Ford Mondeo

Fun to drive, good looking and very spacious - Ford Mondeo is still a class leader

Auto Express Car Reviews

Rating:
Latest deal price: from £14,158 to £23,853
For : Stylish, drives brilliantly, spacious, efficient engines
Against : Dated interior, expensive options, weak residuals

It may have been launched back in 2007, but the Ford Mondeo is still one of the best large family cars you can buy, beating the Vauxhall Insignia in pretty much every way. Quality and residual values aren't up to VW Passat levels, but the Mondeo is smartly styled, great fun to drive on a twisty road and it has masses of space inside for luggage and passengers. Cheap to tax Econetic versions make most sense for business drivers while those with deeper pockets can enjoy powerful turbo petrols and diesels.

Our pick: 138bhp 2.0-litre TDCI Zetec

Video: Watch CarBuyer's video review of the Mondeo

Styling

There’s no doubt that Ford got it spot-on with the look of the current Mondeo. Angular, imposing and sleek, it’s a good-looking machine. A facelift in 2010 brought LED headlights and taillights on top-spec models and very minor changes to the grille and bumpers.

Interior

When it was launched the Mondeo brought much better quality to the large family car class and while it’s getting on a bit now, it’s still a well-laid out cabin that’s easy to operate. For drivers, there’s loads of seat adjustment, while a reach and rake steering wheel means anyone can get comfortable. Even basic Edge models get air-con, cruise control and Bluetooth. At the top of the range Titanium X models have MP3 integration, climate control and rear parking sensors to name just a few. A Volkswagen Passat has a much more upmarket interior though, while the Vauxhall Insignia also feels more modern.

Driving and Performance

Note to large luxury car manufacturers – you really could learn a thing or two from the Ford Mondeo. Whereas a VW Passat is solid but uninvolving, the Mondeo boasts a firm but comfortable ride, sharp steering, great body control and surprising agility for something so large. We really like Zetec models – they have slightly stiffer suspension for a sportier feel, but they still ride really well. As for petrol engines, avoid the underpowered 1.6-litre petrol engine and go for the latest sporty but frugal 1.6 and 2.0-litre turbocharged EcoBoost units. For most buyers, the diesels are the pick and we’d go for the 138bhp 2.0-litre TDCI which does 0-60mph in 10 seconds and has plenty of torque for overtaking. Motorways are a Mondeo forte, thanks to sensible gearing and low noise levels.

MPG and running costs

If you’re looking to cut costs at the pumps, the diesels are the ones to go for. Most economical is the 113bhp 1.6-litre TDCI Econetic which has stop-start, does 65.7mpg and emits just 114g/km of CO2. Best all-rounder is the faster 138bhp 2.0-litre diesel which does almost 53.3mpg and emits 139g/km. Running costs are generally quite low but there are so many Mondeos on the second-hand market that re-sale values won’t be as good as, for example, the VW Passat.

Practicality

Open the rear door and you’ll be amazed by the amount of legroom on offer – you really can travel with a car full of six-foot tall adults in comfort. And their luggage too. The 528 litre boot is bigger than the Vauxhall Insignia, and by split-folding the rear seats you can increase that to a massive 1,448 litres. The hatchback’s wide opening tailgate just makes it so much easier to load.

Safety and reliability

With seven airbags and a full five-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash test, the Mondeo is one of the safest cars on the road. Build quality is solid and the Mondeo scored an impressive 20th place in the Auto Express Driver Power 2010 customer satisfaction and reliability survey.

For an alternative review of the latest Ford Mondeo visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk

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6 Comments

What a pity it took Ford so long to give the Mondeo some decent engines. For most of it's life it was way off the mark in both petrol and diesel engines. They were all either feeble or dirty (or both) and the better engines only available in the highest spec versions - as they still are. The highest spec versions - Titanium etc. have a horrible main instrument console that seems to place more emphasis on phone numbers than it does to rev counter or speedo - great for a 14 year old geek - but not serious drivers. Which is all a great pity, because just about everything else about the Ford was/is very good indeed - apart from huge depreciation, which makes leasing expensive, seats set too high - especially if motorised and the tacky silvered console and unpleasant touch screen sat nav. That's why the Mondeo never made it onto my drive, but if Ford can sort these things for the next version it will be the best car on the road without a shadow of doubt.

By GROUCH on 25 August, 2011, 4:47pm

Is this VW Express

I'm sorry but how many times can you say Passat in a review for a Mondeo! Also how come in the areas that the Mondeo is better than it's competitors it is only the Insignia that is mentioned? The Passat would be the main competitor for the Mondeo but in my opinion the Mondeo is a better car all round. The Passat interior, as will all VW's is a mass of boring black plastic, yes the Mondeo is a bit chinsey in places but at least they tried to inject a bit of life into it. The Mondeo's cabin is more spacious with better rear leg room and a bigger boot. The party piece of the Mondeo was always how it drives and i'm sorry but the Passat just does not have the poise or full on driver enjoyment that you get from the Mondeo. So I waould happily sacrifice 1% better interior quality you get from the VW for more space, better handling and a much better looking car.

By hsvgtsv8 on 25 August, 2011, 7:02pm

VW bias strikes again

I agree with the above poster: how come the Mondeo conveniently scores a string of 4 stars (not even 4 and a half) even in categories that it's class leading in, e.g.Driving and Performance, Practicality and Safety and Reliability?

Auto Express really are seriously undermining their credibility with this by now extremely obvious bias. It appears they've been taking a lot of backhanders from ze germans.

By Dangerous_Dave on 26 August, 2011, 5:38am

Cuke

Hi, I own, for one more week, an May '08 Titanium X 2.0l diesel. I cannot understand the criticism made about the dash but agree with all of the other positives. I have agreed to P/X my car for £9500, and, as I only paid just over £18k for it new, that makes a residual of over 50%, so eat that AE and VW. I will be sorry to see it go as the (remapped) engine is so smooth and revs more like a petrol, however the mid-range acceleration is phenomenal although it eats tyres.

By cuke2u on 26 August, 2011, 11:43am

Quality car!

and one of the best drives on the road..

By liverpool on 26 August, 2011, 8:18pm

Fuck you

Auto express with your passat and stuff. I do own a VAG car but you ...

And stop shitting people about the passat interior one of the worst in VW history. Residuals for a car that doesn't sell as good as a mondeo and costs more is a hoax also.

By giorikas81 on 27 August, 2011, 10:56am

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Pictures

Ford Mondeo