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Introduction:

This is my first individual Thread on Team BHP and as I type this after a long thought on how to begin, I develop more respect for fellow members who contribute details about everything with their cars/bikes, etc and invest their valuable time for helping fellow brethren. This ownership report is being compiled as I cross the 12k miles mark in my ownership of the Mondeo and a year since its purchase.

The purpose of this review is to provide as much information as I can about the Ford Mondeo as there is limited information about this car on Team BHP.

I will try to make this review close enough as a Team BHP Official Car review, funny and informative at the same time. Big ask for a first thread IMO.

A brief intro about myself can be found here.

I have taken inputs from Wikipedia for certain bits of information related to the car and its engine.

My driving experience is a meagre 4+ years and overall bike + car is 11+ years. All my points will be pertaining solely with my individual driving experience spanning across two different nations who happen to drive on the same side of the road. What a surprise! Not.


What you will like:

• A torquey diesel motor that causes little to no fatigue after a long drive. You can drive this car all day long.
• A reliable car. You can’t really go wrong with this purchase.
• Spacious and comfortable. Oodles of space and storage compartments.
• 60:40 split rear seats are easy to use. And they are helpful in adding on the already humungous boot space.
• The suspension setup is supple without compromising the handling.
• Loaded with safety features, 6 airbags, ABS and ESP.
• Reliable engine and replacement parts are not as expensive as equivalent German counterparts and are readily available.
• Robust and well-built speaks of Ford's quality. As per Wikipedia this one’s made in Genk, Belgium.
• 70 litre fuel tank gives an approximate range of 750+ miles (1200 kms+). For me, this saves the time and effort to go to the Fuel station frequently.
• Braking is spot on with disc brakes for all wheels.
• Smooth gear shifts for a diesel car. My earlier Ford Focus had rubbery and hard shifts.
• Dual zone climate control. A helpful feature when the missus has a different opinion on what the AC temperature should be.


What could have been better:

I do not dislike anything in this car, but I will make a few points which could have been better in my opinion. Some of them might co-relate to my previous experience with the Honda City.

• The sound system. Although it is fine, but I have been a bit spoilt with Honda City’s stock speakers that were very good. The system in this car needs better speakers.
• No USB port input for music. This was available in the City and for me it is a convenient feature than pairing your phone via Bluetooth/AUX to listen to music.
• AUX port is in the co-passenger side glove box. This makes it a bit inconvenient to use.
• Bonnet release is located on the co-passenger side which again makes me invest more effort to walk around the car to the other side to open it. I know I am nitpicking but would have preferred it on the driver side. (My mind screams “It’s a Ford, live with it.”)
• Rear suspension arm bushes are known to deteriorate faster.
• It is a BIG car and the dimensions make you feel nervous when driving through narrow country lanes of UK. It is something that took a while to get used to.
• Engaging the reverse gear takes effort when starting the car for the first time every day. I have found it easier to engage reverse when the car is idled for more than a minute, engage first gear, move a few inches ahead and then engage reverse.
• This being a hatchback lets the water in the boot if one isn't careful when opening the hatch door after rains. You must be very gentle and lift it slowly as water drips on the side passages before releasing it fully. Or be super quick. I prefer the former.


Some introductory photos!

Somewhere on the A82 en-route to the Isle of Skye.


Parked and resting after the long drive near the cabin that we had booked for our stay in the Isle of Skye.


The already brilliant surroundings near the cabin being improved by its presence.

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Review Index:

Car History

The Hunt for a New Car

Exterior

Interior Front

Interior Rear

Engine and Transmission

Ride and Handling

Issues Faced

Some Additional Points

Tips on buying a Used Car in UK

Final Thoughts

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Car History:

A lot less now but expecting it to build as years go by.

1) Honda City S MT (3rd Generation):

What a fantastic car to begin my car history with! I cannot help but think of myself of how lucky I was to be a proud owner of this machine. ‘Roadrunner’ as she is named is now residing with my good friend. The only complain I had about this car is the ground clearance. Not the first time you are hearing this, and no one will ever stop hearing this till the existence of this car. It scrapes and scraapeessss till your heart melts listening to the abuse. No matter how gentle you are, she will make you realise she is meant for the smooth curves and not those unholy, not as per the standards speed humps that are laid out like pimples and acne on a teenager’s face. Just ruins the pleasure of driving this car.

Probably it was the only happy aspect of letting her go and rest of the emotions took a while to overcome as I looked at the bigger picture of working overseas and the challenges that lay with it. It will still be my first car, my first romance in the world of driving and in my heart I know there is just one other car that will come as close as to where she is, if at all I am lucky enough to possess her. (Sshhhh! It’s a secret for the future.)

When Roadrunner first came home.


On the dry river bed at Bhigwan. My first solo drive for birding!



2) Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi Zetec Mk 2.5:

My first venture in the Diesel engine world and to understand what the fuss is all about this ‘Torque’. I had read definitions, but I think it would be fair to say that this brief ownership explained me the practical meaning of it. What is Torque again? That wonderful feeling when you lift your foot off the clutch and feel the humble, slow, linear and effortless surge as you press the throttle pedal. Yes, yes, that is exactly what it is.

My first car in the UK and what I thought would be a venture and an adventure in the diesel motor world turned out to be a nightmare after 5 months. There was a hint that I missed a month or so ago, a sign, an omen that there is something wrong. I am at a client site in the Hotel parking and try to start her. First crank, nothing. Second one, a bit more struggle, still nothing. Third one, battery dies with a distinctive sound. This is strangely familiar, history repeats, is this Déjà vu? This is the same thing that happened with my Roadrunner, only that time I was at a Toll Booth early morning and got the help as I was presumed to be a ‘Sahib‘ due to the car (Lol). Back to present, I start laughing at my predicament. Call the RSA guy and he tells me the battery's flat. Surprisingly he misses to diagnose that the alternator was on its last legs. I pay the price, both for the battery and a near total loss on the car a month later.

The Focus is due for its routine yearly service and MOT. I take her to a neighbourhood garage where I had made friends with the owner. Nice chap, very friendly and used to exchange Hi’s and Bye’s as I used to pass by. Get a call from him that the car’s a big problem. The listed issues include alternator gone, gearbox almost gone, suspension replacement, etc. I am looking at a £1000+ worth of repairs for a car that I had just bought for £2700 a few months ago. He advises me to get rid of it and look for a new car. I am a bit shocked to now realising how much of my money is at loss here. The thing about the gearbox is, the whining noise was evident since I got the car. It is my knowledge or rather lack of it that I assumed this was normal for a Diesel motor to produce a whine on revving it, I assumed that this might be the Turbocharger.

