£1500 budget- reliable, car required - thinking 98+ Diesel Mondeo - Any suggestions?

Hi there,

I have £1500 to spend on a car and therefore am looking to get a lot of car for my money. I am not overly worried about the style of the car, my main concerns are:

*Something I can rely on. *Something that wont look too bad when I turn up at clients offices (My old XR3i was a bit unusual so often I would park around the corner).
  • As cheap running costs as possible.
  • Ideally 5 door although I am not considering and estate which would be very handy.

With this in mind I was thinking a Ford Mondeo Diesel Estate made after 98 as this is a common all rounder of a car in good supply therefore giving you more for your money.

I was told Models after 98 are the ones to go for but do not know much really.

Can anyone verify my observations and or alternatively recommend similar models that will give similar benefits.

Kind regards

Dave

Reply to
Dave Smithz
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Rover 45 diesel, or even a 600. Plenty about and plenty of parts, cheap to run & maintain. (Watch me get shot down in flames now!)

Cheers Paul

Reply to
Paul

In message , Dave Smithz writes

The Mk2 Mondeo is indeed a good car but unless you are going to be doing in excess of 20,000 a year, I'd reconsider whether you need a diesel. Servicing costs for the diesel are higher with the cambelt needing replacing every 40k miles as opposed to 100k miles for the petrol models. Diesel fuel is 4p/litre more expensive at the moment, wiping out some of the savings of the better mpg.

By 1998 the Mondeo TD engine was certainly looking and feeling dated compared to the opposition. I used to own one and we still have one in the family and its not as bad as some people make out but its not a "class leader".

You might want to consider the petrol models and go for something with a nice spec. I've currently got a 98 2.0 Ghia X which has leather, aircon, cruise control, electric heated seats, CD changer etc. Its not as economical as the diesel but I get 37mpg on my daily commute and 40mpg on a long run. Servicing costs are lower.

Reply to
Paul Giverin

I have a r reg 618. Pretty cheap to maintain and very reliabel. I have done

45k in two years in this vehicle in all sort sof conditions and it has never let me down. The only thing I have an issue with is that the switches on the doors are easily broken and not many in the breakers so a little difficult to get hold off
Reply to
Big Brian

I'm running a P reg Nissan Almera SRi. good running costs, jap reliability, group 7 insurance. Some people don't like the styling but I like the look of the car too.

Ben

Reply to
Ben

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