06-02-2013, 08:37 AM
I know it'll seem biased Tom but I do love my CDTI 150.
One of my colleagues has a Mondeo TDCI 130 and has always had no more than 40mpg, he's always been shocked how I get 52/53 constant. His mondeo is constantly in the garage for various things too.
Mondeos are very very common. I know you see a fair few vectras but there's something about them for me. I love mine.
My tax is £170 a year, MPG is in the 50's, get a £150 DT UK box and they'll be sitting near 200BHP.
Look at it this way, ALL modern diesels suffer from EGR issues. The first thing I did was fit an EGR restrictor plate from eBay for £3.
We've all heard of the diesel injector problems on the modern engines too, I spend near the same time I do on here as I do on vec-c now & I've never seen a thread of a CDTI 150 with injector issues, on the flip side i've heard a lot through just when I was going to buy mine, about mondeos with them as I also considered an ST TDCI.
I'd love a Mondeo ST TDCI but there's just more appeal about the CDTI 150 as it really is a bit of a sleeper with a few tweaks, they can be picked up for peanuts if you don't mind higher miles & there's loads that can be done to them.
The thing you need to take into consideration is what ever car you buy that has 130+ BHP, wont be THE most economical car in the world. If you want a genuinely economical car then I'd seriously consider looking at a Corsa 1.3 CDTI or similar, I know you want more space but they are the truly economical ones. My 150 reads 52-53 avg MPG constantly but the way I drive it I probably see less than that usually.
Finally for me is that there will be an influx of people saying "Oh they're all rubbish, we had loads at work as reps cars and they constantly broke & handle like shite"
1. The car you'll be getting IIRC will be under £3000? So it's gonna be what 8yrs old roughly? Any niggly problems will be fixed, you'll soon see on viewing it if the swirl bar is off, if the EGR is knackered there'll be dash lights or rough pulling away etc.
2. Handling - I've heard a lot of mixed opinions about both cars when it comes to handling. I've only ever driven a basic LX TDCI mondeo that I thought was pretty boat like and nothing special to drive.
I don't know what a standard Vec is like but my SRI has the 'sports' suspension from factory which is 15mm lower and has stiffer shocks. I think its epic to drive. No body roll what so ever, it sticks to the road, I've got mine on 19" snowflakes with 35 profile tyres which I must admit does make a nice difference.
To summarise,
I'd test drive both, also have a look at Astra 1.7 CDTI's (100bhp) as i've heard good about them too for the reliability factors. I did choose the Vectra over the Mondeo as to me it's aesthetically more pleasing & you can get an awful lot more choice and spec for your money.
Good luck!
One of my colleagues has a Mondeo TDCI 130 and has always had no more than 40mpg, he's always been shocked how I get 52/53 constant. His mondeo is constantly in the garage for various things too.
Mondeos are very very common. I know you see a fair few vectras but there's something about them for me. I love mine.
My tax is £170 a year, MPG is in the 50's, get a £150 DT UK box and they'll be sitting near 200BHP.
Look at it this way, ALL modern diesels suffer from EGR issues. The first thing I did was fit an EGR restrictor plate from eBay for £3.
We've all heard of the diesel injector problems on the modern engines too, I spend near the same time I do on here as I do on vec-c now & I've never seen a thread of a CDTI 150 with injector issues, on the flip side i've heard a lot through just when I was going to buy mine, about mondeos with them as I also considered an ST TDCI.
I'd love a Mondeo ST TDCI but there's just more appeal about the CDTI 150 as it really is a bit of a sleeper with a few tweaks, they can be picked up for peanuts if you don't mind higher miles & there's loads that can be done to them.
The thing you need to take into consideration is what ever car you buy that has 130+ BHP, wont be THE most economical car in the world. If you want a genuinely economical car then I'd seriously consider looking at a Corsa 1.3 CDTI or similar, I know you want more space but they are the truly economical ones. My 150 reads 52-53 avg MPG constantly but the way I drive it I probably see less than that usually.
Finally for me is that there will be an influx of people saying "Oh they're all rubbish, we had loads at work as reps cars and they constantly broke & handle like shite"
1. The car you'll be getting IIRC will be under £3000? So it's gonna be what 8yrs old roughly? Any niggly problems will be fixed, you'll soon see on viewing it if the swirl bar is off, if the EGR is knackered there'll be dash lights or rough pulling away etc.
2. Handling - I've heard a lot of mixed opinions about both cars when it comes to handling. I've only ever driven a basic LX TDCI mondeo that I thought was pretty boat like and nothing special to drive.
I don't know what a standard Vec is like but my SRI has the 'sports' suspension from factory which is 15mm lower and has stiffer shocks. I think its epic to drive. No body roll what so ever, it sticks to the road, I've got mine on 19" snowflakes with 35 profile tyres which I must admit does make a nice difference.
To summarise,
I'd test drive both, also have a look at Astra 1.7 CDTI's (100bhp) as i've heard good about them too for the reliability factors. I did choose the Vectra over the Mondeo as to me it's aesthetically more pleasing & you can get an awful lot more choice and spec for your money.
Good luck!