Nevertheless, I had enough fun in this car, was good to drive and it ticked all the boxes for what I would look for in a big little hatchback. To put things in perspective it was wider and longer than a Suzuki Swift Dzire. 6 airbags and disc brakes on all four wheels, ABS, steering modes, etc. Powerful 1.8 Diesel Motor belting out 115 horses.

On the D-day post buying first ever car in UK! Keen eyes will notice the 'SOLD' board.


The rear.

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The Hunt for a New Car

Criteria and Options Considered:

A hunt for a second car in the UK begins. This time the criteria for the budget is capped at £4000 and below things,
- Must be a Diesel.
- Must not be more than 9 years old. Cars are well maintained here, and the climate is forgiving with regards to wear and tear of the vehicle parts. Hence you can look for decent 9-10 year old cars.
- Cannot be a marquee brand like BMW because insurance will give me a “Are you freakin kidding me amount look”.
- Must be a saloon as my job requirement needs a lot of travelling within UK and it needs to be comfortable. The Focus was a bit stiff in suspension and to be honest was my ‘fill in no car period gap’ car.
- Reliable. This puts the French out of contention. No to all you Citroens, Peugeots and Renaults. I admit though I liked the look of the Citroen C5. The spare part availability was a huge concern though.
- Must not have run more than 80k miles. Anything around 65k to 75k miles is a plus.
- Must have a long MOT remaining with not many Advisories pending from the previous one. A relatively clean MOT History. I will get into this in more detail as I will try and provide tips to prospective buyers like me in a separate post/section.
- One from the missus, “It has to be Black in colour.”. Ok noted. As if I had a choice of colour in the used market.
- Another important one, must not be available for sale in India. This is the most hilarious one for me. Yes, you can quote me stating that Mondeo was for sale in India but the Mk4 wasn’t, so peace.

Very precise approach and method in buying a car you see. And if I were King Julian from Madagascar, I would impose this ideology all over the world.

1) Vauxhall Insignia CDTi:

Positives:
- Looks great.
- More goodies in like for like comparison with Mondeo.
- Has a better interior.
- Supple suspension provides a comfortable ride.

Negatives:

- Not a fun car to drive as per reviews. Steering is not as lively and feels disconnected.
- Not good in corners courtesy of the previously mentioned supple suspension setup.
- Rear headroom is less due to coupe styled roof.
- Visibility when reversing the car is minimal due to the sloping rear windshield. This could be a problem as this is a big car and good all round visibility is very important when reversing a big vehicle.

Image courtesy: Google



2) Volkswagen Passat CC:

Was not a strong contender but was kept as an option if I saw a good deal. I was not a fan of the looks though. Also, this had an electronic parking brake and to my knowledge I would not have been allowed to use it for my UK Driving Test since it requires you to demonstrate the use of a manual handbrake.

Image courtesy: Google



3) Mazda 6:

Beautiful car I must say. I loved its looks. But a diesel-powered Mazda 6 equals more time at the garage than your driveway because of the infamous DPF issue. Two of my colleagues had owned this car and strongly advised to stay away from it.

Image courtesy: Google



4) Ford Mondeo Mk4 or Mk4.5(Facelift post 2012):

I will admit this was my top priority and a personal choice. I did test drive it prior to buying the Focus but the size of it made me nervous. Also, a gap of 3+ months in driving was evident to make me nervous about buying a big car in a new country. I didn’t screw up the drive in any way, but my brain did warn me to back off from buying a big car then.

Time for another fun short story,

The first car that I wanted to see was in Glasgow, Scotland which is about 3.5-hour drive from Manchester where I lived. I call the guy and tell him that I would let him know if I am driving that far the next day. It was a Black Mondeo and appeared to be a good clean car with clean MOT history. The fun part begins when the next day I have to visit ‘A B Cars’ to check a Silver Insignia. I google the address as the guy forgets to send me the post code. I reach the destination and ask the guy there where is the Insignia? He says we sold one 5 days ago. I explain that this is weird, and we did talk last evening that you had one and even show him the pictures from Autotrader. He confirms that it is not his advert and that is not his phone number either. I dial in again and am greeted with “Hey where are you?”. I tell him my blunder and it turns out I needed to be in Wales, a different country altogether and I was in Stoke. The place where I reached was ‘A B & Cars’. Minute details matter don’t they, that ‘&’ sign was going to circle in my head for the rest of the day. We do check other cars present at this place out of self-conscience to not look rude. There was a KIA Cee’d GT. Sporty little car within my budget. Mind said yes, but heart still set on 'you know what'. There was a Mondeo with a Focus ST engine churning 220 BHP. Heart again says yes, mind said no. What’s wrong? The other three significant letters came up ‘MPG’. I said goodbye to the dealer, and we set off to next destination letting him know that I will think about the two cars and call him if I go ahead.

Next car is a 2012 Mondeo in Bedford. Nice shiny dark blue shade. Making Excel sheet helps to keep details and to ensure that next time you have the column for address of the vehicle in it ‘updated’. But the distance was about 3 hours from where we were, and I put the plan to see the car for the next day as it was past 2 PM that day.

Next stop then is in a town ‘Worksop’ to check out the Black Mondeo. Looked good in pictures, was even better in person. The dealer said it is HPI clear (meaning no accident history) and, they have taken the effort to replace the cambelt as the car was 9 years old. The cambelt needs to be replaced when the car reaches 10 years of age or 100k miles, whichever comes earlier. The cambelt replacement can be a costly affair of around £300+. Hence, I was glad that this had been taken care of already. They send one of their guys to check my Focus to evaluate it for part exchange. I do the visual inspection and some more checks as per the information in this brilliant video below,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnJAn0izK58

All checks come clean and we are off for a test drive. Take the car on a dual carriageway to do some motorway speeds and then back through the town. Heart was already on yes, Mind still contemplating on other options in that Excel sheet. Test drive complete and I get the evaluation of my car at £500. I was like what? He explains me the obvious that I knew, and I tried to play cheeky. Guilty as charged to be honest. I did tell him that I feared the worse for the nearing MOT and the Focus caused back pain, therefore, I needed to change the car. He showed me the difference in the revving noise from the engine compared to my car and another Focus he had for sale. The guy knew what he was talking. And this is where I mentioned before how my lack of knowledge came into play with the Focus.

