[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[chiranjitp]

Awesome review of a rare car, very detailed as well. I wish the Mondeo will continue to serve you long, faithfully. I was a fan of the Ford Mondeo that was sold in India, looked so good & classy. Though it was a sales disaster.

Originally Posted by aghate

Warning messages on MID for headlight or stop light getting conked off. Found this to be very helpful and was pleasantly surprised as I would not have imagined a car from 2010 to have this feature.

Back in India, this feature was offered in Punto & Linea since launch, i.e 2009. When we sold our 2012 Punto & bought a Ecosport in 2016, I found this feature was missing in the feature loaded Ecosport. A bit of research showed that in India, this feature is still exclusive to D segment cars (except these 2 FIATs). I personally found this feature very useful, will prefer it over something like a touchscreen HU.

[aghate]

Originally Posted by chiranjitp

Awesome review of a rare car, very detailed as well. I wish the Mondeo will continue to serve you long, faithfully. I was a fan of the Ford Mondeo that was sold in India, looked so good & classy. Though it was a sales disaster.

Thank you so much Chiranjit! My very first and only memory of it is from my school trip. We were on the Pune-Nashik highway heading towards Lenyadri, when me and my friends saw a car speeding and eventually overtaking us. I had to ask my friend please read the name of the car if you can and he replied it is 'Mondeo'.

I so wish it was still available in India. One can only hope I guess.

Back in India, this feature was offered in Punto & Linea since launch, i.e 2009. When we sold our 2012 Punto & bought a Ecosport in 2016, I found this feature was missing in the feature loaded Ecosport. A bit of research showed that in India, this feature is still exclusive to D segment cars (except these 2 FIATs). I personally found this feature very useful, will prefer it over something like a touchscreen HU.

That's interesting, Punto and Linea in my opinion are very underrated cars in India for whatever reasons discussed many times on this forum.

[BZ25]

Wonderful review sir! No one can argue the fact that the design of the MK4 Mondeo has aged very well. One can see how much it has influenced the Global (6th generation) Fiesta.

A question, how is the overall build quality of the car? I recall reading a BHPian's ownership review of the 7th Generation Fiesta in the UK, wherein he said that be build quality was pathetic and that the car was suffering from rattles within just a year of ownership.

Also, this is said to be one of the best driving Mondeos ever. The 5th generation lacks the spark of this one. Do take care and I hope you have some wonderful miles with this machine!

[dragracer567]

Congrats on the Mondeo mate! The MK4 was the last properly European Mondeo with the MK5 being just a European version of the Ford Fusion sold in America and Ford is now exiting the segment all together.

I remember Clarkson mentioning that one of the few things that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May agree on is that they love the MK4 Mondeo!

Also thanks for pointers for buying a new car in the UK!

[Aditya]

Very detailed review that! Hats off to you if you have finished all that photography in just one day.

When it was on sale in India, the second-gen Mondeo was easily my favourite car in its segment. It looked the best and was one of those cars that provided a great combination of ride and handling. The third-gen that you have is even better. It looks stunning in black. I also think the design (exterior and interior) is aging very well.

Thank you for the tips on buying a car in the UK. That will help others who plan to tread the same path.

[Amsdoc]

Brilliant review of the Mondeo.

I used to live in Glasgow and A82 was my regular route. The drive to Isle of Skye is beautiful.

I used to rent a lot of cars in the UK for long trips/ one way trips to airports. Generally I would book a Focus but many times would get upgraded to a Mondeo. It is a car that is no nonsense. It will do lots of things without any fuss or complaints and you will never feel it. It is however also a car that doesn't excite or stimulate. It will just go about its job and will serve you for long. Like a reliable work horse.

Best of luck for future and wish you make many road trips in the Mondeo.

[Acharya]

Very nice review & write up. Long time ago I drove Mondeo Ghia from Lester to Edinburgh and went on to do famous scottish triangle of Edinburg>Inverness>Glasgow, way back in 2002.
What a lovely car it was, held its heels tight, comfortable, well poised & powerful. In certain lonely motorway stretches, one could touch unmentionable speeds with ease.
I was quite disappointed when this car bombed in India, perhaps it was ahead of it's time here.

[v1p3r]

Great review, very detailed!

I love this car, and was very impressed with it. We had a bunch of these as company pool cars, and I used them a few times to move house, go on road trips, and basically drive across the country at the drop of a hat. I've gone so far as loading up eight tyres and wheels, and a bunch of big suitcases into it. They have a solid feel, 'UK Ford' handling (which is pretty good), and are relaxed cruisers. The icing on the cake was that we had a different audio system which I quite liked, and all our cars were remapped. One of the few perks of working in an automotive OEM.

