the_boy

Afternoon, been looking at buying one of these cars as a cheap means of getting to work. Something around the 2003 / 2004 year...

Have done a fair bit of reseach on them including browsing several of the Mondeo forums, here and the Parkers website.

As far as I was aware they were good cars to own, being generally practical, economic and reliable. However having read through most of the TDCI reviews on the Parkers website it seems that nearly every single one of them has had major problems and a lot of them mention flyweel issues and problems with idling below 2000rpms.

Is this generally the case or are the owners on Parkers the minority who have been pi$$ed enough to log on and generate a review?

I'd sort of set my mind on one of these but now I'm wondering if it's back to the drawing board

eldudereno

First time I've heard of any flywheels issues.

Some good buying advice here.

Buying Advice - Mk3 Diesels - Mondeo Enthusiasts Group - Powered by FusionBB

I'm sure that if you looked at other makes they'd also have a few niggles, very few cars haven't. There was a taxi driver on Pistonheads recently who had clocked up 240,000 on a tdci with nothing at all major going wrong, the only things being replaced were brakes etc and 1 clutch.

My dad has a 2006 2.2tdci and it's a great car.

Jamescsti

I have a LX with the 115 bhp TDCi, it has done over 100k now on a 52 plate and the engine is pretty much bomb proof, fly wheel problems are rubbish in my experience, and idle is no problem either.

logiclee

I've run a 2005 TDCi 130 Ghia for the last year.

It's now covered 40k miles and it's one of the best all round cars I've owned.

I've spent a bit of time over on fordmondeo.org, the flywheel issue has affected very few cars. Only a couple of owners over on the MEG forum have had this issue. This usually shows up as heavy vibration at low rpm when applying power.
The idle rumble issue is a known problem and Ford have issued a TSB Technical Service Bulliten for any car where the owner complains. It does not affect all cars.
Some cars have a hesitation around 2000rpm when just touching the throttle pedal, mine does it sometimes but another millimeter on the throttle either way and it dissapears. It's not related to the throttle sensor either. The latest software is supposed to cure any car affected but I haven't been in to have it done yet as it isn't that bad.
The other issue the Mk3 has is rear subframe bushes so check for any knocking from the rear but this isn't expensive to fix.

I doubt you'd be disappointed with one.

Cheers
Lee

Coupe-Se

I owned a late 2003 Zetec S 130bhp TDCi and can speak from actual experience.

The flywheel is a dual mass type and is a known problem ........ mine had 3.

There is also an issue with one particular engine mount. My original mount which seemd ok was changed while flywheel no. 2. Mount no.2 was fitted and broke when the dealer road tested the car. They fitted another mount (no.3)which failed 2 days later and ended up be delivered to the dealer on a truck.

Under 2000rpm there was a vibration through the gearbox/engine (they never found out what it was) which was felt most on the passenger side.
The annoying thing is that in 6th gear at 70mph the engine is doing about 1800rpm which was vibration city!!!!

Another non mechanical problem was that the paint was falling off the bottom of the doors on the inside. This was a very common problem due to the paint process casuing some sort of reaction. Within 6 months the seals that sit at the bottom of the doors had started to crack. Other problems were parking sensors playing up, rear window demister blowing after a couple of months, all the alloys lost about 10 psi of pressure every 3 weeks or so etc etc.

Ford were very good with me and did admit to the various problems with mine and several were official 'Service Bulletins'.
The dealer was terrible and after severe pressure from Ford, Trading standards and Top Gear mag contacting them ......... they bought the car back.


Must be said though that when it worked, it hustled along at a very nice a pace and handled reasonably well. I pity the person who bought it after me!!!

logiclee

Sounds like you bought a lemon mate. I suspect your run of flywheel and vibration mount issues where caused by the dealer after the intitial problem. The vibration at 1800rpm was probably caused by a missalignment when they fitted the flywheel.

Most of the other known build issues were solved during the late 2003 facelift. The facelift also brought high quality materials to the interior
Most of the motoring press rate the Mondeo well for it's build quality and reliability. Customer Satisfaction surveys like JD power have the Mondeo above average and scoring higher than the VW Passatt and only a few cars below the Impreza.

Cheers
Lee

Coupe-Se

Just remembered another trick it had ....... cutting out when changing between 2nd and 3rd gear every now and again, apparently it was a known software problem.
I remember the vibration being so pronounced that the rear view mirror constantly vibrating and thus vision through it was blurred ........... talk about making you feel sick.


As Lee said there were a few known fundamental known faults which were generally done while the car was serviced. I think mine had a fault somewhere that was causing the other issues to keep cropping up. After my experience I wouldn't buy a Ford due to my dire local dealers.

The interior was very good and very nice to be in, it must be said.

bowsaaa

I currently work with someone who used be a mechanic at a ford main dealers. A common problem he's seen is turbo oil seals leaking oil into engine, this oil imitates the diesel properties bypasing the governor causing the engine to rev so high that the conrods bend, he now owns & runs 2 tdci's which he has bought as non runners, replaced rods & pistons in & paid less than half the going rate for. The moral being that they must be pretty good for him not to sell them on for profit.
I also know someone else who has suffered the door paint problems as somebody else mentioned.

the_boy

Cheers for the replies!

