My new Ford Mondeo, please stick to Hondas

[cmhs75]

Here is the deal
I just bought a new Ford Mondeo. It's the Ford Focus's big sister car not available in the US. This car is fantastic. It looks, feels, and drives like an expensive car although it only cost me about 13,000 US$. And the driving experience is superb. It is a fantastic car
But yesterday, I was driving it to the dealer because the trip computer doesn't work. And on my way there, my CD changer Brock!
Well, after they checked the car, they said that the spare parts would cost a little over 1,000 US$! Damn!

Of course it was fixed under warranty. But here’s the thing, all of my family told me to stick to Japanese built cars and stay away from Ford. I didn't listen, claiming that the Mondeo is part of the European Ford and hence it would be better designed and built. Now, I'm really having second thoughts. Things like these are the main reason why I used to only consider Japanese cars and the main reason I see the NSX as being the only super car worth buying.
Now, I need to know, is there anyone in this forum who knows anything about the Mondeo reliability. I searched the web and I only got positive feedback. I need to hear it from someone who has more familiarity than a car reviewer.

 

[hlweyl]

I don't know anything about Ford Mondeo but I had terrible luck with my 93 Explorer. It hit 60k miles and suddenly couldn't run without stalling. I spent over $1000 in repairs, but the dealer couldn't keep it from stalling so I traded it in on a Honda CRV.

Turns out the engineers put an ignition module too close to the exhaust and over time the heat causes the failure. I heard about it during the Firestone incident so it didn't get much publicity. The engineers didn't like the placement but it would have cost $7 extra per car so Ford didn't want to move it.

Americans can build great cars if the penny-pinchers leave them alone.

 

[NSX-Racer]

I have a 2002 Mondeo TDCi (130 hp Diesel) with a bit over 20,000 km (bought new). I use it as a daily driver and to tow the trailer with the NSX on (usualy packed full with tires, tools etc.). The only bad I had was that a hose from the turbo did get loose - easy to fix.

The rest works fine and the car itself has a very good performance in terms of engine and suspension although it's a SW. On the german consumer boards (www.dooyoo.de, www.ciao.de) the new model gets very good notes for reliability etc.

It's not comparable with other Fords built outside Europe I guess. OTOH japanese quality and reliability is overall still better than german.

 

[ANYTIME]

Here is a pic for everyone to see what it looks like

 

[NSX-Racer]

Mine looks a bit different...(SW).
You can see it here

 

[cmhs75]

Mine looks a bit different...(SW).
You can see it here

Yep that is exactly my Mondeo except mine is a saloon. Even the color is the same.

But, in truth, I didn't notice it until I stopped gazing at the NSX. WAW man your car looks really cool. Not too much mods to make it like a rice boy dream and just enough to make it look like a race car prototype. I especially dig the rear wing and the dark tainted black color. Thumbs up man.

Now back to the subject. Did you get any electronic glitches in your Mondeo? And, I just have to ask although I think I already know the answer, which is the more reliable car between the two. The NSX or the Mondeo

 

[NSX-Racer]

Thanks for the compliments. As for reliability I gave the answer in my 1st post - japanese quality seems still to be superior. I can't compare these two cars in reliability because they are too different, because the Mondeo has more than 100,000 km less than my Honda and because the Mondeo isn't (mis)used on racetracks.

The only electronic "glitch" (is that the word for a problem?) was concerning a little unsteady run of the engine at low speeds and low rpms. That was cured by a new software update for the ECU which your friendly Ford dealer should have for free (they have updates from time to time nearly like a computer software company). What was not cured by that update was a little cruise control problem with the Diesel: Control doesn't work properly below 60 km/h (stated in the manual) and reacts overall very slow compared to the NSX cruise control. But that may be an exclusive Diesel problem.

Rest of the car works fine - but you may ask me when it has more than 120,000 km like my NSX. I should mention that I ain't have a CD changer in the Mondeo like you have but only the stock CD radio. Maybe you can't claim Ford for the failure of a 3rd party item or is it an original Ford part too?

BTW: Color is not black but "magnum gray pearl"

 

[cmhs75]

Yeah the CD changer unit is stock and it was repaired under warranty ( 670 US$ ! and they didn't replace the whole unit). My car is a petrol Ghia model. It's a 2003 model. The new model ( 2004) comes with a CD changer unit from SONY and hence I bet it will be a lot more reliable than the one I have now. My unit makes a toy like sound from it when you change CD's and it takes along time to actually change CDs. It kind of reminds me of my Senior Design project back when I was in Collage where I did an Automated car wash model. But that was a 3 month 500US$ project done solely by me only. Ford should do a lot better with their mass produced units done by trained electronic engineers. I think they realized that in the new models were they opted for the Sony unit. I wonder if I can replace the whole unit with the new one.
I know that the Japanese make a lot more reliable cars. But I couldn't find anything worth buying. The Accord was a flabby handler. And even get me started with the Camry. The Mazda 6 just bounces all over the place and feels really cheap inside. That's why I chose the Mondeo. Right Now, I'm doing my research on how to get a 91-93 NSX ( for the non assisted steering ). But all I can say is, damn the NSX can sure hold its price. I can't find anything lower than 30,000 US$.

By the way, the color of your NSX, is it stock or repainted?

 

[NSX-Racer]

The colour was stock for 2 or 3 years (at least here in Europe).

Be sure to get the latest ECU software from your dealer.

Concerning the stock stereo: Yes, it's not state of the art like most of the stock units you get from car companies. The Bose system in the NSX is also not the best you can have nowadays, I guess.