New oil burner

[Steve_PPP]

As some of you guys know, i had the unfortunate pleasure of having to take voluntary redundancy last month so i've been out of work for a few weeks. I've managed to sort a new job out now which I start in January so decided to spend a few quid to replace the diesel 406 that i've been plodding around in.

So today i went to view a Mondeo ST 2.2 TDCi, and now its sitting on my drive





Very pleased with it, its in superb condition considering its 5 years old. All four wheels were professionally refurbed in August at a cost of £400 to the previous owner too. Also came with more history/receipts than i've ever seen with a car. Although i've only driven it about 50 miles so far, the torque is very nice and i can't believe what good value they are.

I'd been hunting for a Legacy (either petrol or diesel) but i just couldn't find a nice one without rediculous mileage or too high a price tag, so hopefully this is a nice compromise

Its due a service soon (haggled a discount by saying i'd take care of this rather than the dealer doing it) so i'll be getting it down to SMD to make sure its not hiding any gremlins underneath.

[Lucky]

Very nice Steve, thats a great choice. They really do drive well, have loads of kit, and look nice to. Must feel positively grown up compared to the scoob!!

Glad you got work sorted too.

[Steve_PPP]

Oh, and i need to say thanks to Moley for quickly sorting the insurance at lunchtime so i could drive it home! Top man

[Hongkongfooi]

Nice car that Steve

[jura11]

Nice one Steve,same colour we have ST TDCi

Just would get tinted windows,will looks good




Jura

[ScoobyStu]

Nice one mate

[SpecB]

Looks a good car, mondeos have a very good reputation.

Cant go wrong for the money. Well speced to,nice one steve

[Banstead Stig]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Oh, and i need to say thanks to Moley for quickly sorting the insurance at lunchtime so i could drive it home! Top man

We got the Moley extra mile service when buying the Impreza. Meant we could collect the car two days earlier at a much more convenient time. Top man.

That Mondeo looks very tidy. Good little buy indeed.

[Bolesroor]

Nice looking car Steve

[impreza27]

looks very nice and clean steve

[Matt23]

Looks like a nice car mate, I have driven 1 or 2 of those and think they are a nice drive for an everyday car.

[Steve_PPP]

Thanks guys. Done a couple of hundred miles now, and really liking it (although its not quite so shiny anymore!).

Feels like a car that should be worth twice what it actually cost, would definitely recommend one as a daily driver

[Steve_PPP]

Well, nearly 3 and a half years later, it looks like its time to move the Mondeo ST on. Been a great car and thoroughly reliable. Its on 102k now (done 30k in my ownership) and needs a few things now - service, front discs bit warped and sounds like one of the rear wheel bearings is starting to go (i think) although only noticeable at motorway speeds.

Going to view a possible replacement tomorrow morning. Nothing very interesting but its only for the commute.

[Red Baron]

You'll be the odd one out if it's not German.

[Steve_PPP]

Nope, its not German. Although you know how it is when looking for a new car - you find a few interesting things on autotrader to go and see. Car number 2 on the list is German...

[NL03Scooby]

Nothing very interesting, Vauxhall then...?!

Something a bit different, Mazda...?!

[Steve_PPP]

Nope, not vauxhall or mazda.

Might be getting rid of the mondeo, to make way for..... a mondeo Going to give this a dealer a call tomorrow morning to check its still there then pop up to Tunny Wells.

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classif...Cnew&logcode=p

Fully loaded and i think they're a good looking car, as far as estates go. Only downside is I'm not really keen on an auto, but it will probably have its advantages in rush hour traffic. Bluefin apparently takes them from 200 to 260ps with a lot more torque so that might make up for it.

[munk]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Nope, not vauxhall or mazda.

Might be getting rid of the mondeo, to make way for..... a mondeo Going to give this a dealer a call tomorrow morning to check its still there then pop up to Tunny Wells.

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classif...Cnew&logcode=p

Fully loaded and i think they're a good looking car, as far as estates go. Only downside is I'm not really keen on an auto, but it will probably have its advantages in rush hour traffic. Bluefin apparently takes them from 200 to 260ps with a lot more torque so that might make up for it.

and if you ever get made redundant again you can become a taxi driver....

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by munk

and if you ever get made redundant again you can become a taxi driver....

I've recently discovered that the amount of crap you have to carry around with a child, so the estate can't be a bad thing!