I up the evaluation to £800 and the guy stays at 700. I chat a little with my Finance Minister and we stick at 800 and you have a deal stance. The Father-Son duo businessmen have the Father finally say ok to £800. We get the paperwork done and all smiles. There was a little chink in the rear right taillight which I had missed, but the duo was helpful in ordering a new one for me. Also, they ordered a new ash tray for the car as the lid was not closing on the existing one. Furthermore, they also paid for the Radio Code as you have to buy it online by entering the Radio ID. I forgot to check the Radio when I did the test as it was one of the issues that came up in my Focus post the purchase of it. It was not written down in the user manual and hence had to buy it.

Mission Accomplished! A new (well used) car post 1.5 days of online search and after the terrible news regarding my Focus. Now that is some seriously quick decision making to be honest.

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Exterior

This photo was taken post the refurbishment of all wheels. With this update it looks a lot meaner and I prefer the new looks.



Prologue

Introduction to ‘Torque Monster’:

Some inputs from the ever-helpful source of Wikipedia about this model:

The very first Mondeo was introduced in 1993 by Ford and was a replacement for the Ford Sierra. Since the launch the Mondeo is currently in its Fourth Generation. Every generation of the Mondeo has aged well eventually paving way for a newer one.

For its first two generations, the Ford Mondeo was produced using the Ford CDW27 platform, with the third generation shifting to the EUCD platform. The fourth (current) generation uses the Ford CD4 platform (the first car to do so). As of today, the Mondeo has gone through 5 different versions across 4 generations.

The Mondeo competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) between 1993 and 2000. Ford ran a factory-sponsored team, called Ford Team Mondeo, for eight seasons. In 2000, the team expanded from two cars to three. The team dominated the season of 2000, finishing 1–2–3 in the drivers' standings and winning the manufacturers' championship by a staggering 104 points. A complete overhaul of the BTCC following the season of 2000 had the super-touring regulations scrapped as the series moved towards less expensive, but slower race cars. Ford withdrew from BTCC competition prior to 2001.

The Touring Cars after their withdrawal went on sale to the public and are now in the hands of other drivers. Two of the 2000 series Mondeos have been spotted in the BRSCC series of LMA Euro saloons; drivers known to own them at present are Bernard Hogarth and Alvin Powell.

The Third Generation Ford Mondeo (Mk4) was launched in 2007 in the UK carrying on the legacy of previous generation Mk3. Equipped with better looks and some more add on gadgets. It came in 5 different variants of Edge, Zetec, Ghia, Titanium and Titanium X. Later, in 2008 Ford launched an ‘ECOnetic’ version with a 1.6 litre 113.4 bhp diesel engine, probably to please the environmental fanatics and to put folks like myself to a deep slumber. Gosh! Can you imagine driving this 1.5 tonne car with that measly power.

The Mk4 Mondeo is based on Ford’s ‘Kinetic Design’ language. A common feature of Kinetic Design is the large, lower trapezoidal grille and the vehicles' headlights have a 'stretched back' look to them. This new platform allowed Ford to use Volvo’s five-cylinder Petrol engines. It came in 3 different body styles of Saloon, Hatchback and Estate.


Preparation before the photoshoot. You ought to look better when venturing out in public.
Please don't judge me for the method followed as this was my first time to polish a car. To top it off it had started to drizzle post this effort of 2+ hours to drive me nuts. Anyway, all's well that ends well.

The application.








Post application.

Shiny shiny!


Cloud cover approaching.


As per observed results post polishing, one can notice another car being conjured within a car.



The looks of the Mondeo are not a head turner. It is another thing that I look at her every single time when I am leaving after parking her. It is a subtle looking car and I like it this way.

The Mk4 measures 4 778 - 4 802 mm in length, 2078 mm in width including the ORVMs and 1 453 - 1 500 mm in height. The wheelbase is at 2850 mm. It weighs around 1,550 kg. A bit heavy in my opinion, but it is evident from the build quality and metal used for the body is top notch. For example, lifting the bonnet lid itself gives you a sense of the robust built, the bonnet does feel heavier than what I was used to with my City. (Random realization that my Honda City was Third Gen and so is the Mondeo. I need to progress and not get stuck in this third-generation loop. Maybe that should be a new criterion to add to my future wish list.)

Dimensions Diagram for the Hatchback.


Dimensions specification Chart



Covering all Profiles:

Front Profile.


Bonnet creases look more prominent from this angle.


Left profile. The side profile of the car is clean and gives it an elegant look.


Right Profile.


Rear Profile. The rear of any car is the most difficult piece to design, hard to get it right.
For me, the rear of the Mondeo is just ok'ish, not too bad nor too great.


Front Left Three Quarter. The quarter angle look makes the car look a little longer than it actually is.


Front Right Three Quarter.


Rear Left Three Quarter.


Rear Right Three Quarter.


Five spoke alloys look great. This design is my personal favorite.


The rear wheels get disc brakes as well.


Riding on 215/55 R16 Tyres.


The updated Grey colour looks even better on the wheels. Got Black wheel caps from eBay to complete the look.


The grille gets conventional rectangular checks with chrome outline. The gap where the bonnet meets the bottom part of the grille is too wide. Can not ignore it once you notice it.
The air dam at the bottom has flexible plastic inserts that open up if you push them. Probably these flaps open up at higher speeds to improve air flow, but I am not sure about it. It gets a thin chrome outline.


Ford badging at the front gets a thicker chrome outline with a prominent blue background.


Rear badging is subtle compared to the front.


Just so you know what you are driving.


With the variant and TDCi badging.


2.0 badging on the front left fender signifying the engine capacity.


Rear windscreen washer is handy when you have to clear of dirt before you set off.


Centrally mounted rear wiper gives a clean swipe and satisfies the Indian inclination and love for symmetry. The hatchback design helps with the implementation of the rear wipers.

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Exterior (Contd.)

Chunky ORVMs are manually foldable.


And is Biker friendly.


With all LHS doors open. They do close with a nice satisfying thud justifying the brilliant build quality.


Front door opens at a wider angle than the rear. Notice the fat door handle.


Even though the rear door does not open as far out wide than the front, ingress is easier due to the sheer size and space.


Rear parking sensors. Two in the middle and one on each corner.


Panel gaps are even across the shut lines. Rear three quarter glass helps with blind spots when changing lanes.
Notice the metallic flakes embedded in the paint clearly visible in the sunshine.


Rear windows do not roll down completely.


Door pillars (B pillar) gets a piano black finish. I have added a filter to highlight the difference in colour shade.


Rear Suspension setup.


Notice the exhaust insulation at the left. The car offers good ground clearance for its class.
Visible rust due to the age of the car.


