will i be banned.....

[MrRegieRitmo]

I wouldn't dare comment on jellied eel munching, £3,000,000 one bed flat dwelling, shandy drinking pearly king and queen types

I think you've just described Brighton there! Don't know anyone like that myself. There is alot generalising & finger pointing in the north/south argument, most of it has no basis or truth whatsoever, it's all assumptions. Although it seems to me that the assumptions are mostly made by northerners directed at southerners, don't know why or what it stems from but it seems like an insecurity thing, as why else is there the need to keep putting the other side down. I can't say I hear people down here constantly moaning about northerners, when they do it's usually in resposte to something said by northerners with their snide comments.I lived in Derbyshire for a while so I know how things are from both sides, I’ve had the mickey taken out of my accent & by the same token when I moved down here there was a guy at school from Manchester who had his accent mocked. The irony is being born in Herts, I’m actually thought of as a northerner to those here in the true deep south, so get treated with disdain from both sides! I’m clearly a southerner but people down here believe that anything above London is the north! It’s quite pathetic really. I’ve had a Liverpudlian girl believe I was a northerner because my accent has sort of blended to a watered down version of everywhere I’ve lived so I don’t have much identity of my own anymore. I’ve got many mates who are northerners & the reason they are my mates is they don’t keep going on about ‘soft southerners’. I don’t really side with anyone in the argument as I get on with people from anywhere, I’m not biased as I can see everybody’s good & bad sides. The only thing that gets my back up is when one side says they are better than people from the other side, whichever side it happens to be (usually the Northern!). I think it’s all a load of nonsense & I’d be happy to live in most places around the country. Christ it even happens in London with people living on either side of the Thames casting aspersions on people from the other side!

[retrogeezer]

I've been living in Cheshire for just over a year now and can't say I have experienced any negativity towards me because I'm from the South (Hampshire)People around here (Crewe/Nantwich) seem really nice, even the girls behind the tills in supermarkets have a chat with you and I don't ever recall that happening in the south.One of my 'new' mates up here does jokingly call me a townie though.Anyway, back to cars - Like Mr Welfare says....you get good and bad cars whatever they are. I must be lucky with my mundaneo - it is one of the very 1st Mk2's and registered 1st Oct 96.

[andrew e]

I wouldn't dare comment on jellied eel munching, £3,000,000 one bed flat dwelling, shandy drinking pearly king and queen types

You called

[MrRegieRitmo]

No, I'm in no way suggesting that the South is better, the people can be colder & more unfriendly down here for sure, they look after number 1 no question. At school in the North I was ribbed for being 'posh' I'm not, I just spoke differently but I still made friends ok. Down here at school I had a tough time for other reasons, people just weren't interested, they already had their friends & didn't care to make another one (I joined halfway through secondary school). I ended up not really having any proper friends to speak off, just acquaintances I spoke to when I happened to have a class with them. Things improved alot once I'd left school but I still have a feeling that the general populus down here are quite clicky & not overly friendly with each other. My opinion is that the friendliest people live in Hertfordshire but that could be rose tinted glasses. Although saying that, having got back in touch with a few people from Herts through Facebook, I stand by my opinion.

[mk2_craig]

Like Mr Welfare says....you get good and bad cars whatever they are. I must be lucky with my mundaneo - it is one of the very 1st Mk2's and registered 1st Oct 96.

Been very pleased with mine too - a Nov 99 Zetec with the 2.0 lump. Nothing majorly wrong in 32 months and 14,000 miles (car's now on 88k), only niggles have been interior mirror sheared off its mount and o/s/f window has loosened off making it slow to power upwards. No rust either. Although I now want to get rid of mine in favour of something smaller/older/shiter, I'd thoroughly recommend one as a good all rounder.

[CortinaDave]

I agree on that score.. since january I've put 25,000 trouble free miles on a £500 Ford Probe and found it to be a thoroughly decent and capable car, despite everyone telling me they are rubbish.My one isnt!

[Cavcraft]

WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!Only joking fellas, don't be taking it personal like. Still have family down the smoke and both parents were born in London.I've had endless grief when people found out I was a southerner but always shared a laugh about it, except at school where I had same ttreatment as Reggie and was constantly called 'posh'. We're all the same wherever we come from, no-one is better than anyone else due to place of berth. Ok, I'm better than most of you lot because I live/drive/love/eat/sleep/breath Vauxhalls but that's another story Retrogeezer, it's cool where you are because there doesn't seem to be any airs and graces amongst the locals. Chester is a fantastic place to live but people always say the locals are unfriendly. I'd highly dispute this but it's probably like anywhere else on earth: if you don't make an effort to talk to people/be nice to them they won't be receptive.Anyway, that's all illelephant. Mk2 Mongdeos r cr4p!

[retrogeezer]

I don't think anyones taking it personally.....there is north v south banter on most forums I go on but it's all a bit fun and everyone is cool at meets and stuff.

[Cavcraft]

Orsum.There will (hopefully) be a few sub £300 cars with a bit of test on them for a short while soon as scrap prices fallen quite largely.The only flip side is I predict a busy time ahead in the cheaper end of the market as people will be trying to offload expensive cars and revert to bangers instead.

[r.welfare]

The only flip side is I predict a busy time ahead in the cheaper end of the market as people will be trying to offload expensive cars and revert to bangers instead.

Not sure I see that happening, unless XYZ Car Credit and the like get taken out, and all dealership finance gets tightened up. Most folk are still concerned enough with "image" to justify a repayment of £200 per month, rather than two months' payments on something half-decent they can own outright.

