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Ford Mondeo: Season 6 cancelled


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On 26/03/2021 at 11:18, R1152 said:

The current Mondeo is bigger than the Mk. 1 Granada and the Mk. 4 Zodiac. It's also bigger than my E60 5er. 

As cars go, with the growth of the models they keep having to slot something new in at the bottom. Put a Mk. 1 Fiasco against its current incarnation. 

The latest KA is bigger than the festa 

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I suppose I should comment as I've probably owned more Mondeos and covered more miles in them than pretty much anyone else here. 

I actually left my home one day back in 2018 to attend a taxi dealers demo day intent on buying a brand new 18 plate Mondeo. What stopped me signing on the dotted line? Well, firstly the Ford rep was a bellend and secondly the Mondeo just didn't represent value for money compared to an Octavia or i40. Spec wise they are quite basic for the money as they even lack reverse sensors, let alone a reversing camera. They do drive well enough, very comfy seats, punchy engines, good handling and much more solid build quality than the previous Mk4 but IMHO each model is at least five grand overpriced. The hybrid version was only offered at the time in the top spec Titanium for something like £28,000 and then it was only available as a saloon with a tiny boot. 

Down the line every fellow taxi driver I know who runs a Mk5 Mondeo has had trouble with their car. Faults include fucked gearbox's at less than five years, PAS issues, DPF problems and plenty of injection pumps letting go. Throw the chocolate DMFs into the mix and you get the picture?  Ford dealers just don't seem to care and at the time only offered a 60,000 mile warranty which just about sums them up. 

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6 hours ago, warren t claim said:

 Ford dealers just don't seem to care and at the time only offered a 60,000 mile warranty which just about sums them up. 

I think this was often the case.  Growing up in South Wales where everyone working at the Ford rear axle factory (maybe the third biggest employer in the area after BP and British Steel) had a new Ford at a discount, the dealers didn’t have to care.  They saw the buyers as a necessary evil because they didn’t even pay full price for their cars so they weren’t going to get any special treatment, goddamnitt.

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Ahhh the Mondeo.

 

Very fond memories from even being a kid seeing the first K reg one in my street (I think the colour was like British Racing Green, not seen another in that colour). Then my old man got an N reg one (N79 LTN) didnt have it long when an old woman side swiped it and it then had to be scrapped. I've owned a couple myself. Wife currently has a Mk4 2.0TDCI Remapped, 2007 in Black. Nice motor. Before that we had a Mk3 2003 plate. Estate. That was  a great car until it started having injector issues and that pretty much wrote it off.

Wifes Mondy has been faultless.... and the boot is huge! Its great, though might be up for sale soon as she could really do with an Auto. Though she doesnt really want to let it go because likes the power. 

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Is it possible they will just sell the Ford Taurus in a European compliant version to still keep selling this size of car? I have no idea where the Taurus is built but when I drove a hybrid hire car one of these in December last year, I did think “this is just a Mondeo isn’t it?”. Maybe one factory can keep up with this sized car’s worldwide customer demand now?

By the way, the hybrid Taurus was just an unlovable, white-goods type of car car which droned on with its awful little awful little engine trying to keep the batteries charged and the boot space was pathetic as it was full of hybrid shite. I only hired it as I had a load of stuff with me and ended up with some of it on the back seat. 

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I’d like this to when the Scorpio ceased production, it had become massive and nobody bought them, instead the Mondeo grew and took over, in much the same way the latest Focus is a sizeable thing, unless you are a taxi driver or breeding like rabbits, you wouldn’t really need anything any bigger. 

I had looked at the Mk3 Focus, a bit too dear for me at the moment but they don’t seem to give a lot of trouble, apart from the exploding 1.0 which various armchair experts will tell you WILL blow up despite the hundreds of thousands of them out there working fine. 

As they say life goes on, I think it’s the right time to put a lid on it and bring out something different like they did with the Sierra. You don’t want it to be like when Rod Stewart brings out a Motown album where he insists on ruining a load of old hits when we all think he should be at home with his grandchildren and the model railway. 

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I’d like this to when the Scorpio ceased production, it had become massive and nobody bought them, instead the Mondeo grew and took over, in much the same way the latest Focus is a sizeable thing, unless you are a taxi driver or breeding like rabbits, you wouldn’t really need anything any bigger. 
I had looked at the Mk3 Focus, a bit too dear for me at the moment but they don’t seem to give a lot of trouble, apart from the exploding 1.0 which various armchair experts will tell you WILL blow up despite the hundreds of thousands of them out there working fine. 
As they say life goes on, I think it’s the right time to put a lid on it and bring out something different like they did with the Sierra. You don’t want it to be like when Rod Stewart brings out a Motown album where he insists on ruining a load of old hits when we all think he should be at home with his grandchildren and the model railway. 
Nail on head.

