New Buyer

[cmmillar]

Hi Mondeo drivers,
After much research we have decided to buy a mondeo. We would like some advice please on whether there is a particular service that is more expensive for the Mondeo. We can't decide whether to spend about $18,000 on a 2010 model that has done about 60,000 - 70,000 klms or purchase an earlier model, maybe a 2008 with more klms for a bit cheaper. Our biggest concern is if we buy a 2010 model and then it needs an expensive service soon after.
And we are pretty sure we want the Zetec TDCi Sports Automatic with diesel.

Many thanks for any advice.

[DFB FGXR6]

All cars can have expensive major services. Ford list the 60,000km service at $780 on their website for a capped price service. The 75,000km and 90,000km services are quoted at $355. So the big one may have been done going by the km quoted.

At the end of the day, the amount of car you would get for prices you are quoting, you cant really go wrong, there are an excellent and very underrated car with a massive boot in either hatch or wagon.

[cmmillar]

Thank you for your reply DFB FGXR6, I've been very excited reading lots of reviews about the Mondeo and think it's definitely the right car for our family. We currently have a 4WD but rarely get time to go 4WDing, so it's a bit of a waste. But what we really use it for a lot is to take our dog with us on trips to the beach and weekends away. So I think the hatchback seems like it has plenty of space in the boot for our dog (after taking out the parcel mat of course) I just wanted to be aware of any big services coming up, but I will now check if the one we are interested in that has done 67,000klms has had it's 60,000 service done.
Appreciate your advice!

[Deo]

As great as the Mondeo is, and without enjoying spoiling your enthusiasm...

If avoiding a few hundred dollars on a major service is an important factor for you, then you really don't want to be choosing a car with such a high liklihood of needing expensive repairs - if you do some reading on forums you'll see that there are quite a few things that could go wrong.
So I think it's important to keep some funds in reserve.





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[cmmillar]

Thanks Deo, I'll do some more reading on this forum about repair costs. We are dealing with repairs on our 4WD at the moment which is another reason we are down grading.

[AlanD]

Hi cmmillar,

And welcome to the forum.

I think you need to be aware that a forum - any forum - will tend to attract people who have had troubles with whatever and want to vent about it - and maybe get some advice.

We have had our MA TDCi Mondeo for nearly 5 years and in that time the only thing that required attention was the driver's seat belt buckle stalk, which had an intermittent connection causing "cheeps" when moving on undulating pavement. Fixed under warranty.

The 60,000 Km service, (and multiples of this distance) are the expensive services. Ours cost $500 capped price, but included 12 months roadside assist through the RACV where I am a member and because Ford had paid the RACV they (RACV) refunded me the payment - so the service effectively cost me $410.

Inside your budget of $18,000 there are a number of vehicles on Carsales that show as 2012 models, so I think I would go looking for one that was delivered after September 2011 or later and thus have the 3 year/100,000 km warranty still in force. Then buy an extended warranty for the car before the factory warranty expires (making sure that it's the genuine myFord one and not a dealer backed version) to insulate you from expensive problems.

If you avoid the models with all the bells and whistles (ie Titanium) you will get a lower mileage car for your money and will also avoid the myriad of problems that seem to occur with the electronic gizmos that you will read about on the forum, and which the dealers have trouble fixing, owing, I think, to having limited knowledge and training about imported ford vehicles.

Good luck with the search, let us know how you get on.

cheers

[brismike]

^^^ Now that is excellent advice!

