Guest Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 Hi All, Going to buy a nearly new car this month - and have narrowed the options down to 2 cars - both estates; 1: VW Passat TDI SE 130 PD 6 speed manual OR 2: Mondeo TDCI 130 Ghia X 6 speed manual VW is dependable - but ever so slightly dull! Mondeo has improved leaps and bounds lately - and has loads of toys in Ghia X form. Both are similar money - both appear to have similar running costs. Which would you buy? Quote
Screamager Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 here's a curve ball for you I had the 130 tdi Passat for a couple of years and thought it was far superior to the Mondeo of the time - although I do understand that Ford are now finally using a different diesel engine to the one they fit in their tractors However, last year I changed jobs and replaced the Passat with the Skoda Superb ***insert appropriate Skoda joke here*** Inside and out it's identical to the Passat except for the fact that it is 6" longer (which my wife assures me is quite a lot! You could hold a football match on the back seats New, it was also about £1,500 cheaper than the Passat and came with far more toys - rear parking sensors, cruise control, auto wipers, 6 CD changer etc. To get the same spec on the Passat would have cost about another £2-3K. I've done 35k in mine so far and haven't had a single problem. The model has been out for about 18 months now, so you could probably pick one up at a good price. Carl Quote
Blatman Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 I weighed up between a not quite so new Passat and Mondeo recently (mid/late 90's cars are what I was looking at). Plumped for the Mondy, because I got more car for less money. There also a pretty good Mondeo owners club which has an excellent bulletin board too. This was well handy when weighing up options, and looking for honest answers to whatever problems may occur. Quote
Ian Podmore Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 The Mondeo TDCi 130 engine has got amazing torque in 4th, 5th and 6th due to an 'overboost' function. I nearly plumped for one but went for the MG ZT due to superb handling. Have even had the rear end sliding on the recent slippery roads which needed a nice bit of opposite lock to collect.... Shame it takes 3 weeks and 2 days to get to 60mph, and 100mph is but a dream. I was glad to see the back of my previous car - a Passat 1.8T whoch was the most unreliable car I have ever had. After 4 new batteries two separate dealers were still telling there was no fault with the car As for the Skoda, most reliable cars in my fleet, and when we owned our cars instead of contract hired them, the cheapest to run including depreciation. Quote
DavidR Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 My vote is for the Passat. The pulling powerof the engine is great especially for motorway / overtaking. I get 50+ mpg so fuel is not an issue. A couple of other reasons to get the VW were that the Ford dealers around here are dreadful at servicing and repairs/diagnosis. Disorganised is a polite description of their capability. And the last 2 Fords weren't as reliable as I had been led to believe. One caveat. I have worries about how well the VW can cope with the task of towing a big load as I had clutch smoke reversing a transpoerter trailer up a slight incline. Hadn't seen that before. Good luck... david. Quote
Carl Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 I choose the Mondeo. Larger, better engine and handling (steering felt lifeless in Passat) An exceptionally capable (if slightly boring) car. If you don't need it imediately I'd enquire with Ford as the other day I heard they were releasing a 150bhp version soon. Quote
Guest Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 Thanks Chaps, More info for you to consider. I think the Skoda is a non starter - I am not a badge snob (last car was a Volvo! - but the resale value drops like a lead thingy after 4 years - whereas the Mondy and VW are average. Looking at "total cost of ownership" - the Skoda is out. Although I do agree it is a very good car. I will be towing my Westie behind - weighs 488kg at last set-up (insert jokes about how much I weigh here.......). So burning clutches are out. Have had auto's in the previous 7 cars - so 6 gears is going to be a shock. Coming down on the side on the Mondy. Looking at cars that are 03/53 reg. Talk me out of my tentative decision if you can! Quote
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 I agree with Blatman (I'm getting a habit! My '96 Mondeo TD Estate has over 200K miles on it (70K in my ownership) never misses a beat. Nor beats a missus, either . OK so the engine in '96 was from a tractor but it's simple, cheap to service, economical, and at motorway speed as quiet as a petrol model. Quote
zoso Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 We had a passat that broke a driveshaft on the way to france after 4 or 5 hours of driving... Therefore father won't go near anything with a VW badge for a very long time, he's unforgiving with things like that on a 2 year old car that took 9 months to deliver...... Skodas seem to be better than VW's at the moment, life's funnly like that, spose their tooling is newer than VW's.... I'd have the modeo or a skoda, the passat we had (previous shape) was a godamn dull car to drive, except for in the snow, that was fun... Quote
Bananaman Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 Mundayo seems to have the better engine. & looks like it handles better to so should be more fun to drive. Ford VW Skoda Max power (bhp/rpm) 128/3800 128/4000 129/4000 Max torque (lbft/rpm) 243/1800 228/1900 210/1750 With the added benifit of beeing available as a hatch (just coming to the end of 3years of BMW 3 Series ownership & lack of hatch was a pain in the ) Quote
S8ight Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 Mondeo has improved leaps and bounds lately - face it, it couldnt have got much worse could it ? Quote
Blatman Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 If I had the cash at the time, I would have definitely bought a new model Mondeo. The Passat doesn't seem to have been updated for yonks. I'm sure it has, but to me, it seems like hasn't. Customer perceptions and all....... My '98 model LX TD hatchback had 70,000 on it when I got it, and I've put 20,000 trouble feee miles on it in the last 14 months. For towing duties, it costs exactly half what it cost me to run my (sorely missed) XR4x4, as far as fuel goes. Insurance was a couple of hundred cheaper too...... Servicing is cheap, and my local Dagenham Motors workshop seems to be run pretty well. All in all, I'm very pleased with it...... Quote
neilwillis Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 Sticking a Zetec in your race car now then Blatman? Quote
Blatman Posted March 8, 2004 Posted March 8, 2004 I'd fit a diesel before I fitted a Zetec......... Quote
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