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

[Bailes1992]

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!

Heres the problem. The brakes all round need changing. The brakes are around £250 all round from Ford or Motorfactors for a decent make. Mintex is avaible all round on ebay for £150. Then to fit the brakes you need a brake wind up tool. It is reccomended you get the LH and RH Draper expert tool to do it. At £60.
It's also due a brake fluid change, I'm not willing to do it myself but my mechanic will do it for £30.
So to replace my brakes it is going to cost me £240 minimum.

Then theres the fact it's due a major service. I kind of want to keep the service history going, Ford want £200.
I can do it myself for under £100. Should I?

Then there is the timing belt, the camshaft is driven by a belt. The fuel pump is driven by the camshaft via a belt which is in a cartridge full of oil. The timing belt is your usual affair which the mechanic I use has offered to do for £180. If I want to change the cartridge then the part is £300 from Ford.

Tyres are £240 for 2 for a decent brand, and yes I'm due two in the next few thousand miles.

Thing is people keep going on about "Thats what you get for buying a high mileage car" Really? I'm pretty sure if I'd bought a car with half the mileage it would have still need servicing, tyres, brakes etc etc.

Maybe I should have bought another 1.9TD Executive

[steve_earwig]

I think nothing about jumping in it and doing a few hundred miles,

I wouldn't think about it either

Then theres the fact it's due a major service. I kind of want to keep the service history going, Ford want £200.
I can do it myself for under £100. Should I?

Depends. If you7're planning on selling it in the near future then it might actually pay for itself, if you're planning on keeping it for 4 or 5 years then I wouldn't bother - you'd save far more than you'd gain. These days I wouldn't be that interested in a book full of dealer tamps anyway, especially in Croatia, receipts for parts etc would be much more of a guarantee that the work had actually been carried out...

[Bailes1992]

Half of me wants to get a Titanium X Sport 2.2 TDCi (200ps) with a Powershift auto in a few years.

Half of me remembers that me and Becca have been on about getting a house in the next year or two for quite some time now

So I have no idea how long I will keep it for.

[Busman]

This is the classic young more expensive 2nd hand car versus the cheaper older £1500 runabout that I tend to get conundrum. And the issues that you are so accuratly debating will only get worse as the older cars die off. And having seen what Doggys just got for £1500, I do wonder why pay more for a car?
But, what to do? For me, i'm happy pottering on my pair of 406 estates, as they are still of the generation that lots of stuff is doable on your drive. Did the front discs and pads on the D8 the other day, and I have to say I quite enjoyed doing it. The most complicated tool being a g clamp to wind back the callipers.
It seems to me that the big problem is the service history. If I was looking for a car of the age of your mondeo, i'd not touch one with gaps in the history. But does that matter if you're keeping it for ages? Probably not.
Thinking of getting a house with the girlfriend? Then perhaps a big cheap estate car would be usefull? Your the kind of chap who can keep it going cheaply and use the cash saving to put into the house.
But what do I know? Every one here will have a different opinion.

[Bailes1992]

I am starting to wish I got rid of my HDi and bought another D8.

The girlfriend just got rid of her 2010 Corsa for a 54 plate KA.
I had it in bits all last weekend cleaning everything and putting it all back together (Previous owner was a smoker)


Spend the whole weekend wishing I had something older so I could work on it!

I think what I'm going to do is buy the mintex brakes off ebay, buy all the servicing stuff from Ford and get the mechanic I use to do it all. That way the book still gets stamped and I can prove good quality parts have been used. Still going to cost me a packet though

[midsmike]

Y has your girlfriend gone from a 10 plate corsa to a ka I would never let my girlfriend drive a ka there a tin can nothink to them my girlfriends got a 10 plate corsa and now wants a A1 and there's me drivin a R reg 406

[Bailes1992]

10 plate Corsa was 2 years old with 15,000miles and it was f*cked.
Clutch kept failing, would just go bang and the pressure plate would explode, was going through coilpacks for fun. The aircon compressor FELL OFF!