[cmmillar]

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/d.../?Cr=2&sdmvc=1
http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/de.../?Cr=3&sdmvc=1

These are the two cars I'm looking at. I went and looked at the second one yesterday at Byrne Ford Kedron, it comes with a free 3 year warranty, although I'm not sure exactly what that would cover. That price also covers on road costs, where as the first one which is a private sale doesn't, so the second one is better value unless I can negotiate heavily on the 1st one. I just had a look on car sales again and can't see any 2012/11 ones that fit my requirements and are under $20,000. We really want the diesel model and under 80,000klms. I'm in QLD, so maybe there are some in other states, but I couldn't find any in QLD.
Thanks for your advice AlanD. I will definitely update when we make our purchase.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by cmmillar

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/d.../?Cr=2&sdmvc=1
http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/de.../?Cr=3&sdmvc=1

These are the two cars I'm looking at. I went and looked at the second one yesterday at Byrne Ford Kedron, it comes with a free 3 year warranty, although I'm not sure exactly what that would cover. That price also covers on road costs, where as the first one which is a private sale doesn't, so the second one is better value unless I can negotiate heavily on the 1st one. I just had a look on car sales again and can't see any 2012/11 ones that fit my requirements and are under $20,000. We really want the diesel model and under 80,000klms. I'm in QLD, so maybe there are some in other states, but I couldn't find any in QLD.
Thanks for your advice AlanD. I will definitely update when we make our purchase.

The free warranty is useless hence 'free'. I think thats the one that capps repairs to $1000 and that does not buy a whole lot of anything when you need to fix one of these cars.

So forget the warranty - it is there to make you return to them for servicing, that's all.

Oh, and read the fine print of the warranty. It could be the same as what I was given - you needed to do a service every 6 months (and, if memory serves there was even a more stringent schedule for the diesels on top of that)...

Be wary of anyone selling at around the 60-70k mark. The 60k 'B' service is circa $800 and people may 'miss' that one if they knew they are selling up.

If the log book isn't stamped (and many don't these days as it's on the Computer) tell them to provide PROOF by way of a paid and itemised invoice in the name of the current owner with all details matching.

Service departments have no issue emailing these upon request to owners - I did the same when selling my Focus.

I would also like to advise you that there are several known and costly problems associated with the powershift transmission. Out of warranty (and this includes the useless free one) these are very costly to fix. Flush and fluids alone is around the $480 mark and a clutch pack is around $6500.

I can also tell you that to remove, investigate and return the powershift is around $660 alone - this is just for fault finding.

I know this as these were prices thrown at me.

My personal opinion is that I would not buy a used car with a powershift tranny.

[AlanD]

Hi again,

I don't think I would buy either of these, they seem overpriced for the vintage and distance covered, and the extended warranty would not be available, I suspect, unless they were delivered after September 2011. The extended warranty has to be negotiated, I think, prior to the factory warranty expiring.

Have you seen this?

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/de.../?Cr=6&sdmvc=1

You would have to travel to get it and the ORC will push it over $20,000, unless you played hard ball with the dealer about the ORCs being included in the price, but the distance travelled is very low and it has 8 months of factory warranty left on it, allowing you to accumulate the premium costs of an extended warranty.

But next week there will be others to look at.

Good luck with the search. they are a very under-rated car and I think Ford were worried that they would steal Falcon sales, but that isn't a real issue any more.

Cheers

[cmmillar]

Hi Yellow_Festiva, thank you for your advice. I had wondered whether the warranty would cover much. I just went in for a quick squiz at the car yesterday, didn't test drive or anything, just wanted to see how flexible they were on that price. When my husband is ready we will go and have a drive of it. I had read a lot on this forum about the powershift and was steering away from that model, thanks for confirming my thoughts.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by AlanD

The 60,000 Km service, (and multiples of this distance) are the expensive services. Ours cost $500 capped price, but included 12 months roadside assist through the RACV where I am a member and because Ford had paid the RACV they (RACV) refunded me the payment - so the service effectively cost me $410.

What tranny does the MA run? I had a fiddle on the Ford site and it seems from May 2010 the model starts to use the powershift as servicing jumps from $500 to $775.

Also, I fully agree with your point on the extended warranty - if you have factory warranty left, Ford will send out a letter a few months prior to it expiring inviting you to buy the Ford backed extended warranty.

I think it was around $1800.

Yes - costly, but if you do end up buying a newer Mondeo take up the offer.
It will pay itself off most probably with the first time you use it. Trust me.....