We'll see tomorrow, it might be a tatty example but it looks good in the pics.

[scotty]

Are you selling or trading it in

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by scotty

Are you selling or trading it in

Depends on what I get offered as part-ex really.

[Ginola]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...cars&logcode=p


Beast you could literally fit your house in half the boot and very very quite and comfortable

[NL03Scooby]

Originally Posted by Ginola

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...cars&logcode=p


Beast you could literally fit your house in half the boot and very very quite and comfortable

I think that is more Si's cup of tea. Apart from the engine it's got Cypriot Taxi written all over it.

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by Ginola

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...cars&logcode=p


Beast you could literally fit your house in half the boot and very very quite and comfortable

Yep, sure its very quiet and comfortable but its going to drink like a fish and its already 16 years old I tend to keep my commuters for 3-4 years so it'll be 20 years old by the time i'm done with it, want to really get into something a bit newer.

This is car number 2 on the viewing list (assuming no 1 isn't a go-er). Better brand of course, but outside looks a bit bland compared to the Mondeo i think! But its a nice quality interior and that's where i'll be sitting all the time...pushing the budget for a car thats a year older than the Mondeo though.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...9000&logcode=p

But then saying that.... this is a wildcard option...
http://www.uklegacy.com/forums/index...ll-auto-wagon/
Undoubtedly an awesome car with forged engine, plenty of space etc and its still for sale (he's struggling to sell and listed it on ebay yesterday with an opening bid of £6k). But its going to make the bug feel slow and doesn't quite give the right impression for the work side of things. And i've already got a fun scoob, don't really need another moneypit!

[Steve_PPP]

Oh, and the beemer's 2.0 petrol is only 140bhp, compared to 200 for the Ford

[Red Baron]

I looked at a few 3 series touring when I was looking, load space for an estate didn't seem that great. Mondeo looks nice but surprised the one photo of a wheel they have is scuffed and with a budget tyre fitted.

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by Red Baron

Mondeo looks nice but surprised the one photo of a wheel they have is scuffed and with a budget tyre fitted.

Yep, spotted that. Not too worried about budget tyres as i will change them as & when, but the scuffs on the alloy will be a bargaining chip.

[Red Baron]

My view on budget tyres is that if they've scrimped on those, what else have they scrimped on, especially if they're four odd budget tyres, I tend to accept one as an emergency replacement, just my view on things, sure some people have no idea how important a good set of tyres are.

[Banstead Stig]

Buy the Leggy!

My Forester has never been a problem for work and, in fact, has been a conversation piece with quite a few clients.

[scotty]

That leggy looks awesome nice big cruiser and its white its saying buy me lol .

[Steve_PPP]

Fecks sake. Glad I phoned the garage first, the Mondeo sold last week. In my recent searches, the amount of garages that leave cars showing for sale after they've sold (both on Auto Trader and their own websites) takes the mick. They're playing on people turning up at the forecourt and looking at something else instead. Glad i didn't drive to Tonbridge without checking.

Option number 2... beemer. Sold yesterday. Argh, too slow off the mark. Yet when you work five days a week weekends are the only days you can view stuff.

Back to the drawing board, what a waste of time. The leggy is nice but running costs aren't really made for a daily driver....

[SpecB]

Fancy a slightly ratty spec B? We are thinking of swapping it for a Caravelle!

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by BlueBugEye

Fancy a slightly ratty spec B? We are thinking of swapping it for a Caravelle!

Slightly ratty how? Scrapes/dinks or stuff that would machine polish out?
Miles?

This looks interesting... lot of car for the money.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...=100&logcode=p

But i've read horror stories about the early boxer diesels with the crankshafts breaking and the rebuild being more than the value of the car!

[SpecB]

It needs some bodywork as the fence blew down onto it - Just trying to get the number of the underwriters from KM at the moment so I can see if it's worth putting a claim in - needs A piller - rear quarter and front bumper/bonnet sprayed - If I keep it I'd go with a full blow over tbh. Plus it could do with a new set of shocks as well!

That Diesel looks a really good car - I have to say the Spec B is a very comfortable car and very easy to live with - the boot space is incredible.

[Steve_PPP]

Well, went and looked at the diesel legacy this afternoon. Great condition, interior pretty spotless and visually just the sort of thing i'm after.