Riding on the 215/55 ZR 16 tyres. Got these 'Autogreen' Chinese tyres as recommended by the shop.
So far for around 10k miles they have been performing good in all weather conditions.


Wind deflectors at the front. Visible erosion due to the age of the car.


Stock Headlights offer a brilliant throw. Notice how they stretch to the sides. I was pleasantly surprised with the effect when trying them on narrow country lanes at night. The Ford Focus was equally brilliant in this aspect after my dismal experience with the Honda City.

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Interior - Front

Leather wrapped Steering wheel is decent sized and is good to hold.


On the left we have the Audio Mode selector, switch track/radio channel and volume buttons. On the bottom left we have the Cruise Control ON, OFF and Cancel switches. On the right we have the MID controls at the top and the bottom right we have Cruise Control speed adjustment switches.


The left stalk has the Indicators and Call receive buttons. Have not tried the Voice Activation settings yet, don't think I will use them either. The right stalk has the front and rear Wiper controls. Windscreen washers are activated by a button on the side of the stalk. Pull the stalk towards you once for rear wiper swipe, pull and hold for continuous swipes and rear washer activation.
Notice the variable speed wheel for controlling the swipe frequency at first speed. Swipe speed increases as you scroll up from the bottom.


IRVM offers good visibility and has to be manually flipped for dimmed view at night.


Spigen Mobile Holder. Easily the best and only mobile holder I have had in all my cars. Had installed it in my Focus and then removed it and fixed it in the Mondeo without using any glue.


With my mobile attached, that is a Google Pixel 2 XL.


Handles the Garmin SatNav easily.


Dash with Speedometer, Tachometer, Engine Temperature, Fuel Gauge and MID.
Speedometer has both MPH and KMPH (in Red) markings for speed limit checks if you are on a Pan Europe trip.


The Main Menu is accessed by pressing the OK button on the RHS side of the steering wheel.


ESP can be swictedh ON/OFF from here as well as a button on the center console.


Message display accessed from the Information menu.


Alarm options.


Chime options to select for various indications.


A dozen language options for being a European Car.


This would be helpful with Trip Meters and Range display when one is on a Europe Tour in the car. Rest of Europe is in KMPH against UK's MPH.










Average Fuel Consumption. Impressive at 53 MPG as displayed. Before you ask it is pretty accurate, give or take 0.5 MPG.


Outside weather temperature display. A snowflake (*) will appear on the Dash if the temperature is less than or equal to 4 Degrees Centigrade.


Range Display. As with most of the cars starts plummeting after 120 miles. Real world range with normal driving should be around 750 miles.


Real time Fuel Consumption. I don't really check this, it keeps displaying 99.9 MPG with the AC OFF on Motorway runs.


Average Speed display.


Air Con center vents get a nice chrome outline. They offer a good air flow.
Below are the front and rear defogger, hazard lights and ESP ON/OFF switches.


Co-passenger side vents. The silver finish on the dash is plastic. Notice the 'Airbag' label notifying for the co-passenger airbag.


Air Con controls. The 'Max' button for Windshield is a blessing when the windscreen gets too foggy in winters.
Automatic Climate control has not been tested yet, well never felt the need to. All the buttons have a good tactile feel and have a satisfying click. Yours truly is not a fan of the touch sensitive controls, hence appreciates buttons any day.


Curtain Airbags on either side.


Both the Driver and Co-passenger seats get Airbags.


Ash Tray for the front passengers. Got the replacement from the dealer as the lid of the one with the car wouldn't close.
Also, houses the 12V socket.

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Interior - Front (Contd.)

Secondary storage area under the front arm rest. This one sits above the one where I keep my Emergency Hammer, SatNav, etc.
Useful for keeping smaller items like Card holders when you are travelling and need to pay at Toll Booths or smaller sized mobiles.


Two cup holders. Have only used them for a single cup so far. I don't think they would be as convenient to use when you hold two cups in them.


Massive front door pockets can easily hold a 2 litre soft drink bottle.


Passenger side Glove box is big. Sunglass cover for reference to gauge the size. It should be noted that I have not pushed the cover all the way back.
Glove box does get its own illumination which I missed to capture. In the LHS photo we can see the inconveniently placed AUX port.


Gets a Sunglass holder. I just love the way so many storage spaces are provided in this car.


Internal Lights are handy and can be switched ON individually or all at the same time.


ORVMs offer a good visibility. Notice the split mirror which helps a bit with covering blind spots.
They do have a built-in defogger.


Driver's seat can be adjusted for Recline, Height and Lumbar support. The Height adjustment is electric whereas the rest is manual.
The co-passenger does not get Lumbar Support adjustment. Ford should not have skimped on this.


Steering wheel adjustment for both Rake and Reach.


Both the Driver and Co-passenger get a Vanity Mirror.


Also, they get respective lights. Notice how the Driver and Co-passenger light switches are flipped for ON/OFF.


Chunky door handles. The Driver side door latch gets a plastic cover housing where the power window switch would usually reside for all other doors.


All four doors get the door sill with the Ford badging.


Driver side door speaker.


Driver side tweeter, and yes it works. I have tested it.
Thick A-pillars do cause blind spots when merging on main roads.


Power window controls and mirror adjustment for the Driver. All 4 power window buttons are auto up/down. Also, all individual power window switches for respective doors are auto up/down.
There is an additional button to disable the rear power window switches.


Headlight, front an rear fog light controls. Front fog light gets a rolling switch on the circumference to adjust the height of the beam.


Decent sized pedals. Dead pedal is always a welcome feature and this one does the job just as good.


Gear lever has short throws. The labeling has not faded a bit even after 9.5 years of usage.
To engage reverse lift the collar fully up, away from you and forwards.


Grab handles for both the Driver and Co-passenger.


Adjustable Seat belt height for both the Driver and Co-passenger.



In Car Entertainment

The least detailed topic in this entire review. I will try to make it as elaborate as I can.
You may skip this if you want to save a few minutes of your life.

As mentioned at the beginning in 'What could have been better' section, the ICE in the car is a tad disappointing for me in an otherwise brilliant car. Not too bad, not too great is what I can say in a nutshell.

This is the full view of the 'Ford 6000 CD' system that you get on the Edge and Zetec versions. Titanium variants get a Sony system that looks a bit more premium, have not heard music on it and hence have no clue on the sound output.