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by cmmillar

Hi Yellow_Festiva, thank you for your advice. I had wondered whether the warranty would cover much. I just went in for a quick squiz at the car yesterday, didn't test drive or anything, just wanted to see how flexible they were on that price. When my husband is ready we will go and have a drive of it. I had read a lot on this forum about the powershift and was steering away from that model, thanks for confirming my thoughts.

No problem.

The dealer backed extended warranty info should be around a 5pg booklet. Read over every page carefully. If it's the same one I was given it is rubbish.

Better still - google the company that is backing it. It's three letters if memory serves "AID" or something like that. Google makes for some interesting reading about their handling of warranty claims.

Funny - that information booklet that spells out what is and isn't covered was only given to me when I collected the car. I guess you live and learn through your mistakes.

Good luck with your purchase either way.

[AlanD]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

What tranny does the MA run? I had a fiddle on the Ford site and it seems from May 2010 the model starts to use the powershift as servicing jumps from $500 to $775.

Hi YF,

The old 6 speed transmission, and I am grateful for that, the newer one is just too complicated.

In fact I think I remember someone on the forum commenting that the underwriters were telling dealers to stop providing advice about the extended warranty on the powershift models because it was getting too expensive.

I should also inform the OP that SFAICT all extended warranties are underwritten by insurance companies, even the myFord one, but that one at least provides the same cover as the factory from new warranty, excepting some very minor things. All mechanical and on board electronic systems get coverage and those are the expensive things if they go wrong.

Cheers

[cmmillar]

Hi AlanD, Just saw your other post with the link to the car in Victoria. This forum is very strange and is showing the replies in a mixed up order!lol
Thanks for the link to the car, however we'll continue to look in QLD I think. Getting to a car in another state would just add to the cost of it, unless it was ridiculously cheap! I agree that both the cars I'm looking at are a bit overpriced, but they are the cheapest for the year/klms that I could find. If I drop down to a 2009 I can see a few that are reasonably cheap, but I was really hoping to purchase something 2010 or after. As you said, there'll be new ones next week, or maybe these will drop their price. Ideally I'd love to only spend about $15,000 so we'll see!
Thanks everyone!

[Yellow_Festiva]

That white one has already had over $5k taken off the price as well.

[cmmillar]

Yes, they really wanted a lot for that one originally. Or maybe they are just putting that price in the write up to make people think they have reduced it already. I'll keep watching and see if they continue to reduce the price.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by AlanD

Hi YF,

The old 6 speed transmission, and I am grateful for that, the newer one is just too complicated.

Complicated, and have left a very bad stigma around any model associated with them.

When I sold my 2010 TDCi Focus private, I was hoping to use the money to buy an i30 private circa the same age / km / specs.

Not a chance - they were still demanding a $3-4k premium over the Focus - even though (on paper at least) the Focus was the far better car.

Do a simple search on carsales.com.au:

2012 Mondeo, diesel.

2012 i40, diesel.

Order them by price, low to high. Once you scratch out the cheap and nasty high km cars you see that the price for a Mondeo starts to level out at $17k then gradually goes up as KM / rego improve.

Do the same with the i40 and there is almost nothing under $23k.

I guess the fact the i40 will still have some warranty left helps but I wonder how much has to do with the Powershift?

[Deo]

I agree with all of the advice above.

My point is that if 'X' is the most you can possibly afford to spend on a car, then I think you should only buy a car for 90% of X.

It's definitely true, as AlanD says, that there is selection bias in a forum - you hear from the minority with issues and most of the majority are silent because they are happy.
But modern cars, particularly the highly spec'd ones, carry a high risk of expensive repairs.

The cliché exception is the Toyota Corolla because it tends not to break. But I did a superficial check on the cost of Corolla parts and found it to be as expensive as low-end Euro cars! In some cases Mondeo can be cheaper.