My dad has bought a MK3 focus (ST TDCi) as the Mondeo was just too big. The focus is far bigger than the MK1 focus he used to own.

I have to say the latest Mondeo is a bit bland looking in povo spec compared to what it's priced against

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

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2 hours ago, jamescarruthers said:

Is it possible they will just sell the Ford Taurus in a European compliant version to still keep selling this size of car? I have no idea where the Taurus is built but when I drove a hybrid hire car one of these in December last year, I did think “this is just a Mondeo isn’t it?”. Maybe one factory can keep up with this sized car’s worldwide customer demand now?

By the way, the hybrid Taurus was just an unlovable, white-goods type of car car which droned on with its awful little awful little engine trying to keep the batteries charged and the boot space was pathetic as it was full of hybrid shite. I only hired it as I had a load of stuff with me and ended up with some of it on the back seat. 

It depends what the fleet sector want, because no-one I know would buy a Mondeo personally, not even on a lease scheme. They'd rather go for a "badge". The huge depreciation was a factor in why Renault stopped bringing in cars like the Espace, stopped big cars after the Safrane and ceased importing the mid-size saloons, despite the Talisman being an absolutely wonderful-looking car they knew it wouldn't sell against the 3-series and would fall in value faster than a piano onto Richard Hammond's head.

https://drivetribe.com/p/why-no-one-talks-about-the-renault-SalNljxRSDmV95P0Gt9F8w?iid=fWg8zd0-TbS1kyQhmyOu4g

I note a Talisman is now bigger than a 25.

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4 hours ago, jamescarruthers said:

Is it possible they will just sell the Ford Taurus in a European compliant version to still keep selling this size of car? I have no idea where the Taurus is built but when I drove a hybrid hire car one of these in December last year, I did think “this is just a Mondeo isn’t it?”. Maybe one factory can keep up with this sized car’s worldwide customer demand now?

By the way, the hybrid Taurus was just an unlovable, white-goods type of car car which droned on with its awful little awful little engine trying to keep the batteries charged and the boot space was pathetic as it was full of hybrid shite. I only hired it as I had a load of stuff with me and ended up with some of it on the back seat. 

Unlikely; the Taurus hasn't been built or offered since 2019

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21 hours ago, R1152 said:

It depends what the fleet sector want, because no-one I know would buy a Mondeo personally, not even on a lease scheme. They'd rather go for a "badge". The huge depreciation was a factor in why Renault stopped bringing in cars like the Espace, stopped big cars after the Safrane and ceased importing the mid-size saloons, despite the Talisman being an absolutely wonderful-looking car they knew it wouldn't sell against the 3-series and would fall in value faster than a piano onto Richard Hammond's head.

https://drivetribe.com/p/why-no-one-talks-about-the-renault-SalNljxRSDmV95P0Gt9F8w?iid=fWg8zd0-TbS1kyQhmyOu4g

I note a Talisman is now bigger than a 25.

Saw a Talisman estate at my garage, the other day. It was in for repairs after a minor bump. It looked a good car. Although being in black with a black interior made it a bit depressing to sit in. If I could afford to change then this would be a possible contender.

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4 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

More Monty.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/classic/uks-rarest-cars-1994-ford-mondeo-lx/

It might be behind a paywall so here is a screen shot. Open it fully to read.

 

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1994 Ford Mondeo LX Automatic - UK's rarest cars, one of only 253 of 434,400 produced

The reactions to the impending demise of the Mondeo reflect the family Ford’s status in British automotive life yet it has also highlighted the shocking rarity of the first-generation version that sold more 100,000 per year from 1993 to 1996. 

Ford unveiled the all-new Mondeo on 8 January 1993, and Gar Cole’s very early 1.8 LX Automatic is believed to be one of only 253 Mk1s remaining on British roads.

Ford commenced work on the Mondeo in 1985 as the heir to both the Sierra and the US-market Tempo/Topaz. Project CDW27 was intended as a “world car” to be sold in all markets with only minor revisions to maximise profits and cost an estimated £3billion to develop. According to Andrew Elphick in www.aronline.co.uk, engineers worked to several parameters, including ride, handling, steering, powertrain, driveability, brake feel and operational comfort. 

Never before had a family car been finessed to such a high degree. Nor would the CDW use the Sierra’s dated platform; indeed, it shared very few components with its predecessor.

1994 Ford Mondeo LX Automatic - UK's rarest cars, one of only 253 of 434,400 produced

1994 Ford Mondeo LX Automatic - UK's rarest cars, one of only 253 of 434,400 produced

Power for the Mondeo was from a new range of 1.6- 1.8- and 2.0-litre Zetec engines and, most radically of all, CDW was to be front-wheel-drive. In 1989 Ford announced the impending launch of a new FWD car, prompting Alexei Sayle-style commercial travellers to faint in shock. Many were still coming to terms with the demise of the much-loved Cortina seven years earlier. 

