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I must be mad but this petrol head itch needed a scratch.

Most days when I walk to work I glance at a car that I have always liked for what it is, an under the radar petrol head speed machine. Well imagine my surprise when I walked past the other day & spotted a " For Sale " sign in the rear window. A quick knock on the door, a brief chat, a return visit on Saturday morning, got the ball rolling. The beast in question failed the MOT last week, the work is to be carried out this week so 12 months MOT will be then offered up. The seller has a ream of documents that go all the way to the first owners, I saw the bundle but never checked it. It has failed the last 4 MOT tests initially on the usual gremlins & that has all been taken care of to get through the MOT, hopefully no more big bills in the next 12 months at least but you never know.

Surprisingly the insurance cost is only £17 Fully Comp PNCB more per year than my current car, even though the engine is of a higher capacity, the road tax is £90 per year more. The car is 15 years old but in excellent condition, all the toys work, it is what it is, a solid car that if you hear the petrol head underground talk is actually appreciating in value as the model count drops.

All this for an asking price of £1400, it is fully loaded with Xenon headlights, Black Leather Electric Recaros, heated seats, 6 speed Getrag gearbox, climate control, cruise control, factory SatNav, self levelling suspension, headlamp washers, uprated Brembo discs/pads/calipers all round, it has to be worth a chance if only to scratch the itch finally.

I give you, hopefully by this weekend, a 2005 Mondeo ST220 3.0 V6 6 speed estate.

Like this :

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Very nice indeed. And a lot of car for the money. Is that the actual car?
 
Nice motor - practical and fast. The engine was originally designed by Porsche, Ford bought it off them.
 
Good choice. Having run a cooking spec 1.8 for a long time I can tell you what gives up. In addition to routine brake servicing you can expect a steady appetite for ARB bushes and drop links. Cheap enough. If it hasn't yet had the brake pipes replaced then budget for this. They are steel and corrode, MoT testers love them. The same MoT testers hate people like me who slather the pipes in grease in order to preserve them. Replacement is an unpleasant and laborious task and is fairly costly. Finally I can tell you where the bodies corrode and how to slow this down. Enjoy yourself!
 
Good choice. Having run a cooking spec 1.8 for a long time I can tell you what gives up. In addition to routine brake servicing you can expect a steady appetite for ARB bushes and drop links. Cheap enough. If it hasn't yet had the brake pipes replaced then budget for this. They are steel and corrode, MoT testers love them. The same MoT testers hate people like me who slather the pipes in grease in order to preserve them. Replacement is an unpleasant and laborious task and is fairly costly. Finally I can tell you where the bodies corrode and how to slow this down. Enjoy yourself!

All brake pipes replaced within the last 2 years so good to go.
 
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Great news, I'd be slathering the pipes with grease or Waxoyl before winter. My old 03 Mondeo started rotting in the longitudinal rail that you can see when you remove the rear wheel, but as you have another to compare you'll know the usual stuff about door bottoms and arches. Mine was 17 years old and 156k when I got rid a year ago. It was getting tired, burning a drop of oil, down on economy. It saw one more MoT, I suspect something let go after that as the tax was suspended and it no longer had a test. They are solid cars, I like them. Welcome to bangernomics. Again, as you already have one.
 
Nice one.

The Mk4 Titanium X with the 5 pot Focus ST lump is a nice sleeper and fairly cheap, always fancied one of them complete with tartan blanket on parcel shelf and a shade over 300bhp for not a lot of money for a bit of sleeper fun.
 
Strange one this, a modified ST220 notified to the insurance, declared suspension & uprated brakes, is cheaper to insure than a standard car. Only by a few pounds but cheaper non the less, strange how insurance works.

Still waiting for the car to be MOT'd after failure, hoping to drive it at the weekend.
 
At £1400 not much more than a ton a month for a great car with gorgeous engine even if it goes south next MOT. Which it won't. As Steve says get those brake pipes sprayed up (Supertrol is my carcinogen of choice).
 
Lovely car. I used to have an ST24 estate and it was running as good as new until it bit me on a corner and it reversed in to a tree at pace - nearly didn't get out of that.

Enjoy.

CHE
 
Nice motor - practical and fast. The engine was originally designed by Porsche, Ford bought it off them.

Not quite. Originally designed by Isuzu, Porsche took it over and made some mods, then Ford bought it. Used in the X Type too, though Jag designed their own heads for the block.
 
I'd love to drive this but couldn't live with that cheap plastic interior and analogue clock (if it's the same as my '08 2.0L).

Shame they can't do interiors for toffee.
 
I'd love to drive this but couldn't live with that cheap plastic interior and analogue clock (if it's the same as my '08 2.0L).

Shame they can't do interiors for toffee.

They're built to a price point so corners have to be cut somewhere. I think I could put up with that interior for a cheap grin-inducing hoon.
 
They're built to a price point so corners have to be cut somewhere. I think I could put up with that interior for a cheap grin-inducing hoon.
I take your point, but the interior is where you spend your time. For a couple of decades now, Ford’s interiors have drawn heavily from the 1990s Japanese boom-box stereo school of aesthetics. Not my cup of tea, regardless of how good the car is, alas.
 
I'm not sure about that, I had one. It was a bit Sofa Warehouse. It was a damned sight more comfortable to sit in than an A4/A6/3 series, but that's not hard.
 


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