The system is switched ON by pressing the big round Volume adjust button. Subtle touches like a thin chrome bezel on this button improve the looks of the system. On the left we have the buttons to select the Audio modes and Call Accept/Dial buttons. To the right we have the Clock, Fade/Balance, Bass/Treble, Menu and Call disconnect buttons. All the buttons work and have a nice soft clicking feel to them.

Either side of the volume button we have the multi-function dial pad. This can either be used to switch saved Radio channels, CD tracks or dial a phone number. At the bottom there are two small round buttons for seek and scan for Radio channels or move the cursor when dialing a phone number.



The most used mode by me. I prefer to listen to my own music stored on the phone. I don't use any music streaming apps. Decent output from the AUX mode.


The CD mode is probably never/least used in this/last decade. (I will leave it up to the reader when a decade actually began or ended. I have tried to figure out by reading online but that is not the point of discussion here. )


For some reason, the music output in Radio mode sounds a bit better than AUX and comparatively louder.

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Interior - Rear

Spacious rear bench with adequate thigh support. Can seat 3 adults comfortably.
I have not had the pleasure to be a passenger in the rear seat of the Mondeo myself. But have asked friends who have driven with me and they can confirm the ride quality is plush.


Leg space at the rear with Driver's seat adjusted for my height. Have used my mobile for reference to depict leg room.


Leg space at the rear with Driver's seat fully behind. I am 5'7" and still manage to get decent leg room.


Seat belt provision for the middle row. Also, ISOFIX mounts are provided for either side of the bench.
All three seats get adjustable headrests.


Rear seat arm rest.


Rear seat 12V socket and Ash tray. I noticed the ash tray during this photo shoot.


Button to fold the rear seats down. The seats can be folded with a 60:40 split.


Chunky door handles at the rear. Also, we have an integrated speaker and tweeter.
Notice the power window switch placement that I mentioned earlier, where the Driver side gets a plastic cover.


Parcel Tray.


Parcel tray is suspended by these string attachments.


Rear grab handle on either side. Provision of a hook on either side as well where you can have hang your jackets or suit.
Have used it once, but it creates massive blind spots, hence never used them again.


Separate Internal lights for the rear bench.


Provision of a hook in the boot on either side to attach your shopping bags.


Pneumatic struts for the hatch door.


Boot light and a strap.


Boot space is humongous. Rearranged all the stuff inside for a neat photo only.
Post a short drive all of this will be scattered eventually.


Notice how high the hatch door rises. Shorties may have trouble closing this door as there is no other provision to pull it down.


Just gobbles everything! Two Check-in bags, a handbag and a shopping bag with our jackets.
Took this picture for reference when we were moving to a new home in UK.


Need to remove this cover to access the taillights on either side.
You can partially notice how the car jack is attached to the strap.


Rear door pockets can hold a 1 litre bottle.


Kit carried in the boot. Contains the below,
- Tool box from VonHaus (130pc Socket + Bit Set)
- Screenwash for the wipers
- Ring Tyre Inflator
- A paper tissue box
- Cloth to clean the car
- Funnel for coolant and windscreen washer liquid fill-up.
- Plastic Ice scraper.
- De-icer spray for winter when the windows are covered in Ice. Smells terrible to be honest, like ammonia.
- A bottle of Coolant with Antifreeze.
- Pliers for removal and installation of fuses.
- Also, has a water bottle which is not included in this pic. As it was being used as a reference to show door pocket sizes.


Spare wheel is a space saver. The size is 125/90 R16.

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Engine and Transmission

Presenting the 2.0L DURATORQ TDCI (DW) Diesel.

Arrghh! Dirty pic. Please don't judge me, it is a 9.5 year old car. Decent condition for the age and I am not competing in any 'best kept engine bay' competition. As you can see it is a compact space with hardly any big spaces to do any maintenance work. The usual needful bits of fluid level checks can be done easily and all the reservoirs are accessible.



As the Jeremy Clarkson’s of the world would ask ‘Is it like putting a furious weasel in your underpants?’, the answer is ‘No’. Now that we have cleared this let us move on with important details.

This car has a 2.0 TDCi engine belting out 138 BHP (140 PS). The 2.0 L DW10 engine is from the PSA Group also known as the ‘PSA Peugeot Citroën’ Group. More precisely, the engine model is ‘DW10 BTED4 / RHF’ in this particular model. The 2.0 L DW10 was the first PSA Diesel engine to feature common rail direct injection and was given the commercial designation HDi. It has a bore and a stroke of 85 mm × 88 mm (3.35 in × 3.46 in) for a total displacement of 2.0 L (1,997 cc), replacing the XUD9 in 1999. It was initially available in 90 PS (66 kW; 89 hp) form, with two valves per cylinder and a non-intercooled turbo. An intercooler was added later in the year, boosting power to 109 PS (80 kW; 108 hp).

The DW10 was used as the basis for the new family of Diesel engines co-developed with Ford, and it is used in the Focus, C-Max and Volvo C30/S40/V50, besides various Citroën and Peugeot passenger models. The DOHC 16-valve powerplants were mated to a second-generation common rail injection system and a variable-geometry turbocharger, pushing power to 136 PS (100 kW; 134 hp) (RHR). It is fitted with a six-speed manual transmission or six-speed automatic transmission (from summer 2006 onwards).

The 6-speed manual transmission is very smooth, not as smooth as the petrol ones but smoother for a diesel car. Clutch is light and this helps in stop-go traffic where you have you use your left foot a lot. Effortless overtakes in 4th as well as 5th gears are a charm. The sweet spot for gear shifts is around 1800 to 2000 rpm. The car’s not happy beyond 3k rpm and runs out of steam and I have not tried to rev it beyond that. Personally, I try to not rev it faster due to the diesel cars known to spew out black smoke on harder accelerations. Honestly, this embarrasses me in a funny way whenever it happens, all unintentionally of course.

What I love about the transmission ratios is, it makes this car a relaxed cruiser. Slot in 6th gear, 70 MPH with the Tachometer needle sitting just shy a below 2100 rpm. Rev it up to 80 and she still feels relaxed at around 2300. You can drive all day in this and still not feel any fatigue. My longest trip in this car has been about 450 miles to Northern Scotland. This included hours of driving in the total of 11 hours journey. Throw anything at this car, long straights, curves, high speed bends and she takes it in her stride. You just need to know the right cog to slot in and you are smiling all the way. Long story short, this was the best drive I have had in any car and I was very happy and felt absolutely no fatigue post this journey.

