Having a newish car is all well and good BUT...

[steve_earwig]

Different times, different emissions hurdles... She'd be fine with an XUD too.

[Welly]

Not referring to CJ's mother but; It always amazes me how retired people spend the extra lolly to buy the diesel version of a new small car because it 'uses less fuel' and then proceed to potter about with it hardly getting up to temperature and doing very few miles; then later being faced with huge repair bills which wipe the floor with the minimal fuel savings they've 'enjoyed'

Someone worked out that if you took a Shitroen C1 petrol verses diesel then you'd have to cover about 120,000 miles in the diesel BEFORE you got your money back on the purchase price difference

[gumby6371]

I've often thought if I had a wind fall I'd get myself a higher spec'd XUD and spend a few grand on an engine rebuild,transmission overhaul, new suspension and brakes plus seals and cosmetics etc.
It would like having a new car for a fraction of the price and avoid all the DPF/FAP issues of new diesels. Driven 'sensibly' my 1.9 can do 40 round town quite easily and I have the advantage of running on veg if I want to.
Cheap road tax isn't really much good if you have to shell out for a new DPF!

My boss just bought a 508 1.6 HDIe auto, I think it's a 6 speed box, good luck getting that up to temp to regen the DPF.
It does look nice tho

[DaiRees]

Gotta agree. My office is about 15 miles from home (all on a dual carriageway), I do have to travel further afield sometimes for work and very rarely use my car for short journeys, but nevertheless I still wonder if I'm giving it enough of a run day to day. The wife works 2 miles away through the centre of town and her car does all the running about, shopping, fetching the kids, visiting the folks etc, she's got a petrol engine and her next car will be petrol too!

[Bailes1992]

£396 for both belts to be changed at Ford. I can live with that!

Oh and my Mondeo dosent have a DPF

[jasper5]

Speaking about Ford belts....I replaced a water pump on a 2008 1.6 petrol Focus today, the 2 belts (alternator and seperate aircon belt) are the new "stretch" type belts, they don't have tensioners.

You need a special tool to guide the belts over the pulleys whilst the belt stretches onto the pulleys., it felt really strange forcing belts over pulleys, very odd!!

[Bailes1992]

I heard about them, people say they are a nightmare.

My Focus had one belt and a self tensioning tensioner
I don't know if they were special or not but it was very easy, you just put pressure on the tensioner and it slackens the belt. Take the belt off, line up the new one and hook it under the tensioner. Was great!

[Doggy]

Most washers and tumble driers have these elastic belts now, (as I learned when my daughter's one shredded itself into half a dozen separate belts, which enabled it to tangle in the wiring and rip all that out while still almost turning the drum).

My subsequent internet search for a manual to determine how to reconnect it, uncovered a dozen or more identical incidents.

The overwhelming conclusion from the 'trade' being, 'yeah, they're crap', but much cheaper to make cos' you don't build in any adjusting or tensioning provision.

S'pose it was inevitable this would find it's way on to cars.

Is it just me, or do Ford have a real knack of pioneering all these developments at their customer's expense?

[Welly]

Is it just me, or do Ford have a real knack of pioneering all these developments at their customer's expense?

Ford will go the the Moon and back to find something that is 23p cheaper

I noticed yesterday, I think it was a new Folkarse model, that there's only one numberplate illumination bulb now - it looked weird to me, most cars have the luxury of two bulbs but this poor thing was left trying to cover both on its own somebody in the bean-counting Dept. has probably saved £1.26 per unit on that little gem

Ford's 'interference' with Volvo saw many die-hard Volvo'ists disappear (yes, there are some out there) and it was all to do with an overriding 'cheapening' of things.

[Captain Jack]

Is Ford still pretty much bankrupt these days or have their finances improved? If they have, then it's probably due to elastic bands for belts...

[mjb]

You need a special tool to guide the belts over the pulleys whilst the belt stretches onto the pulleys

Special tool? Sounds like a dog food scoop would work well there

[Bailes1992]

In all fairness, my MK4 Mondeo interior is much better built than my fathers new 320d.

[jasper5]

You need a special tool to guide the belts over the pulleys whilst the belt stretches onto the pulleys

Special tool? Sounds like a dog food scoop would work well there

This is one version of the tool.....http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-STRETCH-S ... 519a02445f

I used a different one, but no, a spoon would not do the job, the belts are 4 inches shorter than normal and need stretching a long way....very tricky job, not for the faint hearted!!

[plod]

I've had my Mondeo for 4 months now and it's cracking! I think nothing about jumping in it and doing a few hundred miles, sleeping and then doing the same journey the next day. I've taken it to the Isle of mann, France, Holland and Ireland and other than the little tempreture gauge niggle I had when I bought it, it's been perfect!

Sam, can you remind me what your scenario was and the cause please

Noticed the other day, my Mondingo was up to temp really quickly, and then today, when telling my lad as we was driving along about how quickly it got up to temp, I noticed the gauge jumped from about just over 1/4 to just under 1/2

[Bailes1992]

All fords should sit at thhe 90 degree mark at all times. The tempreture does not move on them once they are warm!

Aslong as the tempreture jumped up and not down I wouldn't worry.

My car had an issue with the coolant tempreture sensor.