[aghate]

Originally Posted by BZ25

Wonderful review sir! No one can argue the fact that the design of the MK4 Mondeo has aged very well. One can see how much it has influenced the Global (6th generation) Fiesta.

A question, how is the overall build quality of the car? I recall reading a BHPian's ownership review of the 7th Generation Fiesta in the UK, wherein he said that be build quality was pathetic and that the car was suffering from rattles within just a year of ownership.

Also, this is said to be one of the best driving Mondeos ever. The 5th generation lacks the spark of this one. Do take care and I hope you have some wonderful miles with this machine!

Thank you @BZ25!
I am a fan of this design, no doubt. The overall build quality is brilliant and on par with the Germans I must say. There was a slight rattling noise in the rear left window that only I could hear and not my missus. But it seems to have disappeared. Nevertheless, it was not much of a trouble as with little volume of the music you could not hear the noise. I have no clue on the newer generation of Fords here and hence cannot comment. Fiesta is still a very popular car for beginners in UK.

And yes, this is indeed one of the last best driving Mondeos.

Originally Posted by dragracer567

Congrats on the Mondeo mate! The MK4 was the last properly European Mondeo with the MK5 being just a European version of the Ford Fusion sold in America and Ford is now exiting the segment all together.

Thank you so much @dragracer567!
One of my colleagues is a Mondeo fan and has the Mk5 Estate. He mentioned that from the Mk5 Ford moved from a Hydraulic Power Steering to an Electronic one. This completely changed the driving experience. Ford just did a copy paste job for EU rather than developing a new car which led to what we have now.

The newer version also looks disproportionate with the body visually appearing too long compared to the size of the wheels. I don't like the design.

I remember Clarkson mentioning that one of the few things that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May agree on is that they love the MK4 Mondeo!

One of the few things the TG Trio agreed together.

Also thanks for pointers for buying a new car in the UK!

You're welcome! This section was created to help someone like myself who had to dig a lot of information on the whole searching and buying process. It was not the plan initially but then I thought 'why not?'.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Very detailed review that! Hats off to you if you have finished all that photography in just one day.

Thank you for the tips on buying a car in the UK. That will help others who plan to tread the same path.

Thank you for your kind words @Aditya!
I had to finish the photography else I would have left it pending indefinitely and this review would not have seen the light of the day for much longer. The write up can be completed any time in bits is what I believed. Also, the weather that day was surprisingly pleasant. It did rain for a bit as is evident in some of the interior photos which annoyed me.

When it was on sale in India, the second-gen Mondeo was easily my favourite car in its segment. It looked the best and was one of those cars that provided a great combination of ride and handling. The third-get that you have is even better. It looks stunning in black. I also think the design (exterior and interior) is aging very well.

The car has aged well truly and looks absolutely good in Black. Even better when polished.

Originally Posted by Amsdoc

Brilliant review of the Mondeo.

I used to live in Glasgow and A82 was my regular route. The drive to Isle of Skye is beautiful.

I used to rent a lot of cars in the UK for long trips/ one way trips to airports. Generally I would book a Focus but many times would get upgraded to a Mondeo. It is a car that is no nonsense. It will do lots of things without any fuss or complaints and you will never feel it. It is however also a car that doesn't excite or stimulate. It will just go about its job and will serve you for long. Like a reliable work horse.

Best of luck for future and wish you make many road trips in the Mondeo.

Thank you @Amsdoc!
The engine in that car never feels stressed out. The A82 is one of the best roads I have driven in the UK. There is an equally good one in Wales when you are driving towards Pembrokeshire. I had accidentally stumbled on a beautiful B road, can't remember exactly which road (it was 4 digits, lol).

Originally Posted by Acharya

Very nice review & write up. Long time ago I drove Mondeo Ghia from Lester to Edinburgh and went on to do famous scottish triangle of Edinburg>Inverness>Glasgow, way back in 2002.
What a lovely car it was, held its heels tight, comfortable, well poised & powerful. In certain lonely motorway stretches, one could touch unmentionable speeds with ease.
I was quite disappointed when this car bombed in India, perhaps it was ahead of it's time here.

Thank you @Acharya!
Let's not talk about unmentionable speeds, I know what you mean though (have done that). The real test I have put this car through is overtaking on single carriageways, all safely done of course, it just keeps pulling effortlessly.

I do agree that it was a car ahead of its time for India.

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Great review, very detailed!

I love this car, and was very impressed with it. We had a bunch of these as company pool cars, and I used them a few times to move house, go on road trips, and basically drive across the country at the drop of a hat. I've gone so far as loading up eight tyres and wheels, and a bunch of big suitcases into it. They have a solid feel, 'UK Ford' handling (which is pretty good), and are relaxed cruisers. The icing on the cake was that we had a different audio system which I quite liked, and all our cars were remapped. One of the few perks of working in an automotive OEM.