[Cavcraft]

Good point but local jungle drums are beating bad messages for purveyors of post £3000 cars at the moment and I have a feeling this will pass down until we get to the sub £1500'ers.Fair comment of course that twats like Carcrap can carry on banging out tarted up ex-auction, ex-sales rep shite for silly money to silly people but as long as scrap stays low there should be a healthy market in £500 or less banger stuff.Incidentally next door neighbour's just landed himself a dirt cheap new(er) shape (Mk3?) Mondeo with only about 65k on the clock. Nice looking car but the f*ck*ng thing is already rusty down the near side. Having said that when he went to replace the split front bumper there's definate signs of previous twattage so may be a shit repair job?Mk3 does look a really nice car though, I'd have one no bother.

[r.welfare]

Mk3 Mondeos are now seen in number below the grand mark. As are Rover 75s. E38 7-series. LS400s. Facelift Omegas. And what about that 406 coupe on R-R for £700? I can't believe how cheap these things are becoming. For sure, the passage of time is part of it but I still get surprised at the "bang for buck" you can score right now.Given the amount of hassle I've had selling anything <£500 in the last year, I would welcome a reprieve - even if I've now got nothing to sell! It's very much a buyer's market still.

[Cavcraft]

Been the opposite here. Everything sub-£500 has pretty much flown out, some in a matter of hours and I couldn't keep up with demand most of the time. It'll be a buyer's market for £500> cars to an extent I reckon.Talking of big cars for small money I couldn't believe how cheap the newer XJ6s are going for. Seen some 'M' and 'N' reg ones for less than a bag which has to be a bargain if you can live with some of those minging colours they made them in.Oh, don't forget the blind panic about paying another £60 (or whatever) in road tax for post 2001 cars means adjusting the price for older cars.On a similar vein I could never understand why people were seemingly happy to pay £500 more for a tax exempt car than a non-tex exempt one when they were probably only going to keep it a year at most anyhow.

[Pillock]

I had a Mk1 Mondeo, a run-out Verona one. It was capable enough, quick enough, roomy enough and comfy enough. Note lots of use of the word 'enough' there - it was nowhere near anything special but would do anything you asked of it including 1000 miles in a week on holiday. However build quality was suspect even on a last-of-the-mark, things just breaking off like the seat cowl, the petrol filler flap, door releases and it was costing a few hundred quid at every MoT, mainly due to the made-from-blutak lower arms. It got to the stage that the garage was ordering them in when I booked an MoT! I'm led to believe the Ford ones are better than pattern parts but never tried them, too stingy.The death of it was clutch failure. Or rather, we had the clutch done (£650 on a car worth, well, £500 tops) and then a month later it started to slip.... hydro failure, oil on the plate, bearings maybe? We'll never know, after I got quoted another £600 to drop the clutch out and inspect it I ebayed it as spares and got £100. Even drove it onto the trailer much to the buyers surprise.I'd recommend as cheap runabouts but don't expect anything like a nice experience, and don't spend any money on it as you'll only lose it in the long run.

[Spottedlaurel]

I didn’t realise that clutches were such an issue on them. With Ford being so dependent on the fleet market, you think a big priority would have been to design them with minimal service time. Is it because it was their first big FWD car that they cocked up on a few issues?I had no issue with driving them as company/hire cars when they were nearly new, though a solid blue lowish-spec Mk1 TD estate, while being fast enough, did seem the most unexciting car one could imagine. Not so much for its speed, but it had the nature of a slug about it.Did like the heated ‘screen some of them came with.

[CortinaDave]

I've got nothing but praise for MK1's, but then I've only had fairly early ones.. a december 92 (seriously!) first off the line 2.0 SI which had every extra fitted due to being built as a ford demo car... cruise, sports adaptive suspension that you could change the harshness off with a button,electric seats,traction control..etc This was only last year and it was still in great nick, smooth and quiet and being an Si had a fair bit of poke about it, plus the RS sideskirts, spoiler etc and recaro style seats.THE best £400 car I've owned.I had a 95 M 2.0 Ghia auto ... again, can't fault it apart from being a thirsty bugger, which is why i flogged it.And 18 months or so ago i bought a 93K plate 2.0 Ghia for my dad to blag about in. 55k on the clock and FSH for 300 quid. He's done nothing to it except a couple of droplinks for an MOT courtesy of the the local council's speedbump obsession.On the other hand, I've had 2 mk2's, both of which were utter tosh. Never again.

[Guest]

I had a go in a MK1 Si V6 and thought it was terrific to be honest, I could quite happily own one. Super smooth and looked really plain too, which I considered a bonus.

[whitevanman]

I've got nothing but praise for MK1's, but then I've only had fairly early ones.. a december 92 (seriously!) first off the line 2.0 SI which had every extra fitted due to being built as a ford demo car... cruise, sports adaptive suspension that you could change the harshness off with a button,electric seats,traction control..etc This was only last year and it was still in great nick, smooth and quiet and being an Si had a fair bit of poke about it, plus the RS sideskirts, spoiler etc and recaro style seats.THE best £400 car I've owned.I had a 95 M 2.0 Ghia auto ... again, can't fault it apart from being a thirsty bugger, which is why i flogged it.And 18 months or so ago i bought a 93K plate 2.0 Ghia for my dad to blag about in. 55k on the clock and FSH for 300 quid. He's done nothing to it except a couple of droplinks for an MOT courtesy of the the local council's speedbump obsession.On the other hand, I've had 2 mk2's, both of which were utter tosh. Never again.

tell me about it, just rebuilt your red one again for another year

[CortinaDave]

Its still going? you should have put it out of its misery

[whitevanman]

Nah, just a wheel bearing and a track rod end this year