Tips for buying an old Diesel Modeo

OldGregg1889

Evening Money Savers

I'm after a new old car. Not too small, reliable and economical, preferably diesel. I'm not limiting my search but think that a modeo would be as suitable as anything. I'm looking at spending about a grand but can be flexible for the right one. As such I'm probably shopping for between 00 and 03 models with fairly high mileage. I've not had a ford before and have usually owned German cars in the past. Has anyone got any tips to look out for specific to buying fords or any other common faults with diesel modeos to look out for?

Thanks for reading and for any help
Gregg

forgotmyname

£600+ fuel pumps, £600+ injectors and £600+ clutches.

The same with most modern diesels.

With £1000 i would be buying a Pristine MK2 mondeo petrol or diesel.
Or a MK3 petrol.
MK3 diesel for £1000 is likely to be a cast off after someones given up on it.

Plenty of those around. People dont want to buy a £1000 car and spend £600+
on the above mentioned items.

motorguy

forgotmyname wrote: »

£600+ fuel pumps, £600+ injectors and £600+ clutches.

The same with most modern diesels.

With £1000 i would be buying a Pristine MK2 mondeo petrol or diesel.
Or a MK3 petrol.
MK3 diesel for £1000 is likely to be a cast off after someones given up on it.

Plenty of those around. People dont want to buy a £1000 car and spend £600+
on the above mentioned items.

Have to agree, a diesel at this price is likely to be someone getting shot because they know theres a pending big bill.

You'd get a really nice lower miles petrol example for that price, and whilst it wont do as much mpg, you wont be sitting on a time bomb.

Tobster86

Last year I got rid of a 2002 MK3 Mondeo and replaced it with a 1997 BMW 323i; I have not regretted that decision at all, and the best part is, I've only actually lost 6mpg with my admittedly heavy footed driving. Granted it was an older TDDi engine not a common rail one, but even for high speed motorway crusing it just about made 40mpg where my really old Audi 80 managed 50 and the current BMW is about 35.

That was aside from limp home mode caused by the external termperature sensor not working, intermittent central locking problems, siezed rear calipers. The body work & rust were fairly typical for a car twice it's age.

A lot of people seem to have really nice things to say about Mondeos and I just do not get them.

So my advice, given my experiences going from Mondeo to even older German, is don't go from German to Mondeo!

forgotmyname

Tobster86:

Your forgetting the main reason people buy Mondeo's.

CHEAP!!! CHEAP!!! CHEAP!!!
Buy a well looked after 5 year old one and you can have 5 years of cheap motoring.

5 year old car for £2000 ish... Decent sized family car. Name many?

I did consider an S-Max but ££££ more for one the same year, Although
i do like the look of them. So maybe....

Tobster86

That's a fair point, and indeed another comment is that the specs are generally pretty big too, however the OP has stipulated 00 to 03 models (circa £1000).

I'd spend that money on something better screwed together. Infact, if space & practicality are requirements, you can fetch a nice ex-police/ambulance Volvo V70 of similar age for starting at that sort of money. It'll probably be a T5, but they can still stretch to mid-30s mpg if you don't use all 250 horses!

OldGregg1889

Thanks for all the input, it's appreciated. I have noticed that nearly all the diesels on autotrader seem to be from dealers getting rid of part ex's so that could well be a warning in itself. If I went up to 2 grand, could this get a reliable diesel or should they just be avoided at this end? Ex police car/ambulance is an interesting idea. Anyone got any experience of this? To be honest huge space isn't essential; my last few cars have been a3s, golfs and a 306. I was actually looking for a focus but it seemed you get a lot more for your money with a modeo which is what prompted me looking in that direction.

Tobster86

I don't have personal experience of ex-police/ambulance, just that of friends.

The crack is, mega high milages but extremely well serviced, and generally previously driven by drivers who knew how to drive.

Viewing is a must; there is often scrapes/dings on bodywork from being working vehicles/removing batenberg markings.
Interiors may have visible uninstallations of police/ambulance equipment such as holes or blanking screws, or in some cases may be missing console sections entirely.

As a result, they're extremely cheap; but have also pretty much done all of their depreciation.

The T5's are damned good engines; extremely powerful (also used in the Focus ST) and go to very high mileages if looked after, and will still manage sensible mpgs if not pushed too hard.

To drive, the V70's pretty much do it themselves and are as comfortable as your living room sofa.

Notmyrealname

forgotmyname wrote: »

£600+ fuel pumps, £600+ injectors and £600+ clutches.

Its a TDDI at that age, not a TDCI.

Rear subframe bushes is a biggie. Costs about £200 to replace them with polyurethane ones.

I sold my 04 plate at 165k. Still on original fuel pump, injectors and clutch. The trick is to go for a high miler, not something that has done around 100k or less.

forgotmyname

TDCI from late 2001 and virtually all from 2003 will be TDCI's also.

Mines got 160k miles on it now. Fingers crossed its still going well. Cost me just over £2000 3 years ago. Spent £500 or £600 on it? Going to need an exhaust backbox soon.

The problem for the OP is spending all his budget on buying a car, No matter what car it is.
There isnt a car out there for £1000 that can be guaranteed not to need some work on it.

You need money in the bank just in case, Personally i would be looking for something older £500 with a long mot.
Parts will be cheap. Easier to fix with less electronics.

Buy yourself a manual and a spanner set. Fix the simple things yourself.

Weird_Nev

I saw a nice looking 2004ish Sokda Fabia 1.9 SDI for £999 on gumtree. Might be worth looking for something similar. Slow as all hell, but good reliable cars with old skool diesel engine technology. Not even a turbo to go wrong.

At £1000 it's very much buyer beware. You can get a peach or an absolute dog. Insist on a long test drive and check all the paperwork. HPI it too to find out about any clocking or crashes if it seems "too good to be true".

I have a friend who got an old shape mondeo 1.8 TDI for free, he's run it for a couple of years but it has needed a new starter motor and a new cylinder head after the cam belt failed. No more than £200 spent but he's handy with a spanner. If I did spend £1000 on a mondeo, I'd want to save £1,000 asap to get something else with if/when it lets go. Not worth repairing major faults on them sadly.