Ford Mondeo 1.8 TD > Reviews (28)

The 1995 Mondeo 1.8 TD I was punting about in for a while was the Aspen model. It is well equipped with electric windows all round, sun roof, electric mirrors, etc, etc, and possibily the most useful bit of kit ever fitted to a car, a heated front windscreen. Why more manufacturers don't fit these I'll never know. A real boon in the winter it makes dimisting and deicing a doddle.

Quite a nice colour in metallic grey, or graphite as Ford would have it, this car is nevertheless blandness personified, as perhaps befits a car to have a social class (Mondeo man) named after it.

This is a comfortable car, the seats are soft, but at the same time supportive, it is easy to find a comfortable driving position, and all the controls are clear, logical and well laid out.

Handling is secure, although the extra weight of the diesel engine means that it does have a tendency to understeer, and the steering is less positive and communicative than a Primera of a similar vintage. It is nice and light considering the size of the car though.

While the car is economical (500+ miles on a tank is nice) it is clear that is a very old outdated diesel engine. The addition of a turbo does little to improve the miserable performance, and you really have to rev it to get anywhere, not a pleasant experience, as it is coarse and noisy at high revs. I was absolutely left for dead along a strech of road by a humble Fiat Punto, with the same power output, 90 bhp, but much less weight.

If you are considering buying a diesel family car, I would recommend paying more for the more recent much better Mondeo diesel, or if your budget won't stretch to that get a Peugeot 406 diesel, as Peugeot have had advanced diesel engines for much longer than Ford.

The ubiquity of the Mondeo is however a big plus, as virtually any garage can service them cheaply, and parts are also very cheap. We bought a back bumper for ours for £25 ! It was very reliable, and I got the impression that parts are strong, and build quality is good. It was bought three years ago with a 50K mileage, and is now over the 100K mark with little change in the feel of the car. You get the impression that the engine is only just run in, at 100K and would carry on long after the rest of the car has given up.

Someone who is not bothered about performance, but who is looking for a cheap to run, big, comfortable car would struggle to do better.