Thank you @v1p3r!
You don't need a van to move houses if you have one of these. At least when moving from one furnished house to another.

[51morris]

[quote=aghate;4795664]Final Thoughts:

Wonderful review of a fantastic car! The Mondeo is a brilliant car (as is the Insignia, IMHO) in this segment and is excellent value for money. I wish you many happy and safe motoring miles with the car.

Cheers,
Praveen

[aghate]

Originally Posted by 51morris

Wonderful review of a fantastic car! The Mondeo is a brilliant car (as is the Insignia, IMHO) in this segment and is excellent value for money. I wish you many happy and safe motoring miles with the car.

Cheers,
Praveen

Thank you Praveen!
Both the Insignia and Mondeo are good in their own way. I do like the looks of the Sri VX line Insignias, the wheels on that look brilliant.

[sandeepmohan]

Beautiful car. The lines still appeal.

The current on sale Mondeo is also a very attractive car and still drives well. Stays true to way Ford's drive.

I have also seen Ford cars with Zetec and a TDCi badge below but I don't get it. Zetec has always been a reference for engine type, meaning petrol, however, reading wikipedia, it looks like it has been used for Diesel as well.

I would attend or take opinion on the rust under the car. Looks excessive for a 9 year old car and has reached critical suspension components and some body panels.

Sounds like the UK is a lot more stringent when it comes to the way used cars are handled and evaluated. The good thing is you do have local manufacturing.

I was in a similar situation 3 years ago when I moved to New Zealand with my family. The need for a car was high as we moved right when winter started. Being a small country, there is no local manufacturing so we rely heavily on used car imports from Japan. Everything comes from there. The range of cars can leave you puzzled and confused. You can buy a used Mercedes for the same price as a Toyota. Sometimes even less. I played it safe and got a 2005 Subaru Legacy sedan. All was not well soon after I bought it but nothing to the point of severe mechanical faults. A fault with the electronic HVAC direction controls and a dead stereo set me back a good 500 pounds. This was a over sight on my part as I had not checked the operation during a test drive. Like yourself, I choose to go cross country to buy a car and landed up with a dealer in Auckland. The choice of used cars in Auckland is way more than Wellington and a little cheaper. However; as years have passed, I have realized that it is better to just buy a car in Welington as you are local to the dealer and dealing with issues is a lot easier. I did manage to recover half the repair cost for the HVAC from the dealer but it required a lot of to and fro and some heated conversations. Basically; I paid for the car and drove off straight to Wellington, not giving them an opportunity to attend to the HVAC and Stereo, both of which would have otherwise been fixed for free at their garage. For me staying back in Auckland for a few days for these things to be sorted was not an option. After 3 years and 30,000+ km of driving, I am happy with my purchase. The car is a joy to drive and nothing has fallen apart. The total on the odo sits at 110,000km, which is normal for a car this age.

The thought of buying something newer always comes up but with current times, I have decided to delay the purchase by a year. Used car deals are getting sweeter but now is not the time to buy a depreciating asset.

Unfortunately, in India, most of us probably never experienced how good the Mondeo was. I had a brief drive of the Mondeo petrol at a Ford event. It was superb. The car tanked in India due to Ford's ridiculous service costs and Ford's were not as reliable those days. Burnt my fingers with a used Ford Ikon 1.6. That seems to continue as a fear in most peoples minds today, else I see no reason their current cars (Figo and Aspire) aren't being lapped up. Ford Globally are no longer prioritizing development of hatchbacks or sedans anymore so the days of picking up that special Ford ST are narrowing down.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Unfortunately, in India, most of us probably never experienced how good the Mondeo was. I had a brief drive of the Mondeo petrol at a Ford event. It was superb. The car tanked in India due to Ford's ridiculous service costs and Ford's were not as reliable those days. Burnt my fingers with a used Ford Ikon 1.6.

The Mondeo was superior to the Accord and the Camry. However, apart from the aforementioned issued, what killed it were sourcing parts (the rear subframe on Indian roads wears out as also the CD player for one!) and the fact that the car ages badly. See any averagely maintained Ford (EcoSport excepted), they start looking ropey unless you suffer from OCD.

I see a lot of abandoned Mondeo's but Camrys and Accords keep going on. what finally killed it was

1: The Skoda Superb at one end - good value, superior rear space
2: Emergence of the C Class and BMW 3.

[bharanidharang]

Awesome review. One of the amazing designs in this 'class' of cars. Wrong time of introducing in India and the model got killed early. i believe ford has come of the best line up of cars but take the best wrong decisions :(. Would love to pick this up if re launched here.