Shame about the engine though. Never driven a boxer diesel before but its a bit strange. It really lacks the low down torque you expect from a 2.0 diesel, and needs to be driven more like a petrol engine. Peak torque seems to be 3000-4000rpm which would be OK other than it runs out of puff at 4500rpm. Not at all like the french/ford/vauxhaul diesels i've had/used before which all have peak torque much lower down. As a result, the boxer diesel needs to work the gearbox a bit harder, changing down a gear when you normally wouldn't need to.

Other problem...the engine's reliability. I need to look into this further but general concensus is the failure rate of the pre-2010 boxer diesels is too high. This one sounded fine when starting cold, but had a strange noise coming from low down in the engine when hot after the test drive. Not a knock as such, but definitely didn't sound quite right.

If it'd been a petrol engine in it, it'd be bought already...

[Red Baron]

I drove to the Honda dealer in Tunbridge Wells to look at three Civics they had listed on their Web site only to be told they had all been sold, they then proceeded to try and sell me cars £3k over my budget. Keep looking Steve, there's plenty of good used diesel estates out there.

[Steve_PPP]

Well... the old mondeo is going to stay for a while longer Just bought all the bits I need to give her a full service (30% of everything at eurocarparts until thursday!) and new discs/pads all round so it should freshen it up a bit for now.

I hadn't really found anything suitable to change it for that didn't cost a shedload more £££ or wasn't slower/not as nice to drive as the Mondeo ST anyway. And now i might be spending my spare change on the scoob instead, can't afford to sort both!

[Rdlangy1]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Well... the old mondeo is going to stay for a while longer Just bought all the bits I need to give her a full service (30% of everything at eurocarparts until thursday!) and new discs/pads all round so it should freshen it up a bit for now.

I hadn't really found anything suitable to change it for that didn't cost a shedload more £££ or wasn't slower/not as nice to drive as the Mondeo ST anyway. And now i might be spending my spare change on the scoob instead, can't afford to sort both!

If it wasn't for the inpending £2000 bill due for 4 wheel bearings, dual mass flywheel, clutch and labour - I would still have mine - great workhorses..

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by Rdlangy1

If it wasn't for the inpending £2000 bill due for 4 wheel bearings, dual mass flywheel, clutch and labour - I would still have mine - great workhorses..

Definitely. If I didn't just fancy a change I wouldn't have thought about getting rid. Its great on the motorway and its got the better Bilstein suspension from the ST220 on it (was an option on the diesel ST's i guess) so pretty good on the country roads too - for a big car anyway.

So far (touch wood!) the DMF on mine has been fine.

[Red Baron]

DMFs don't fail as often as people make out, it just makes sense to change them while you've got the gearbox out otherwise you've got to pay the labour all over again. I car share with a guy that has a 193000 mile Audi A4 which is on its original clutch and flywheel.

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Well, nearly 3 and a half years later, it looks like its time to move the Mondeo ST on. Been a great car and thoroughly reliable. Its on 102k now (done 30k in my ownership) and needs a few things now - service, front discs bit warped and sounds like one of the rear wheel bearings is starting to go (i think) although only noticeable at motorway speeds.

Hah, looking back on old threads and saw this post. 18 months later and the Mondeo is still here, doing its job every day. Now on 117k, its 10 years old and i've had it for 5 years.

Its had 2 new rear wheel bearings, basic servicing, discs and pads, rear caliper refurb and a replacement boost hose that split - all done by me on the driveway and still going strong (touch wood!). With buying Claire's new car last month, it looks like finances mean the mondeo will stay for a few more months yet...

[Rdlangy1]

Good cars

[Ginola]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Hah, looking back on old threads and saw this post. 18 months later and the Mondeo is still here, doing its job every day. Now on 117k, its 10 years old and i've had it for 5 years.

Its had 2 new rear wheel bearings, basic servicing, discs and pads, rear caliper refurb and a replacement boost hose that split - all done by me on the driveway and still going strong (touch wood!). With buying Claire's new car last month, it looks like finances mean the mondeo will stay for a few more months yet...

Engineer says "if it ain't broke..."

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Hah, looking back on old threads and saw this post. 18 months later and the Mondeo is still here, doing its job every day. Now on 117k, its 10 years old and i've had it for 5 years.

And another 8 months later, the time has finally come to move the Mondeo on....

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...ad.php?t=23288

New car will be collected on Saturday