Ka's are great little cars if you learn to keep the rust at bay.

Oh and the Ka had a 3 star auto Ncap rating. The D8 had a 2 star Ncap rating.
Which one is safer?

[midsmike]

oh and about ur book been stamped has ur car got warranty if so then I would get it stamped but if not then I wud do the work my self and just keep receipts my motto is y pay some 1 to do somethink I can do I do all the work on my car and keep all the receits and put wat miles are on the car on them and carspares put my reg on there

[midsmike]

Ur girlfriend must of had a bad 1 my girlfriends has 21k on it and no problems and I still prefer to drive my d8

[Bailes1992]

Ur girlfriend must of had a bad 1 my girlfriends has 21k on it and no problems and I still prefer to drive my d8

Never heard of a good Vauxhall to be honest.

When my father was working for his last company he had a 2000 Vectra (Don't remember the engine to be honest) it was green and automatic and the boot would regularly fill up with water.

Back in 2004/2005 my father had 3 Vectra C's.
54 plate 1.9CDTi SRi 150 - Kept going into limp mode, engine management and EGR issues even though it spent it's life on the motorway.
05 plate V6 CDTi SRi - Much of the same, would also cut out on the motorway at high speeds.
55 plate V6 CDTi Elite Automatic - Autobox would get stuck in gears or would just drop into 2nd for no reason.

In the end he had someone elses company car after they left (2003 Mondeo ST220 in Performance Blue) and then he had someone elses company car after they left (Another 2003 ST220 in Silver) just to avoid Vauxhalls.

My Auntie has a 2009 Corsa 1.3CDTi on it's 3rd Turbo and I've had to clean the EGR twice Its another car that lives its life on the motorway!

Now I believe when a manafacturer makes millions of cars it's abound to get a few bad ones here and there. But Vauxhall seem to just have a few good ones.

[jasper5]

I think you are being a bit too negative about your Mondeo.

You don't need the wind back tool for a start, I never use one, I use a pair of mole grips and a pipe wrench or G clamp, mole grips loosely gripped on the outside of the piston to screw it back in, pipe wrench to speed up the screwing back in of the piston.....you may even be able to use long nosed pliers to screw the pistons back in on the rears....the fronts don't need one.

The timing belt is a doddle on these!!

You could easily replace the brake fluid for the cost of the fluid, it's a simple job with each wheel off whilst the brakes are changed....discs and pads or just the pads?

Servicing is no problem, surely......if you are worried about the service book being stamped send it to me and i'll stamp it up for you.....or....if you are planning to come up anywhere near me i'll do it all for you for a decent price.

[lozz]

Yeah iagree.
you dont need a Windback tool,


ibought a Windback tool, 50 odd quids ive used it once, (waste of money)
never used it since ,

[Bailes1992]

Now a few people have mentioned using a G clamp and a mole grips to turn the piston but there has also been stories of people 'nicking' the dust covers on the piston?

How easy do the pistons turn?

[lozz]

ijust use apair of snail nose pliers,

just push and turn,
ive done loads on Mondeos, mk2 -3 never done later mondeys
but the 2 and 3s where a doddle,

(just dont wind them back the wrong way or the calipers can end up fubard )

[DaiRees]

I've got a bit of a chip about getting the service book stamped particularly once the car's out of warranty, had this conversation many times. What I tend to do is to buy all good quality items and keep the receipts, then print off the service sheet (for Fords they're available on the internet) and follow it meticulously, doing every check and making notes as you go, staple the whole lot together and write the mileage and date on it, and sign it. Then fill the service book in and sign that too.

If you sell the car privately then a potential buyer will suss in 30 seconds whether you know what you're on about and whether you're the type to look after the car, and people like us clearly fall into that category. I'd much rather buy a car from someone who knows their onions and has obviously looked after it than someone who hasn't got a clue but has got a book of stamps.

Unfortunately, I'm gonna be paying through the nose for servicing, at least for a couple of years