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[Yellow_Festiva]

A post in the pub states a new Mondeo is due early next year. If you can hold out there may be a bit more of a price drop when that happens on used cars.

[AlanD]

Hi all,

I should have asked this question of the OP earlier, and it is:

"Why are you so keen on a diesel?"

If a lot of your use is suburban based then the petrol engine version might be a better choice, because the diesel engine requires a longish run periodically to clean out the diesel particulate filter. If that gets clogged nasty things can begin to happen and, I understand, it's an expensive problem to get fixed - read labour charges.

It isn't a problem for us as we live in Regional Victoria and on average, every third trip is a 20 minute or longer run at 100kph. Under these conditions the diesel starts to claim back some of the extra up front cost.

If the OP's use is similar to ours, then no problem, but otherwise I'd seriously consider the petrol engine models. The economy isn't much worse and petrol is cheaper than diesel usually. But the real advantage is that there are more to choose from and they are typically $1000 to $2000 lower in cost for the 2012 vintage cars.

Cheers

[cmmillar]

The reason we were choosing a diesel is because the fuel economy appeared to be much better. 7.3L/100km for the diesel and 9.5L / 100km for the petrol. We do live in suburbia, so do you think that it would be much of a muchness with only doing shot 5-10 minute trips often?

[cobrin]

We do a lot of small trips, but we also have a fair bit of 80kph (22kms) and a short 100kph section. I can't say how good/bad the DPF is in but I've noticed 3 regens in 6mths (tell tail signs), I have gone out of my way to go on an hours trip up the tablelands but it's a joy and a planned one.

I'm not fully convinced I need to but like the outing. My average speed is quite low 37kph and average fuel consumption is 6.8L/100km but I've not tried to drive economically as I'm having so much fun with the torque the diesel has. I'm more worried about the tyres and life of them driving a little harder than usual. I'll get to driving easily; just not there yet lol. That and there's no need to drive like a bogan all the time. (not that I'm like that, not with 6.8L/100km)

[AlanD]

Well,

That difference in fuel economy translates to (roughly) $3 per 100 km - so in 100,000 km you would "save" $3000. But looking at the ford site and servicing costs, I see that the "A" service (5 of these in 100,000 km) capped price is $40 more for the diesel and for the "B" service (one of these) is $370 more, so the total servicing costs will be $570 more for the diesel, so you will end up notionally $2430 ahead across that distance (which takes a few years of normal use ) and you win back some of the higher initial cost come trade in time - the diesels "seem" to command a higher price.

But that need to get the diesel at optimum operating temperature for a distance works against you unless it is a part of how you would normally use the car. In 20 min at 100kph you will cover 35 km and burn 2 litres of fuel and that kind of takes care of the savings you have made elsewhere.

Also there is the matter of the fuel discount cycle, although I don't know how this might occur in Qld. But in Vic you can buy petrol at up to 15c per litre cheaper than diesel, which is pretty much constant in price. Using rough current prices of $1.59 for diesel and $1.44 for petrol (at the bottom of the cycle) 100km cost you $11.60 for diesel and $13.68 for petrol.

On balance I think the running costs including servicing would be quite close. The increased cost of purchase starts the pendulum swinging back towards the petrol cars, since you have to find the extra money up front for the diesel.

I like our Mondeo, but we were shifting from a car that burned 13litres/100 km to it - we still have that car but it does less than 4,000 km per annum now.

If I were doing the purchase now I'd certainly drive both petrol and diesel of similar build spec before I fixed on one or the other. And if my use was as you have indicated yours will be then I'd probably opt for the petrol engine, unless there was a really pressing reason to get the diesel in terms of equipment standard.

Your friendly Ford Dealer will be happy to let you take a test drive in both "to make up your mind"

Good luck, let us know how you get on

Cheers

[AlanD]

Hi again,

I see Cobrin has commented about his fuel consumption.

