On no, not a Ford Mondeo!

[Toledo Man]

This one isn't mine. My partner's youngers son who can't even drive has gone and bought a 2004 Ford Mondeo LX. He's hoping to turn this car round and sell in on for a small profit which is where I come in. I'm going to do the spannering (eat your heart out Edd China!) with the promise of splitting the profits 50/50. It has a 2.0 diesel and the mileage is 116,000. The first problem was a flat battery and a rattle from the rear. This was the tailgate not being shut properly. The boot light was constantly on and drained the battery. I noticed this on the test drive. Once the tailgate was closed it was much better. The car drives perfectly but the brakes did improve during the test drive which I put down to lack of use. I had already made a list of what is needed to get through the MoT (it ran out recently) and to sort out the minor niggles if he's to make his money back. I took a closer look this afternoon and this is my list of what needs to be done.

The rear parcel shelf is missing.
The bonnet lock needs replacing (these are operated by the key)
The front grille needs replacing.
One of the glovebox hinges is missing.
The ABS light stays on. (I hope this won't be an expensive fix)
The handbrake is poor.
There is only one wheel trim (the car has 16 inch steel wheels)
A wheel nut is missing (the car has 5 studs on each wheel)
The rear discs and pads need replacing (this probably explains the poor handbrake and it probably left the factory with those discs & pads)
The front discs aren't much better but the pads have plenty of meat on them. It'll get new pads anyway when I replace the discs.
The nearside windscreen trim is missing.

One thing this car has is HID headlights which should help when the car gets sold. It is taxed until September. One of his sisters and her hubby has already expressed their interest as they need something bigger than a Seat Ibiza to tow their caravan. There will be more room for their 3 daughters (all under the age of 10). The bodywork isn't 100% but these cars were galvanized so there's no rust to worry about. I'd like to give the car a service which will add value when it comes to selling it. Recommended engine oil is 5w30 but I'll put 10w40 in because of the mileage.

Costs so far: £230 purchase price.
Brake discs & pads won't leave much change from £100. Euro Car Parts comes in at just over £95 for discs & pads all round. I reckon I can get them a bit cheaper elsewhere.
The service items come in at just under £40 from Euro Car Parts. I should be able to source them cheaper.

[Jon Tilson]

I'd stick with the lighter oil. My Golf is fine on the thin long life stuff and has more miles up.

Carlube Vauxhall spec stuff was a deal last time I looked. The pd golf doesnt need low saps low ash expensive and your mondeo will be fine witth that.

Just hope you dont ever need a dual mass flywheel. Replacement cost will exceed the value.

Jonners

[Toledo Man]

Just done a rough estimate and it'll cost just over the purchase price for the parts. If I can get everything (aside from the brake and service parts) from the same breaker then the price should come down. ABS sensors aren't as expensive as I'd feared at about £27 a corner.

[cliftyhanger]

The abs is the first priority. If that is an expensive fix you may wish to just break the car.....

Hid headlights? May be an issue with the mot? Think the car has to have self levilling lights and washers etc to be legal? But may not matter....

[SprintMWU773V]

Sounds like a nail to me. Save your money and spend it on your Dolomite. There's not much (if any) profit to be had on a 10 year old Ford Mondeo. It's probably worth a grand tops. Break this car and use the money to buy a used Passat instead. It'll be worth a whole lot more.

You'll need to add lower wishbone bushes to your list, because they will almost certainly have failed.

[cliftyhanger]

There may be a few bob in it. A visit to the breakers for much of the stuff, plus a £100 of new parts. If selling for a profit you need to spend as little as possible to make it safe. (and tidy too) The wildcard it that abs light.....
Get the lad polishing/cleaning the thing. That will make a big difference to value.

Mileage isn't bad, and mondeos are excellent cars.

[Toledo Man]

Mark, this car isn't mine so not my problem if a loss is made (I'm just doing the spannering). The diesels are more desirable so hopefully there should be a profit at the end. I want to sort out every last niggle to get the best possible price.

Clive, I'm thinking along those lines too. Keeping the parts spend as low as possible. I'm hoping that once the hubs have been cleaned up as part of the brake disc repacement then it might fix the ABS light issue. The car will definitely get cleaned. I'd already got some the the interior vacced before I was interrupted. Halfords do a set of wheel trims for £20 so I can probably source them cheaper elsewhere. If I can get everything else from the breaker's in one hit then that will keep the parts spend down too. I've also blacked the tyre sidewalls. The suspension is fine in that there are no broken springs leaking dampers and the bushes on the front lower wishbones appeared to be fine (I might look at them again with the help of my crowbar). I'm also planning on doing a service (engine oil and the filters).

[Reg]

I have had a mondeo 03 plate for two years..very very good car for the money. Parts are everywhere and sooo cheap!

1. Disconnect both the leads from the battery for 30 mins..this will clean up the ecu memory. If the abs light comes on again, then you have a problem.

2. Dual mass flywheel shows itself by severe clutch judder..if and when it just slips, then the dmf is fine.

3. Tailgate can be opened by pressing the rubber pressure plate above the lock.

Like most things they are great cars if not abused.

[Jod Clark]

TDCi or TDDi? D=good, C= bad. And I wouldn't sell either to a family member. Chuck it at an MOT before you spend a dime on it, and pray that the rigid brake lines are ok.

[Toledo Man]

Here it is...


It's a TDCi - oh dear. Well it isn't really my problem. I'm only investing my effort into the repairs and sourcing the parts.

[Jod Clark]

Do not, under any circumstances, unless you know EXACTLY what you are doing, change the fuel filter. DON'T. Toledoman! Put down the tools and step away from the fuel filter!!

[Toledo Man]

Fear not, I've not even sourced one. The brake discs & pads are a priority (the rear discs are rusty and pitted. The rear pads are almost down to the metal which explains the crap handbrake). I can give the fuel filter a miss which keeps the parts spend down and avoids some grief (been there with the Seat Ibiza when I serviced it). I used to go on a Mondeo forum so I know where else to look for advice (besides this great forum).

[Reg]

I must add that I have the petrol 2 litre Duratec HE.. Never owned a diesel one, so can't comment on the engine in your car.

[Carledo]

I just sold an 02 Duratec petrol 2ltr Ghia for £600 (and lost money on it due to a catalogue of faults including air bag light, BOTH rear wheel bearings and two broken springs, one of which also took out a tyre while I was driving it!)
I took an 01 TDDI Ghia in part ex ( paid too much for it too) Though the fault list was much shorter it still owes me at least £450 without labour and no-one seems to want it, even for that! 12 months MOT, 127k miles and a private Irish reg.
When this one finally goes, I am never EVER gonna buy another Mondeo!

Steve

PS what Jod said about the metal brake pipes is the pure Gospel, I just replaced everything aft of the front subframe on the diesel car for the MOT, the old ones came off in broken 6" sections, the worst bits were, as usual, the hardest to see! Plus the unions were so badly seized in the rear flexis, I had to put 2 new flexis on as well!

[Toledo Man]

There are a couple of other issues with this car. There's an oil leak on the right hand side of the engine and there's a rattle coming from the engine when it is idling which doesn';t sound as bad when being driven. Somebody mentioned the dreaded DMF but it is coming from the same side as the oil leak and the clutch is fine (definitely no slipping). Jod, does the TDCi have a timing belt or a chain?

The whole thing may be irrelevant as somebody has already viewed the car last night and they could be buying it so this could be a short-lived thread.