turned the radio off, this extinguished the light. I then got to work. Drove the car home with no ancillaries in silence okay, but the battery was completely depleted by the time I turned the car off. Obviously then it wouldn't start again. :lol: Charged the battery, and a multimeter proved it wasn't charging any more.

My ever dependable father got a new Ford alternator Wednesday night, and fitted it today while I was at work for me! All back together in an afternoon, and the car is charging again and all is well.

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Hoping that's the first, and last of any mechanical problems with this car for a long time, otherwise it has driven really well. Taking it down past London tomorrow anyway, that will prove it nicely...
 
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How can you get such a new car for so cheap? The USA has a variant of that perticular mondeo called the "Five-Hundred" and they're still at least 2,000 pounds or more.

This. Used car prices in the UK baffle me, all this newer stuff for seemingly dirt cheap.

Also, the Five Hundred and Andeh's Mondeo aren't related at all, only sharing similar styling cues. That generation Mondeo was on a revised version of the CDW27 platform that underpinned the 1st gen while the Five Hundred was on the lolvo derived D3 platform that's still in use today in the Taurus and MKS among others.
 
It's certainly a lot of car for the money. I've now done about 2,500 miles since buying it, and it's still doing very well. Averaged 61mpg over the last tank of derv.

Going to the scrapyard this weekend to get some fwood, leather seats and a few other trinkets to make it a bit more comfortable inside. :)
 
This. Used car prices in the UK baffle me, all this newer stuff for seemingly dirt cheap.

Just a guess, but could it be that because we drive on the left with RHD cars and there is no other market where used cars can easily be sold?

Not the case on the mainland.
 
It's certainly a lot of car for the money. I've now done about 2,500 miles since buying it, and it's still doing very well. Averaged 61mpg over the last tank of derv.

Going to the scrapyard this weekend

Reading this too quickly, it seemed like this thread took a Doctor 90 Fiesta style turn :lol:
 
Thaha, same here. "Well, that didn't last long"... was my first reaction :D
 
61 MPG is pretty impressive, but not as impressive as the interior will be when you add the excecutive fwood! By the way congrats on getting a good Mondeo Mk. 3 so cheap. There are so many doggy ones out there, its a minefield.
 
That thing looks amazing for ?850.
 
Finally took a handful of pictures this afternoon. Afraid it's very dirty as I haven't washed it since I bought it. If only the damn wind/rain/snow would calm down, it would get a full detail this weekend. Hoping so since I have 4 days clear of work and trips away...

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Yes the seats are filthy. Yes, they came that way. Yes I'm looking forward to leather, although they would clean, I don't quite have the time currently. Looking forward to my fwood!
 
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