Took my car into the local garage for its MOT yesterday. I was telling the mechanic about replacing it with a newer one, possibly a Mondeo estate.

Both he and his employee told me to avoid "there's this wrong with them, there's that wrong with em". .

They being mechanics, it got me thinking of looking for alternatives, then driving about today I saw loads of Ford's knocking about, new and old.

Surely every Mondeo isn't prone to breaking down at every lamp post and costing it's owner a fortune in repairs?

I currently drive an Audi, which snapped a timing belt and cost me a lot of money, so do I dissuade anyone from buying one in future?

It's such a minefield out there when buying cars which seems to be made worse by advice based on people's personal bias.

Might buy a push bike



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- Fix Or Repair Daily, at least they circled the problem

Joking aside all brands have there issues

Personally I will not touch anything French (French diesels are another matter tho as there in everything these days )

The E12 Nissan Note is a right pos (coming from a ex-forum moderator)

Bikes that's another big can of worms

I have only ever had Fords as my personal vehicle and I think the key is like all cars anything over 6 years potentially can have problems as that is when things start going. Obviously a new car goes to three years under warranty and I think it is fair to say that years 3 to 6 see fairly trouble free. I have had a number of Mondeos and I have (touch wood) not had anything go wrong apart from one being stolen. Estates tend to have a hard life as you do not buy a load lugger if you are not lugging a load about so I think you need to consider that. But I have had Fords all my life from my Anglia through the Cortinas, Sierras and Mondeo ranges so I guess I am biased.

When I was car dealing with my friend a few years back I was never impressed with the German cars and I thought that the good reputation they had was not deserved. Vauxhalls were always a safe bet and we never had any real trouble to sort out on those.

I would not touch anything French that is getting on as the electrics can be a nightmare if they go wrong.

So my advice is buy as new as you can

DWD

duel mass flywheels packing in seem to be a big problem on the mondeo,costs a good few quid to replace.

They're all the same I reckon. You'll hear of people having a good car of a type that generally has a bad rep, and OTOH, there are people who have bought "reliable" cars and had nothing but trouble.
Mate of mine used to run those big boxy Fiats. He reckoned they were OK.
Another bloke actually ended up virtually screaming at me because he liked Allegros.
A lot of modern cars seem to have problems with electrics one way or another.
The Avensis seems to get good reports.
Skoda seem good.
I don't know what I'd get at the moment.

Hyundai seem very good. Mrs D is on her third I-10 and we have never had any issue with them. Admittedly they have all been new cars that we keep for a three year period. Hyundai are very well built cars though and with the 5 year warranty they must be a good bet on the second hand market. The IX-35 is a decent all round SUV type car or the latest variant which is now called the Tucson.

DWD

Many of the car sales websites have links to the various models pro's and con's plus lists of the known (regular/popular??) faults to be found - along with areas to be wary of if purchasing one.

I did a lengthy comparison of various makes/models when looking for a vehicle with good towing properties and eventually ended up getting a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Mind you, I read some stuff about Range Rovers that would make you pap yourself - the cost of fixing them was astronomical.

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A snapped timing belt will cost a lot of money on any make of car...............I had one go once. Its because of the damage that happens after it snaps that is expensive. It could have been prevented (any car) by having it changed before its due to be changed. Oh my car? lovely mk3 escort.

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Take it easy, a forum is only a collection of opinions. Above, are mine.

Which is correct? Metre or Meter? Click the link. to find out more.

No such thing as "Thou shalt put this wire here, Thou shalt put that wire there" .............Take a picture BEFORE you do the job.

If gloom had a voice, it would be me.

How to post a picture on this forum Click here

I'd had it changed 13 months earlier.

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There are two types of engines with timing belts which are interference and non interference engines. If the belt snaps on the latter the engine just stops. In the interference engine the valves get smashed by the pistons which is a very expensive repair. It is best to have an engine with a timing chain.

DWD

We bought a new( then) shape Galaxy in late 2006. Reliability has been, to put it politely "disappointing". The electric PAS pump went after 3 months, and we have had about 4 clutches/flywheels( mind you our caravan weighs nearly two tons...but it does seem rather a lot). The electrics seem to have a mind of their own, and the alarm spuriously triggers.
It has never run properly since a software upgrade six months after we bought it.
Just done 128K, and I reckon it has cost us nearly the new cost in repairs so far.

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When all you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail.

In general terms I'm sure that cars are far more reliable now than when I started driving, (no red flag jokes please), both my 2001 VW Passat and the 2008 BMW 320D were practically faultless during the time I owned them.

They had a combined mileage of 232,000 when I bought them and over 340,00 when I sold them. I'd still be driving the BMW now if I hadn't needed more space for the wife's scooter and wheelchair etc.

They both came from the same supplier who has a very good reputation, and I think that this is as important as anything if you're buying second hand.

http://www.newforestestates.co.uk/estates.php

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One day it will all be firewood.

I have a mondeo titanium tdci, with no major issues at all in 60k of motoring. (lets hope this post isnt going to jinx that!).

It does have an ABS issue that Im currently sorting out.

Diesel cars do have dual mass flywheels and particulate filters, both very expensive items, not just restricted to ford engines.

Renault are generally terrible for electrical faults.

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Verwood Handyman

Verwood Handyman


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I think any car/brand is going to have it's good points and bad points and no car is ever maintenance free, they are just too complicated for that.