Description
The time has come to, regretfully, sell my Ford Mondeo. I’ve owned it for around two and a half years, and have loved every minute of its wafty road manners and old-school charm. It’s a car that has lived a life but, despite some flaws, certainly a well maintained one.
It’d be a perfect choice for those who like to park within the grounds of a Lincolnshire castle admiring hundreds of other unexceptional classic cars, or equally for someone who just wants to own a rare classic that’s easy to live with every day.
As a sign of just how fondly I think of this car will become clear when you read through the massive essay below, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible in order to document the many, many good bits, plus the one or two less good bits which might make some hastily close this tab before moving onto the next one.
I’m sure there are lower mileage Mondeos around, but I’d find it hard to believe that many will drive as well as this one. I'm certain that anyone willing to spend some time and/ or cash on tidying up the bits that need attending to will have a fantastic car. Pros:
- This Mondeo has not only a full service history, but every major and minor service has been carried out at a franchised Ford dealer. That’s 30 years-worth of main-dealer work. Some remedial maintenance has been carried out at non-Ford dealerships, but as far as the stamps in the book go, it’s Ford all the way
- Just one former keeper on the logbook
- There's a huge stack of paperwork, going right back to the original sales invoice. Including optional metallic paint (£187. 93), and an extended warranty, the car came to £13, 445 in 1994.
- So huge is the pile of paperwork that comes with the car, I took the liberty of measuring the thickness of the various receipts, invoices, old MOTs, tax discs and whatever other bits and bobs that are in the folder. It comes to about one and a half inches - and that doesn’t include the service book and owners' manual. For those struggling to picture just how much one and a half inches of paper amounts to, it’s about 12 issues of Auto Express magazine; a pertinent unit of measure because this very car was featured in an issue of Auto Express back in 2022. The story is still online, if you fancy a brief history lesson
- It looks great. Of course I’m biased, but I think looks-wise it’s in the best possible Mondeo combination: a Mk1 saloon in Cayman Blue paint (it polishes up wonderfully), completed by those glorious GLX-spec wheel trims. I even have a spare fifth trim, which is stylish enough to sit proudly on any car nerd’s shelf.
- The interior wears its 118, 000-plus miles incredibly well. The headlining is sagging a bit and one of the twiddly bits that adjusts the air vent is broken, but otherwise it’s really superb inside. The back seats look pretty much mint, and even the driver seat looks barely run in. it still has the original radio/ cassette player, too
- It drives brilliantly. Not only from an “everything feels really tight in the suspension, steering, engine and gearbox etc” - which it absolutely does - but also from the fact that these Mondeos just ride and handle so well. There’s little on the road built in the last 15 years that smothers bumps as nonchalantly as this. Last year, I took the car on a trip to Scotland - an 800-mile round trip for me - and not only was it faultless, but I’ve rarely got out of any car after covering such a long distance and emerged feeling so relaxed. But on the twisty bits, it was a huge amount of fun, too. As a 1. 8-litre petrol model, it’s not rapid by modern standards, but with a bit of encouragement it easily keeps up with daily traffic. It has averaged 34. 5mpg over the course of nearly 4, 000 miles in my hands, and will top 40mpg on a motorway
- Even in the last 12 months approaching the sale, I have (perhaps unwisely, given the advert you’re currently reading) spent plenty of money keeping things tip-top mechanically. This includes a new set of rear dampers (the old ones were just starting to weep a touch), a new MAF, a new battery and front brake lines all within the last couple of months
- Other nice bits worthy of note that I’ve had replaced during my ownership include a set of four Continental tyres (they’ve covered barely a couple of thousand miles since fitted), spark plugs and ignition leads. A four-wheel alignment was carried out in 2023, while in 2022 the rear springs, rear wheel bearings, track rods, front discs and pads plus - the big one - the timing belt/ water pump etc were all changed
- Some superficial bits of work include having the original dealer number plates recreated, a new Original Equipment Ford badge for the nose, new pedal rubbers and probably a load of other stuff that I’ve forgotten about
-The MOT lasts until September 2025
Cons
- Rust. Essentially, the offside sill has a hole at its rear end, with bubbling along most of its length. There’s also touch of corrosion in the boot, which includes a small hole. Ironically, I have a full OE Ford sill for the other side of the car. I’ll include this in the sale. The sill corrosion was an advisory on the previous MOT test, as it isn't close to anything structural.
- Elsewhere, the bodywork is good, but not perfect. As is obligatory for any Mk1 Mondeo, the rear bumper - which must have been manufactured from recycled egg shells, so fragile it seems to be - is cracked in two places. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m to blame for the uglier of these marks. The paint polishes up wonderfully, but there’s the occasional scuff/ ding etc. I do have a spare bumper that I’ll include in the sale if the buyer is willing to pay the asking price
- As the hole in the boot floor suggests, there is also a small leak back there. I believe that this is coming through the tail light, but I haven't done enough poking around to be certain of this
