pete mcrash

iTrader: (1)

hello peeps.........looking at getting a Mondy very soon.........what are they like......good and bad.........will be used as an every day car for our lass.........and me when the cos is broke......... ........cheers Pete

cossie04

iTrader: (1)

I think they are superb for a mondy. Pleanty of smooth power, comfy ride, awsome sound. I can get about 27-28 mpg on a run. There fully loaded inside aswell, air con, climate etc. Never had any problams with mine but have heard the earlier models are prone to water pump failure, being made of plastic internals, replacements being metal items. Fsh is a must in my opinion and just do the normal hpi check as you would normally do, and go from there.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

I have driven a couple, and to be honest, i was pretty disappointed with the performance

tabetha

Only driven one and would defo not pay any extra over a ST24, did not seem much if at all faster.
Bloody hard ride as well.
tabetha

pete mcrash

iTrader: (1)

i've noticed they have about 30 bhp more than the "24"......but no more torque........

Matt Baxter

iTrader: (37)

good motors imho not much goes wrong
I had one for 5 years never done any thing other than a service every year
my mate got one a few weeks ago and had to replace the lower arms £117= vat each from ford
front drop link £37+vat

still an awsome car for the money
but as said not any faster than the st24 we had before tho

zetec115

Excellent car. Great note, great colour and big spec (go for the full leather Recaros)

As said above, the uprated throttle body and manifolds give it more power but little more torque than the ST24. The max torque comes in much higher up the rev range too. It is quicker (but not hugely so) than the ST24 but it needs more ragging to make use of it

ECOS95

The things to check on most Mondeos is rust in the rear arches, Heater controls ie the direction to Screen, feet etc & rear door locks. They can also get through Lower arms. The old ST24's & 200 as mentioned can suffer from Water pump failures. You can get the metal impellor ones for £30 from most motor parts stores.

Great cars for the money but I'd go for the 24 & save yourself a load of cash.

dakar

iTrader: (1)

ST24 prone to starter motor problems not sure if it was sorted by the time the 200 came about

ReggieK11

I've had both, ST24 and ST200, and think the 200 is by far the superior car. It has 35bhp (+20%) and 15nm (+7/8%) more.

But there's more to it than that, it's how it feels to drive and how puts it's power on the road that makes a difference. It just feels faster, more focussed, you really have to work the 24 to get the power out of it, but the 200 always feels up for it.

I would agree that the ride is a lot harsher in the 200 though. Stiffer suspension, bigger wheels, thinner tyres do that, but it does handle the better for it.

However the best way to decide is what to you want.... more sporty or more comfort. The 24 is a good compromise of the two.

When I was looking for a car a couple of years ago I was looking to go back to a ST24, only bought the ST200 as I couldn't believe I found one in my budget.

But glad I bought it now. It's a great car if you can live with that ride, but the 24 is a good car too.

Good luck with your search.

Series1Dry

Interesting read. It looks like the S1 is going this summer as the kids are 3 and 1 now and i'm gonna be doing a lot of miles i.e holidays etc and the S1 is'nt a car to take the length of the country and then have it parked outside wherever we stay for days on end wondering if it's still gonna be there when i get up or whether some coont has ran into it I want something that is gonna be more reliable on long journeys. What sort of miles do they return on a long journey and round town ? cheeRS

JamieMS

Both fantastic cars, I use my ST24 for work now and with under 60k on the clock it has many many years left in it.

It's all down to your own choice the 24 is a great car, comfy, quick with all the creature comforts. The 200 is just a small step infront but is the motorsport version and more exclusive.

The money the 200's are today it would be rude not to.

Series1Dry

That's what i thought. You do seem to get a lot of car for the money. I need a big boot now and a bit of power for me so it does seem to be a good choice. Are they reliable ? Any horror stories ? What should i look out for when looking at one ? cheeRS

Series1Dry

BTTT

Yahbitch

From ownership and spending many hours going through the owners club forums for them, they are prone to a few problems.

Firstly is something called moosing. Basically sounding like...well... a moose. There's also throttle hanging too where it will hold the revs. Both can be apparently solved with a small mod in an air inlet pipe. Something as simple as the cap of a house raditor with some 5mm holes drilled in. Haven't had to do this myself thankfully but a 5 minute job that solves a few problems.

Lower arms as mentioned. The ST24's are cheaper than the ST200 which are something like £180 each from Ford and there are currently no pattern parts avalible for the 200.

The secondaries can get a bit clogged up which means the throttle response about 4krpm is stunted. You should feel a surge of power at this rev range. Cleaning the secondaries is not a particularly difficult job if you are a little mechanically minded. It will chuck out a load of black smoke when you do it but will make the engine better.

Typical niggles with them being a Mondeo with the rear lights leaking, but easily solved with some sealant. The metal impellor is a good idea. Much money to fix if that break up. A company called Quinton Hazel (?) does them in the metal version, but try any motor factor or there's always the Ebay seller who punts them out on a regular bases.

Ermm... washer jets. Can come unfixed as there is bugger all slack in the pipe line. PITA to get to (under the car, remove one of the horns and get someone to feed the tubes down to you) but do-able.

Running gear is pretty sturdy, like any car keep it serviced and it will keep going and going.

Couple of places to visit...

http://www.fordmondeo.org/workshop/p...=Main.HomePage

http://www.mirez.co.uk/

...then there's the stownersclub. 28 day's trial membership which is generally a good amount of time to have a nosey around and get a good idea of the cars.

There's only a hand full of white ones which weren't Police. And apparently only 150ish taxed and tested Estate 200's on the road.

Myself? I've had my ST200 for about three months now. Based on the prices of them it's worth getting the 200 over the 24 for the money. You get full leather Recaros on the 200 (apart from a small minority - most of those which were Ex-police). Full climate, airbags everywhere, electric this and that, 6 CD changer, 17" alloys, the ST200 bodykit, trip computer with average speed, mpg, instant mpg, miles left/travelled.... basically you do get alot of car for you money.

Fuel economy isn't that bad either. My other half has borrowed mine for his job (postie) and even with taking it upto triple figures on the way to work (private road officer etc...) and the stop/start/stop nature of his job he hasn't dropped it lower than an average 26mpg. I drive it a bit more sedate and it's seen over 36mpg. Averagng now abour 28ish over a dozen or so tanks. Takes about £55 quids worth of petrol at current prices.

I do love it, it's nice to have a bit of power from my old car and with all the space (I've got an Estate) it's a good work horse too. However saying that some extra torque wouldn't go amiss. I've had a few problems though. The handbrake light goes off with the rest of the dash lights on start up (multiplug somewhere needs looking at), it holds its revs at 2krpm on start up for about 5 seconds, but then is fine after. Bodywork has seen much better days, and my tracking and front brakes need sorting/replacing soon and I've had to replace a few bulbs. It also was holding it's revs on the drive home from collecting it, but having owned a Ka where it did this too with the TPS getting gunked up, I just cleaned out all the sensors in the engine and it's never done it since.

Also my exhaust is on it's way out...but considering it's the original, Ford stamped exhausted that's covered 136,000 miles, I think I'll put that down to reasonable wear and tear.

Got mine for £2k back in March. Bargain car, and even if things need replacing it's no big deal, with Ford prices and the fact that under that V6 badge, it's just a Mondeo, you can replace all the bits on it for peanuts. I was going to spend £4Kish on a hatch, but this was too go to turn down.

One thing is go though, over that magical 4krpm, foot to the floor, that V6 roar as it's winding up.... coor, can't go wrong.

Anyhoo, sorry for that essay!