In order to engage reverse you must pull the collar up located below the gear knob and push it your left and slot forwards (just like engaging first). The gear will not engage if the ring isn’t fully pulled up. I have always found the reverse gear to be tough to engage when you are taking the car out for the first time in a day or couple of days. I read about this on a forum 'The Student Room', quoting the answer below,

“Mechanical explanation: When you engage a gear, you're moving a toothed collar across to engage a toothed ring which couples the desired gear with the output shaft. On forward gears a synchromesh unit synchronises the collar and ring, so the teeth are aligned. Reverse doesn't have a synchro so sometimes the teeth clash. Spinning the input shaft (by bringing the clutch up in neutral) moves the collar and ring relative to each other, so next time you try and put it into reverse it should work.”

The explanation was what I found several months later. Still not sure what made me do exactly the same thing as explained above to get it working. Weird ways your mind works sometimes or maybe I am just in the wrong field of work, who knows.


Fuel Consumption (Kitna deti hai?):

I prefer premium diesel; personal choice is Shell V-Power Diesel. Per the on-board computer I get 53 mpg (around 18kmpl) which is about 2.5 mpg jump from the normal diesel. My calculations do come close to this figure. Also, premium diesel helps in a cleaner combustion of fuel and does not spew thick black smoke on harder accelerations. These figures are with almost 80% of motorway driving.

The increase in average fuel consumption helps in getting a better range from the already mammoth fuel tank of 70 Litres. I was in for a surprise for my very first fuel stop, where the meter just wouldn’t stop running and went beyond 50 litres. I had to stop and check if the meter was broken as the clip on the fuel handle just wouldn’t click. Fun stuff, as I had managed to get all the information on the car barring the fuel tank size when searching to buy one.

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Ride and Handling

What is it like to Drive?
‘Comfortable’ is the word. Driving a saloon is a personal choice, driving a comfortable saloon is even better. My aching lower back has so much gratitude for the supple ride quality on offer. You don’t feel any bumps, potholes, gravel roads, it is that good. It is a massive step over the Focus that I had. Not that the Focus was too stiff for the ride but the difference in ride quality is stark. With seat adjustment for recline, height and lumbar support one can easily find a suitable driving position to one’s liking.

The car is shod with 215/55 R 16 alloys that gobble up all the undulations, potholes and speedhumps with ease. The ground clearance on offer is decent and have not scraped the car so far.

With the front visibility being extremely good with the wider windshield, you also have a good view of the bonnet line. This helps with manoeuvring the car in tight spaces or traversing through narrow lanes.

Yes! Hydraulic assisted Power Steering. Just love the way the steering feels on the mountain passes.


The steering is quick and precise, you know exactly where the wheels are pointing on your steering input. Best way to experience this is on the narrow country lanes or single carriageways with twists and turns. I have been a bit naughty when driving at 50 MPH on long bends on empty roads. Don’t get me wrong, it is no sports car, you try pushing beyond yourself and the car’s limit and all the 1.5 tonnes of weight will be suddenly evident. The weight is especially evident on up-down slopes on the A or B Roads (country roads), try to floor the throttle and when you reach the top of the slope you will feel the suspension decompress. My point being, the car transmits the feel of the road surface to you and that is what I expect from the car. If you feel disconnected with what is happening when you are driving, then I personally don’t like to drive such a car. I am no ‘pedal to the metal’ guy but there are certain expectations with the driving experience I want, and this car fulfils it.

This is the perfect car after the German saloons for long distances. Since, my job includes a lot of driving I cannot recommend the Mondeo enough. The availability of Cruise Control is very helpful. It helps me in the average speed zones on the UK motorways where you must maintain your speed and not go beyond a certain limit. I took some time to get used to driving on Cruise Control, understanding what the buttons do and how it engages and disengages etc. For example, I had set the speed to 70 MPH and then had to disengage as the traffic built up. On pressing ‘RES’ (Reset) at 60 MPH to get back to 70, the car accelerated really fast to get to that speed. I was just not prepared for it, I mean one would gradually accelerate to 70 if it had to be done manually, this felt like someone floored the throttle on my behalf. Not the best of experiences in the driver’s seat. Also, the idea of ‘someone else’ managing the throttle for you was not welcome in my head. I have trained myself to use Cruise Control only when necessary and in sparse traffic, not when it is raining or the road being wet/slippery either. The same has been mentioned in the user manual.

The braking on this car is precise. Disc brakes on all four wheels helps in quick braking to stop the heavy car right where you want it. The car’s equipped with ABS and the added safety of it is always welcome. The Mondeo also gets ESP (Electronic Stability Program) or ‘Stability Control’ as per the Manual. Do not switch it OFF for any reason. If it is switched off there is a warning flashing on the dash to denote the same.

The NVH levels are good. With all the windows rolled up you do not hear any wind noise or the road surface noise. All you hear is the engine and the turbo kick in. Any other noises if at all can easily be drowned by light music volume. These little things matter a lot on long drives.

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Issues Faced:

- At the time of purchase, I noticed that the lid of the ash tray would not close.

- The dealer pointed out that there is a little chink in the rear right taillight. Both issues were addressed by ordering replacement parts by the dealer with me agreeing to get them fixed myself.

- On the way home post purchase of the car, I noticed the Radio was not working and it later asked me for the Security Code. Neither the dealer nor myself had the code with us despite me looking in the car for some document regarding it. This was fixed by buying a Radio Code online by entering the Radio’s ID. The amount was refunded to me by the Dealer.

- There was an issue with the Cruise Control not working. On updating this to the Dealer he requested me to get the car back for a check. In the first visit we tried changing the Fuse but that did not help. In the second visit we changed the steering wheel which resolved the problem. It so happens that the previous owner probably changed the steering wheel and had fitted an incorrect one. My car needed a steering that had 3 notches at the back to get it fitted for the controls. However, the existing one had two notches. Not sure from where this was sourced as I have tried searching for this incorrect steering and could not find it. We were glad that this fixed the issue as the next step involved checking the ECU and possibly replace it, which would have been an expensive fix.

In all these issues experienced, I would really thank the dealer for going above and beyond in getting me a fully functional car with no flaws. Kudos to them for their effort and professionalism. I have such high praise as the previous interaction in the purchase of the Ford Focus was not great. Perfect case of my urgent need to buy a car vs a dealer trying to get rid of a dodgy car which got me scammed.