Production at Ford’s Genk plant in Belgium commenced in November 1992; sales officially started on 22 March 1993. Buyers had a choice of four-door saloon, five-door hatchback and estate bodies, while the trim levels ranged from the lowly LX to the social heights of the Ghia. The Mondeo was also the first car in the UK with a driver’s airbag as standard on all versions. 

1994 Ford Mondeo LX Automatic - UK's rarest cars, one of only 253 of 434,400 produced

1994 Ford Mondeo LX Automatic - UK's rarest cars, one of only 253 of 434,400 produced

With a becoming lack of modesty, the sales copy claimed that the Mondeo embodied “Beauty with inner strength”, but the styling was rather conservative in reality. This was a conscious decision by Ford, as the Sierra’s radical (for the era) looks resulted in it taking some time to become accepted by fleet and private buyers.  

Fortunately, What Car declared the Mondeo “a far more tempting proposition than the Sierra has been for years”. Furthermore, Ford had produced “a car with quality to match a Nissan Primera, handling and ride to match a Peugeot 405, an interior design to beat a Vauxhall Cavalier and refinement to top the lot”. 

Better still, it was declared Car of the Year in 1994, defeating the Citroën Xantia and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

1994 Ford Mondeo LX Automatic - UK's rarest cars, one of only 253 of 434,400 produced

1994 Ford Mondeo LX Automatic - UK's rarest cars, one of only 253 of 434,400 produced
The Mk2 (an extensive restyle rather than a new model) succeeded the Mk1 after total UK sales of 434,400 in October of 1996, by which time it dominated an entire market sector. Tony Blair is widely believed to have introduced the phrase “Mondeo Man” at the Labour Party Conference in that same month. However, in his fascinating book Reading the Everyday, Joe Moran notes the speech referred to an encounter with a Sierra owner in Telford; the media was to update the Ford subsequently.

Cole was inspired to buy his example in the spirit of nostalgia. He explains: “My parents had one in 1994, and it was the first new car I’d ever driven, when I was 18.” He rescued the white saloon from the banger racers on the Isle of Wight – the fate of many early Mondeos across the UK. “I brought it home, fitted a few new parts and it passed its MOT.”

1994 Ford Mondeo LX Automatic - UK's rarest cars, one of only 253 of 434,400 produced


This example was registered on 21 April 1994. As a comparatively low-budget Mondeo, Cole points out that his LX is “more unusual than the Ghia and the 2.5 V6 STs that most people save. The Mk1 was also the only one to have a four-wheel-drive option in 2.0-litre form;  they are the rarest of the Mondeos and sought after by enthusiasts”.

Modern Ford users’ reaction towards this rarity is positive – “They tend to have either previously owned one or admire the condition of my car,” says Cole. As a sign of how the sheer remoteness of the early 1990s now seems, he adds: “There’s even a 20-year-old lad at the local car wash who had never seen one and referred to it as a ‘vintage Ford’.”

Perhaps he should watch this launch film, to marvel at a car on which “even the door mirrors have been designed for efficiency”. 

 

By Andrew B Roberts

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I wouldn’t exactly describe it as one of Britain’s rarest cars if there are only 253 of that year still on the road.

Of course now I expect any old rust infested, piss wet through Mondeo to be worth a million quid now - it’ll be the old ‘invest in one of these now to make a fortune’ articles in Craptical Plastics.

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Early Mondeo Man's American cousin drove a Ford Contour and it's slightly upmarket doppelganger, the Mercury Mystique.  The car's styling was visibly different to that of the European Mondeo but, beneath the sheet metal, was mostly the same.  The Mark I Contour/Mystique struggled in the US, however.  This was due to the car's cramped rear quarters and relatively high price, especially when compared to the fairly crude Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz it replaced.

Contour/Mystique offered barely more room inside than the US-market Ford Escort/Mercury Tracer but was saddled with a price tag dangerously close to the much bigger Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable.  The 1998 facelift (Mk II) tried to address these issues.  Rear seat leg room was increased by pushing the seatback further into the boot and scalloping the backs of the front seats.  Furthermore, Ford attempted to reduce the price by deleting standard equipment and downgrading trim and cabin materials.  Alas, market forces caused the Contour/Mystique to fade away in 2000, with no replacement on the horizon.  In fact, it wasn't replaced until 2006, with the arrival of the Mazda 6 based Mk I Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan.

On a personal note, my mother owned a 2000 Mercury Mystique GS with the 2.0 Zetec engine which, somewhat miraculously, withstood a full decade of her abuse before finally succumbing to the inevitable.  I have to admit, the car put up a good fight and earned my respect for doing so.  My mother is notoriously hard on cars but the Mystique took it all in stride.  It looked just like this one, shown below.

91e7Ofg1HFL._UY560_.png

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