I recently did a flying trip to Adelaide and back to attend a ex colleague's funeral. I averaged 93 km/hour for the total trip and burned fuel at 6 litres/100km calculated from fuel purchases and odometer distance. The on board computer told me that my fuel burn rate was 5.7 litres/100 km, so it was being optimistic. In our normal use we average 60 km/hour in the car and burn fuel at 6.8 litres/100 km (6.5 litres on the car's computer)

So I think the numbers the OP quoted are a little pessimistic and this, of course, will mess up my calculations.

But I would still consider the petrol engine car before committing.

Cheers

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by AlanD

But I would still consider the petrol engine car before committing.

Cheers

Especially if its the EcoBoost Engine.
This engine provides a Diesel like torque response but with the refinement (no noisy tractor sounds) of a petrol. Ours is quite good on fuel too. Certainly avoid a diesel unless you intend doing lots of long distance travel, the sums just don't add up for diesel as mentioned earlier, higher purchase price, higher servicing, more expensive parts.....

[Binny]

Hi and Welcome.

I bought an MC Mondeo TDCi from Byrne Ford a few months ago with 58k on the clock. I've done 8000k since then and it hasn't missed a beat. Averages 6.1L/100km on my 35k commute each way. The real world difference between petrol and diesel economy is bigger than the official figures suggest. I doubt a 2.3L petrol mondeo would get under 10L/100 in the same conditions. My previous manual honda CRV was averaging over 13 for the same commute.

Be aware the two mondeos you have linked to are MB models and have less power, less torque and are a conventional auto. They also aren't as economical.
Its up to you which you get. I was a bit nervous about the powershift transmission but once I researched it I worked out that issues with the diesel powershift aren't very common. Yellow Festiva is an exception. Its the smaller dry clutch powershift trannys in the focus and fiesta petrol models that are causing all the grief. The conventional auto is not a sure bet either.
Regardless I purchased a FACTORY myford extended warranty for peace of mind, 6yrs or 200,000km. The Byrne warranty was the usual crappy one that required you to get it serviced by them. As if that was going to happen.

FYI my car had a nice new Byrne ford sticker on the windscreen saying the next service was due at 73,000 or in 12 months time. One could assume that the expensive 60k service had been done. The log books showed it had not been serviced since the 45k service. Inspect the logbooks on any prospective purchase carefully!

Have fun shopping and I hope you enjoy whatever you end up with.

[cmmillar]

Thanks for all your helpful advice Binny. I've just seen another one advertised that looks good. It's a 2011 MC EcoBoost Powershift with the dual clutch. I'm about to do some investigation about the dual clutch as I'm not sure what it is. I had read a lot of not so good things on this forum about the Powershift. This is a private sale so I won't be getting a warranty if I decide to buy it.

[cyclone1410]

Originally Posted by cmmillar

Thanks for all your helpful advice Binny. I've just seen another one advertised that looks good. It's a 2011 MC EcoBoost Powershift with the dual clutch. I'm about to do some investigation about the dual clutch as I'm not sure what it is. I had read a lot of not so good things on this forum about the Powershift. This is a private sale so I won't be getting a warranty if I decide to buy it.

We have a 12 month old Zetec with the Ecoboost and Powershift (which is a dual clutch tranny - Powershift is just another way of saying dual clutch in Ford speak) and it really is great. We live in Kedron and do lots of small trips. We average around 11-12l/100km around town and when we do the odd run up the coast we average in the low 7's. Plenty of power as well which I tend to exploit which also probably doesn't help the fuel consumption. Honestly highly recommended.

[cobrin]

Originally Posted by AlanD

Hi again,

I see Cobrin has commented about his fuel consumption.


Cheers

I should have clarified my figure was at the pump not the indicated Trip calculator. I can't stand that measurement it's misleading in a couple of ways, this was at the same pump at the same servo.

I think the trip meter had read 6.4-6.5 or there abouts, but the longer you leave it over a few fill ups is skewers the results again. I've had indicated 6.8L/100kms but at the pump it's been 7.5-7.8. because it still has the previous fuel and distance in the calculation.