In the month of June this year, I noticed that the front left tyre was leaking air. I got the tyre checked at a Tyre shop located just across the street where I live. He confirmed that the leak was due to corrosion in the inside edge of the wheel wall and despite his best efforts he could not resolve it completely. The suggestion was to get the wheels replaced or refurbished. I went with the latter option and got them refurbished at a renowned shop. The missus suggested we should go with a Dark Grey colour as it would look good with the existing Black colour of the car. Proceeded with this suggestion and dropped the idea of painting the callipers as I needed the car early. The thought of getting the callipers painted was just an itch and not a requirement, the dealer also suggested to not do it as it does not make any difference other than visual appeal. Dropped the idea and money saved is money earned anyway.


Issues During First Service and MOT:

At the time of the first service, I had to get the following issues addressed,

- Steering wheel judder at high speed braking. The problem was reduced significantly by fitting new tyres. This was due anyway since the previous set had developed cracks. The judder increased again after a couple of weeks. At the time of the service, the front disc brakes and pads were replaced. Issue solved!

However, it did raise its head again after 500 miles of driving and kept increasing. Had to replace the rear discs and brake pads to get it resolved. All looks fine now.

- Left rear door does not auto lock/unlock. This was an expensive fix and hence did not pursue it. I will check if I can find some information on some cheap DIY fix for this. The right rear door has developed the same issue and it appears that this is common in Ford cars. Don’t know the root cause and have not found the time to examine this myself.

- For the MOT check it was observed that there was a steering fluid leak. This failed the car’s MOT and had to be fixed immediately as it was a ‘Major’ defect. Initially it was suggested to fit a new steering rack. I checked my car’s warranty plan and confirmed that the steering rack was covered in its plan. It was inclusive of labour charges as well. Although, it did surprise me that the steering rack would be off as the car was just 9.5 years old and at 85k miles.

Nevertheless, provided the warranty documents to the garage and they said they will review them to raise a complaint. On the next check they noticed that it was the fluid pipes that had gotten loose. I believe they noticed this as for the warranty claim they would have to get into finer details and removal of bodywork to access and click pictures of the problematic part. This still cost me more due to the labour-intensive process of fixing this issue.

- There was a ‘Dangerous’ defect as below,
“Offside/Driver side Front Track rod end ball joint worn to the extent there is a serious risk of detachment”. This was a simple inexpensive fix, but this marks the car as ‘undrivable’.

- One more ‘Major’ defect was with the Driver side Headlamp aim beam projection image being incorrect. The fix being replacing the bulb and aligning the beam.

It appears that for this check there is a grid line image that is projected on a wall and then the car’s headlights are projected on the wall with this image. If the headlights projection does not fall within the legal parameters, it is deemed as a failure. The details of this can be easily found online. Below is an image for reference.

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Some additional Points:

- Warning messages on MID for headlight or stop light getting conked off. Found this to be very helpful and was pleasantly surprised as I would not have imagined a car from 2010 to have this feature.

- Easy to manoeuvre in tight city traffic and equally easy to park. It’s the girth you should be worried about. Say you park it easily in a tight space and then you can’t get out, not the best of situations in my opinion.

- The soft copy of the user manual is easily available on Ford’s website.

- I have got the ‘Terraclean’ service done on my car. They are a patented service provider and can be done at a specified garage location or at home. As per the information, the method utilized clears the carbon content that has built up in the engine and makes the combustion a lot cleaner. I have noticed a difference in the way the engine runs post this service. The car accelerates a bit faster and engine appears to run smoother. Also, this has reduced the emission of black smoke significantly whilst improving the car’s average fuel consumption which had started to drop recently.
(Note: I am not affiliated with Terraclean in any way. Nor am I trying to promote their services on this forum.)

How to access the self-diagnosis mode on a Mk4 Ford Mondeo:

The same process works for S-Max/Galaxy/Focus/C-Max

1) Once you are in the driver’s seat, ensure that you have all the doors closed.
2) Have the key in position ‘1’ in the steering lock.
3) Press and Hold the ‘OK’ button located on the right-hand side of the Steering wheel for about 15 seconds. Turn the key to position ‘2’ whilst holding the OK button. (Note: Do not start the car).
4) Once you are in the self-diagnose mode, navigation is simple. Navigate by pressing the same ‘OK’ button on the steering wheel.
5) If there are any errors, they will appear on the MID as you navigate.
6) Once you are done with navigating through all options, you just need to pull out the key to exit the self-diagnosis mode.

Found the above information in this useful video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T8RieIiddo

Attaching the Owner's Handbook here:

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Tips on buying a Used Car in UK

These points/suggestions are based on my experience and whatever online content I could find. Any additional points are welcome.

- A thorough research is must. You have countless options in the UK’s Used car market right from something as cheap as £200(or even less) to the very expensive ones.

- A simple rule I followed is to strike a balance between not very cheap and with an affordable insurance.

- Set the budget that you are willing to pay for the car. Be flexible with paying as much as an additional £500 on your budget. Trust me, it is worth it if the car is well maintained and well looked after.

- Have your requirements precisely documented/listed.

- If you are not experienced with driving in UK, I would say take your time first. Please do not treat this as your drive for your one-off trip to UK where you need to drive for few days and return to your native country. Observe the traffic flow when you are having a casual evening/morning walk, when commuting via buses or taxis. This really helps.

Why do I suggest this? It may happen that the car you like and are willing to buy may be far away from where you stay. If you are planning to drive your car back this might be a nervy thing to do as you need to get used to driving in a new country. If possible, go for the delivery of the car with a friend who is used to driving in UK. Or, check if the dealer can get the car delivered it to you. I did 22 miles in my first drive in UK to get the car home. By far the nerviest drive I have done. Everyone in the UK follows traffic rules to the dot. Hence, it is relatively easy to drive here even if you are new.

- Prefer to search the cars on sale on ‘Autotrader’. I have found this site to be the most reliable and very easy to use. I have received suggestions to refrain from cars on sale on ‘eBay’ or ‘Gumtree’. Simply put, the cars on sale on these websites are the ones that do not get sold on Autotrader. You will notice that the car prices are relatively cheaper by £200-£300 on these sites. Cheap equals problem most of the times and hence for peace of mind it is worth spending those additional pounds.

- Exclude the cars that are marked as CAT S/C/D/N etc. These are the cars that have been in a mishap and/or are not roadworthy with them requiring major repair work. There is a filter on Autotrader to exclude such adverts. These are priced cheap for obvious reasons.

- As you flip through different adverts when reviewing any car of interest, ensure that you check the car’s MOT history with the help of its Registration Number (number plate). This will help in understanding how well the car was maintained throughout its life. Minor MOT failures like headlamps, indicators not working can be ignored as these are common advisories. Another common set of flaws will be with the disc brakes, brake pads and tyre wear.

