Thinking of getting a new Mondeo or a Passat ... opinions?

Well, the A4 and Passat are effectively the same car, only the Passat is bigger and cheaper. The Mondeo is a Ford copy of the Passat.....

You won't get Ghia X spec. levels in a Passat, mainly because hardly anyone ticks enough option boxes to get one to that level. IMHO, the SE spec. is fine, so long as you don't want leather.

Supposedly, the Mondeo is a better drive (and I have some hairs I need splitting.....) but the Passat has better residuals. This means a £12k Passat will be older than a £12k Mondeo, but will also hold it's value better. Passat TDis are seriously sought after cars.

Personally, I reckon there's nothing to pick between them, Mondeo wins in some areas Passat in others.

I went th way of the Passat, but that's mainly because I'll never own a Ford again.

Thanks for your feedback, Steve.

Out of interest, what went so badly wrong with your Ford?

On the Passat side, my Dad has one, a 'Sport' model. My favourite aspect of the car has to be the violet and red instrumentation lighting - very funky!

Reminded me of how impressed I was when, as a Uni student, I got my Sierra. Every night I was out on it, I never ceased to foam at the mouth at how bright and clear the numerals were on the (back-lit) dashboard.

Sad, huh?!

Al.

We had a MkIV Escort and a MkII Fiesta. Enough to put someone off Fords for life. Even though I know they're much improved these days, I still wouldn't have one again.

That is nice, yes. As is the climate control and the 1.8T engine :-)

OK '80's era fords were uninspiring to drive and liked to rust but never had one break down on me...

And if it did even a monkey could fix it!

Sierra Cosworth, Sierra 4x4, Capri 2.8i, RS2000, RS200, Sapphire Cosworth... hardly uninspiring.

As a Ford fan, I have to disagree. Compared to the equivalent Vauxhalls, the Fords were mostly better. As Vauxhall (spit) were the main rival at the time, the old Fords cant have been that bad.

And I've never seen *anything*[1] rust as quickly as a Mk2 Cav Estate tailgate.

Fords vehicles for sheep, the Focus is half decent but they always look rushed into production, finishing touches like door handles etc, the last escort door locks were cheap and nasty.

I had a 53 plate Mondeo TDCi 130 Ghia for 6 months and 28,000 miles. It never missed beat, averaged 52 mpg and I loved the cruise control. It went well, stopped well, and handled well. I'd have another like a shot (if it wasn't for a job change I'd still have that one with about 68,000 miles on it by now!) The six speed models are far more economical than the earlier 5 speeds in high speed use.

My brother drives an LX with the 115 engine - he says it's a bit sluggish, but he also drives a Puma.

In message , Richard writes

Half decent? That's mighty big of you considering it was the best car in its class for a long time.

Maybe the underpinning is OK, but he was probably thinking of the interior fittings?

In message , Johannes H Andersen writes

The interior of mine is fine after 6 years, apart from the smell of vomit on the passenger seatbelt which I can't shift. I blame the wife for not stopping when I asked her. Don't ever try barfing out the window at 70mph after drinking a couple of bottles of Chardonnay at the xmas do :)

Been there, done that. I did stop but she missed the door opening... the only new car we ever owned 8-(

Ok guys, less of the banter !!!

So which is it, VW or Ford?!

I'm coming round to thinking that the only way to solve this one is to test drive each of them!

Regards

Alan

In news:4238d622$0$2765$ snipped-for-privacy@news-text.dial.pipex.com, Alan Dempster decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Right, I'll make things easy for you.

If you want a well built, excellent handling, economical, reliable, comfortable, roomy, cheap to maintain and well equipped car, buy the Ford.

If, on the other hand you want to buy something designed in the early 90's, that's well built but doesn't ride or handle as well as the Mondeo, isn't as roomy inside, as reliable or as well equipped, but you like the idea of a "Prestige" badge (which to me VW isn't), buy the Passat.

The Passat is now 8 years old, it's four years since the Mondeos release. The Passat was the best in its group in 1997 but is uncompetitive now [1]. The Mondeo is still one of the best cars of its size available, it just doesn't have the "Prestige" that VW's excellent ad campaign has fooled the public into.

The last truly brilliant VW was the Mk2 Golf GTi, whereas Ford are improving (excepting the Fusion and Mk2 Focus) with every new release. The Mondeo is an example of what Ford are capable of when they're on form, and don't forget, a lot of the people who designed the Passat went on to design the current Mondeo.

I've driven a Passat TDI back to back with a Mondeo TDCi, both under 10000 miles old, on the exact same 80 mile round trip on the same day. The Mondeo was *much* better to drive, nicer to sit in and just generally better all round. I also drove the same two cars 12 months later when they'd both done around 50,000 miles. The Mondeo was still better and rattled less.

Queintin Willson and me drove the Top spec TD Mondeo last year and both agreed it had naff gearbox, too much understeer and bad drving possision. It was the hirecar the tv co. got me and i never at once felt as one with the car, yes plenty of torque and resposive in right grea/rpm but i couldnt live with one.

In news:zub_d.72358$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk, Julian 'Penny for the guy' Hales decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

a naff gearbox in a six speed TDCi?

Now you're talking s**te.