My Mondeo tdci ghia is almost at 150,000 miles. Should be there sometime next week so I thought I'd write a few words about my ownership experiences.
I bought the car in August 18 months ago and have since put 52,000 miles on it. been doing fewer than my usual miles recently. The only major issue has been a failed water pump, which also took out the power steering pump. I've also had a rear brake caliper seize which was easy enough to change. I've done almost all the servicing myself, just oil and filter every 10000 miles and a new air and pollen filter occasionally. Actually, the pollen filter was changed for probably the first time in the cars life earlier this year.
I've had the dreaded glow plug light flashing occasionally, happened a few times at the start of last winter but it hasn't come on since I went round and wriggled all the wires and unplugged and replugged all the connectors a few times to wipe the corrosion of the contacts.
Its still running well. The drivers seat is starting to show some very minimal signs of sagging, though I suspect with a heavier driver it would be a bit worse. I'm 11.5 stone so less than average, though the right weight for my average height.
Its looking a little scuffed, though a new windscreen before the last MOT which cost me £180 has improved the visibility out of the car.
It still does about 47 to the gallon, so I guess I've put in over a thousand gallons of diesel into it. With fuel at £6 a gallon that's a sobering thought but it would be a lot worse with a petrol. Tyre wear has been good though I don't bother keeping records I thin I've got through one set of rears and a couple of sets of fronts.
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When was the car first registered? Just wondered, because some reckon there is a reliability line where reliability of the fueling sytem is better on '05 onwards Mondeos.
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spikeyhead - are you trying to upset the diesel doom merchants? Its good to hear a positive diesel story for a change.
Edited by Old Navy on 05/07/2008 at 18:07
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Good news spikeyhead, I would be interested if you usually run the tank right down to the red & run around with the light on or whether you mostly refuel when it gets to a quarter? Having seen some ford TSB's recently part of the issues look like they could be related to constant driving with a low tank causing air to enter the pumps causing increased wear. I have MOT'd a mondeo TDCI that had covered 278000 by its first MOT ! & that impressed me enough to run them myself without any issues.
Well done
Inj Doc
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The car was first registered in 2002 and its on an 02 plate.
I usually leave it until its almost empty before filling it up to first click on the pump. It does get filled up with BP fuel unless I'm a long way from home. I tend to avoid back street or cheapo brand filling stations.
The next MOT is due in February and I expert the mileage to be about 165k by then. I suspect that if I get another year out of it without any major grief the mileage will be around 180k and it'll be time to get rid of it.
I've already had my money out if it, paid just over £4k for it so depreciation if it dies completely tomorrow is less than 10p a mile. I can cope with that from my primary car. What the Boxster achieves is another matter, but I have that for fun rather than necessary driving.
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Great. fair play. Have recently been put off common rail diesels altogether by reports / threads on here and other forums about turbo failures / pump failures / lub issues. THis is an inspiring post.
Recently travelled to Newcastle from N. Ireland to pick up an 03 mondeo tdci ghia x with 95K on it. Injectors had recently been replaced. Had a ferry booked from Scotland that evening when it all went horibly wrong putting the car through its paces
Glow light / engine management system was on - lost power - limp home mode - disgusted - ford garage - computer fault read out - looked like whole fuel system needed replacing - metal bits in fuel system - circa £1500
In fairness the guy selling felt a completely awful. He gave me my depoisit back (£100 paid through ebay) and paid for a flight home. Car still mine if I want when it gets fixed. Only 2700 quid. STill can't work out if he knew all along.
Anyway, had originally believed the mondy to be a great motor. Warranty direct has it for a great score. All the mags give glowing reports on reliability. However, I think the key point is that they havn't taken into consideration those cars operating at 80k+ miles. This in my research seems to be the danger zone for fuel systems.
Moved on to looking at Mazda 6 (imagined great reliability through out) lots of fleet managers and posts relating to complete engine failure around the 90k plus end. Engine closely realted to fords (both companies in bed together these days).
I basically have been put off common rail diesels altogether now. However..................
Like alot of people say. Maybe people are just reporting the bad stuff. Maybe they have had issues, attempting blooking it up on net and have all found these sites which facilitates their shared experiences in dissing the engines.
I would love to see stats for these cars Ford / Mazda / toyota for those models that are still running versus those which have packed up.
At this point, belive it or not , I am considering returning for the car in newcastle once ford sorts it. Im thinking ' hey a brand new fuel system, must be good for another 100k or so. Also considering purchasing a 3 year extended warranty(bashing out a deal) which will cover everthing in case something does go drasticly wrong. Would still be cost effective in my eyes.
So to sum up. WOuld love to here peoples throughts on these issues then
Common rail diesels - Crap after 90k?
WHat percentage fail do you think? - 10? 20%?
I am nuts going back for that motor?
Maybe I should just fork out more cash and buy a lower mileage model for 3 years use then let the next guy handle the big end failures after 90k?
Thanks in advance for responses.
Apologies also for spelling - dont really give a pink fluffy dice when trying to get the general point across.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 06/07/2008 at 00:57
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Thanks spikeyhead, I have alway's stuck to BP only we are on our 5 TDCI ford & none have been any problem so may be there is a link with the fuel as I have alway's belived.
Inj Doc
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