Stay away from cars that have advisories for disc brakes and pads at the time of sale as this is an expensive repair. For example, for my Mondeo the front set of discs and pads set me back by £250. Total £300+ inclusive of labour.

Ensure that the car has a healthy long-term MOT. Look for 10 to 12 months (12 is the maximum) of valid MOT. In some cases, if the MOT is expired or nearing expiry the dealer will offer you a fresh MOT and this is usually mentioned in the Sales Description. The general rule followed is to provide a fresh MOT if the validity is less than 3 months at the time of sale. Personally, I would stay away from any vehicle that has less than 6 months of MOT.

You can check the MOT history on the UK Government’s website by entering the Car’s registration number found here.

- Do the penny test to check the depth of the treads of the tyres on the car. Take a Twenty Pence coin and place it vertically between the treads. If the tread depth is higher than the outer border of the coin, then it should be fine. The outer border of a Twenty Pence coin is about 2mm and thus helps in validating the depth. The UK legal limit is 1.6mm.

- Check the advisories on the service history of the car. What kind of service did the car have in its last scheduled service. There are 3 types, minor, intermediate and major. Minor includes just the basic checks, filter and fluid replacements. Not sure regarding the Intermediate one. Major includes the Minor plus replacing the spark plugs, etc. At least, that is what I was told in a nutshell.

- Check the approximate insurance for a particular brand/model/age. I have used ‘Compare the Market’ where I got decent quotes. Be advised that you will be treated as a ‘new’ driver in UK and your insurance quote will be higher for this reason. Insurance cost varies with your location of stay, parking provision, drivers age, marital status, job profile, number of children, approximate usage of vehicle and many things. You will get an idea as you fill out information to retrieve a quote. A 12-year-old BMW 5-series with 100k on the odo looks lucrative at £2500, the insurance costs though would be the same as the buying amount or even more.

- If possible, get an NCB letter from your Car Insurance provider from India. This helped me in getting £200 knocked off my quote.

- Not all insurance providers will be willing to get you a cover. Call them and confirm if they are ok to provide an insurance cover for you.

- Petrol cars seem to be offered a cheaper insurance quote than an equivalent diesel car.

- Suggestion would be to go for mainstream brands like Vauxhall, Ford, VW, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, etc. I have observed that Honda, VW, Seat, Citroen, Renault and Peugeot cars to be priced higher than their equivalent competitors from Ford and Vauxhall.

- Check if you are getting a valid warranty with the car. Ask for additional duration on the warranty cover from the dealer. It is considerably cheaper to extend the warranty cover at the time of purchase rather than extending it later with the warranty provider. Dealers can get you a significantly cheaper warranty for a longer duration. In my case it was just an additional £29 over the existing cover of 6 months. I paid £147 for a 1-year warranty. Also, I received a Summer discount which made the deal better.

- Insist on a test drive where you get a chance to run through all the gears. Walk away if this is not honoured. The dealer needs to sell his cars as quickly as he can and hence you as a customer are the king.

- Check if the dealer has performed an HPI check on the car. This helps in determining if the car was involved in any accidents. If HPI check is completed, it is mentioned in the Sales Description that the car is ‘HPI clear’. If not, you can do it yourselves by approaching the providers of this service.

- When looking for a Car model (example: Ford Focus) check for a couple more cars for their MOT history from your search results. This helps in identifying potential common flaws with that model, which are highlighted as problems during a MOT check.


Buying Process:

Straightforward, hassle free process. No documentation required.

- Once you finalize the car, complete your payment. In my case, both times I have made full payment on the spot.

- The dealer will give you a Green Receipt regarding transfer of ownership from the current V5C document. (V5C is UK’s car registration document/certificate). You will receive a new V5C document at the specified home address that you mentioned in the previous V5C in about two weeks.

- You must pay the vehicle tax for the car before driving it. Please note that the duration of the Vehicle tax is considered from the start of the month regardless of the day you make your payment. I made the payment on the 29th of September, but my start day was considered as 1st of the same month.

- Get an insurance for the car before driving it. If you have an existing one you need to notify the Insurance provider about the change of vehicle. This is simple and can be done via a phone call. Please check with the provider if there is any change to your quote. If any, they will refund or take additional amount from you.

- Check if the dealer is providing you with a Road Side Assistance cover like ‘AA’ or ‘RAC’. They will offer a years’ worth of cover but ensure you get complete details of the same. I was offered a year’s cover, but it was for only one breakdown. I upgraded it later to multiple breakdowns.

Tip: At the time of renewal of your Breakdown cover the provider will quote you a higher amount than necessary. You must not budge and get the quote reduced or leave them for another provider. This helps in getting a much lower quote than what was quoted by them. I got my quote down from £256 to £135.

- The RSA can be taken individually or from the Car Insurance provider. I opted for the former as I can tinker with the cover a bit.

- For existing RSA cover you need to notify them about the change in ownership of the vehicle. Simple phone call and you are set.

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Final Thoughts:

The entire photoshoot was completed in a day including the polishing of the car in UK summer heat. The only exception of photos being of the updated wheel colour, boot luggage and few other exterior pics from a Trip. Funnily enough one of the local residents asked me if I was selling the car during the photoshoot. I told him I wasn't and said that it was for an ownership review and gave him some information about what 'Team BHP' is. I am staggered that I managed to do this and get my first thread out. It has taken several months of effort to compile this review with the photoshoot done in July 2019 and the write-up starting in September. Apologies, if I may have missed to add something.

Why did I have a strong inclination to buy the Mondeo? I have to give credit to Top Gear, at least some of it. The reasoning that it is the only car you would want and anything beyond that is just not required. The feel of a big car, better engine at an affordable price is what common folk want. I cannot differ to those points as I own one and have experienced what they meant. Not to mention the countless repetitions of YouTube videos and online articles that I went through. And to be a part of the words ‘A Mondeo Man’.

The more I drive this car, the more I respect it and respect Ford consequently. What Ford has achieved with this car is remarkable and it is a shame that the Mondeo will slowly be phased out due to a continuing drop in sales numbers and Customers now inclined to buy a Crossover than a Saloon.

To be honest, I do not have the same love for this car as I had for my Roadrunner. Roadrunner was my first car, and nothing can replace her. What I do have is immeasurable admiration and awe for the Mondeo. It is the most powerful car I have owned so far. She is the perfect balance between power, handling, comfort and truly an amazing machine that does all and does so well. I wish the Mondeo was still on sale in India, I would buy it with my eyes closed. Are you listening Ford? This car would be/have been the right competition for the D1 segment. Sigh!