Not that I think I feel any better for it

The car I'm interested in is a 2002 model so is not a facelift. Sounds like I could be dicing with death a bit but for a 2003 model the price is just a little too much. In my eyes because they depreciate so quick I thikn that it still has a lot left to lose.

Plus it's difficult to find any estate models in that year!

A friend of a friend works for a Ford garage in the NE so I'm hoping for some feedback later today...

RapidSeven

I worked on the spanners for Dixon Renault for 10 years, and a big percentage of there DCI models used to also run up on the oil.

We used to get 2 a week at the minimum when Renault released the new Laguna. Another big problem was Renault released the Laguna 75% completed to compete with the Mondeo TDCI.

The number of times we had to tell the customers " Sorry, we are waiting for a Renault technical solution " was beyond me.

Horrible cars Renaults, just a pity there so nice to drive.

I must say though, from driving a few Mondeo Tdci's, id say they were the best value for money car in its class to be honest.

R7

bowsaaa

Dont take it the wrong way mate, these are very good motors its just we've all pointed out the bad bits rather than the good. Look at all us scooby owners who've had to buy a new bottom end after 30k.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

A guy at work had a focus which had this problem, they eventually upgraded his software which fixed it though he was scared to overtake before as it had cut out on him whilst he was doing so!

Tony

workshy_fopp

Just get a petrol one then. Motorpoint have 2006 Mondeos 1.8 or 2.0 for £7699. I'm think of getting one as a runabout.

logiclee

Don't worry about it, you asked for known problems on the TDCi and you've got them all.

The vast majority are reliable, just look how many are on the road and check out the motoring and customer satisfaction ratings. Both Top Gear and What Car say the TDCi130 is the best engine in the range.
One thing about buying an older version is all the niggles, if it had any, should have been sorted and any problem should show up on a test drive anyway.
My Father in Law has a 2.0 petrol and it isn't a patch on the TDCi 130 but the diesel does have nearly double the torque.

Just think how many people would buy an Impreza if they asked for known problems on here.

Cheers
Lee

TopBanana

I wouldn't worry too much about flywheel issues, easily changed

bmac800

My brother had an 02 mondeo it was a 2.5 not the turbo diesel but he had the same problem with the doors rusting as has been mentioned above.The car was not even three years old and had done less than 20000 miles and the seals on the insides of the doors were falling off.Ford would not replace the doors and did an absolute ***** up of respraying the doors.The car was back three times and was a total mess.Eventually he traded it in for a golf and swore he would never buy a Ford again and he has never had anything but Fords since he passed his test the best part of 20 years ago.My cousin had the same problems with his as well and it seems to be a common fault.

DavidChief

I had one of these briefy and it was a superb car to drive. Very good ride quality + exceptional handling and steering.

MartinM

Got a one-owner (company car) 2003 2.0 TDCi hatchback, 130hp, 6sp, 129k miles, FFSH for £3800 about 2 months ago. Looks like hardly anyone ever sat in the passenger seat and no-one has ever sat in the back.

2000rpm in 6th == 75mph == 50mpg

Done 4000 miles in it so far and looking forward to doing many more!

TopBanana

Is it hanging together OK or is it a bit rattly?

gingerboy

had a 53 plate 130 tdci, did 60k + miles in 18 months and during that time other than sevicing all it had was tyres and an EGR valve.

Cracking car, very comfortable, 48mpg++++ and I don't drive like miss daisy by any stretch.

I would go for it, but try and get a face lift model if oss.

GB

Brun

Old man has had a Zetec S 130 for the past 2 years. No problems to report other than someone taking a liking to his 18's which left it sat on it's brake disks

MartinM

It's fine. I'm doing just shy of 200 miles/day Monday-Thursday.

650 miles per tank.

Rattles like a Transit (same engine after all) on startup but gets a lot quieter after 0.5 miles or so. Doesn't seem to use any oil. Smokes a bit if you back off for 10 secs or so and then accelerate hard - but they all do that Sir.

flatfour41

very quick for a derv


rather have a scooby non turbo there economical

dazc2

Sod that!! I think I would rather have the Mondeo over a non turbo scoob!!

Brun

A none turbo Scoob ain't on the same planet of economical compared to the Mondy, and is probably a fair bit slower to boot

Jamescsti

As per my comments near the top, mine is a prefacelift model, and has just passed the 100k mark, all that has beenr eplaced in it's life is discs and pads.
The car is still as solid as the day it was made.
Don't let one or two lemons put you off.

logiclee

All the old 2.0's are slower than the Mondeo, they can only just match the Mondeo's 0-62mph where diesels are always poor, mid range the Mondeo would storm ahead.
The new SportR is quicker than the Mondeo to 62 but either way they are nearly 20mpg behind the Mondeo.

Cheers
Lee

carter x

ive got a mondeo zetec tdci130 06 plate and covered 29000 miles from new had no problems apart from i find its a bit hard on the front tyrers
had to change them at 17k apart from that its fine

zxr750Nick

My 50 week old ST 2.2TDCi has 29000 and NOTHING, but NOTHING has gone wrong. After a 307 Diesel this is a revelation......
Great car. Can get 38mpg if have the diving boot on, but 50 with slippers.
I would recommend to anybody

Nick

MikT

How often do you check the tyre pressure at the front? The Mondy's are notorious for eating front wheels if they are not running at the correct PSI.

Paul