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Bring it. Bring it all.
Long report/story this so buckle up bitches.
So the DC2 went as you are probably aware - it was on nearly 105,000 and getting towards being a bit long in the tooth.
I did think about getting an EP3 but as I've said previously - I had one from brand new in 2004 and I like to remember it that way. The idea of buying one within my budget (£4k that I got from the DC2) was off putting for me personally as it would have to be a pre-facelift with high miles. Nothing wrong with that as such, but not what I was after.
I thought for ages about what to replace it with. The DC2 was an epic car and thoroughly enjoyable, but I always had the feeling that I'd have enjoyed it more and forgiven it it's shortcomings if it had been a weekend only car that could be enjoyed properly. Using it to commute every day and driving down south and back in it was starting to get less enjoyable. Not because it was a bad car - far from it, but because that's not what it was meant for. It was meant for "proper" driving, and I wasn't really doing that.
I liked the idea of another estate. The old Volvo T5 we had was awesome for shifting our dogs about in and now our eldest hound is getting on a bit and is having some health problems, getting her to and from the vet easily is something we need to think about. Emma had been doing this in her Smart, but for obvious reasons that wasn't ideal.
I started looking around at what I could get a fair while before the DC2 even went up for sale. I still wanted something with a bit of poke, didn't want German (personal reasons - my Granddad was killed in WW2 by THEM), would prefer something that had at least a slight air of aggression and vulgarity about it, and that could be obtained without daft mileage. Ideally, I also wanted something V powered.
List I considered went as such:
Accord Type-S estate - not bad, but for me, not a great looker.
Volvo V70 T5 - Like Volvos a lot, but everything seemed to have 149,000 miles on it. I think they all had this from new as I couldn't find anything less anywhere.
Vectra estate SRI thing - can't get on with Vauxhalls TBH. Had one previously, didn't like it.
Saab 9-5 Aero thing - I'm not an architect, and tbh I just can't get excited about Saabs.
For a while I couldn't think of anything else. Then I remembered seeing on one of the many Traffic Cop shows that I hungrily consume - the Mondeo ST220.
Daft enough engine size to appeal, gets back to my Essex boy roots, and I have no issues with Fords - I've had plenty in my time and enjoyed all of them (apart from the XR3i that I had that was utter ****).
Started digging about and realised that you could pick these up for not a lot. Found several examples around 70k for well within my budget.
Whittled down to 3 in the end.
1. In Southport - just down the road from me at a dealer. Went to look at it straight from selling the DC2. As we pulled in the dealer, it pulled out - SOLD to some other shmuck.
2. In Leicestershire or somewhere. Set off to see it immediately after the one above last Saturday. Got as far as Stoke and then got caught in the ****ing snow. Eventually gave up 20 miles from destination to then sit for 3 hours stationary while BMW and Mercedes ****s attempted to drive up a slight hill. Another reason not to buy German. Eventually found out that contrary to the advert - this one didn't have any service history. Glad I found this out at home because If I had got there and then discovered this, blood would have been spilled.
3. Wild card entry - Autotrader, one picture only, scant details, gravel drive. 50/50 chance or tarp or buyers dream.
Ended up speaking to no 3.
"Tim and Nadine" bought the car a few years ago. She previously had an EP3 that she loved, but 2 young sons made it difficult in the end. Nadine persuaded Tim that if she was to give up the EP3 for something more practical, it had to have some poke to it.
Tim seemingly had been hurried into getting the car advertised. They had got themselves a nice replacement - a new 5 series estate, and the ST was now no longer needed.
Turning up to the clearly expensive house, seeing the cleaners at work in the house and measuring the depth of the gravel on the drive at at least 3 metres, I was fairly happy that it was going to be a good one.
Full Ford main dealer service history, brand new MOT (because he couldn't remember when the other one ran out - incidentally it was July this year, I checked), stack of receipts.
Everything that ever needed doing was done at Ford, including ludicrously overpriced Ford wiper blades.
2003, 57,000 miles. Everything works.
Interior needed a clean as it had been a family car for a fair while.
Crack in the windscreen that I knocked money off for.
So in the end I bought it and cruised home. £2900.00
What's it like? completely different to anything R. It's fast, nicely fast, but not visceral. You feel cocooned from everything, smooth and quiet, it's very very easy to do speeds that are very illegal.
Makes a great noise up to the red line - not hugely loud, but you can certainly hear it well. Under 4000rpm is silly quiet.
Power is in every gear from any revs - 4th gear from 10mph? not a problem. If you're booting it then the traction control comes on in 1st and 2nd gear.
MPG - on the way back home on the M6 I was getting 35mpg. Since then around town only with lots of booting it, it hasn't dropped under 25. Not bad for a 3 litre V6.
Equipment wise - it has pretty much everything. It all works and it feels nicely put together. The cabin is well set out and decent materials. Heated seats and climate control are awesome. Cruise is also the bollocks.
Oh the only problem so far has been a wheel vibration at motorway speeds. I thought this might be a wheel balancing thing but having had it checked out at the weekend it was a tyre with a bulge. Had this replaced and now perfect.
I'm very happy with it. It's not as involving as the DC2 in any way whatsoever, but it's fast, comfortable and makes a nice noise.
If you're an older **** like me, you still want something that is semi-stupid, but is also comfortable and a nice place to be, then these things are a bargain at the moment. Ultimately, if you're still into your Type-Rs then this probably won't interest you. But.....if you do tire of the thrashing, there are some silly bargain cars out there at the moment with big engines. Not specifically ST220s either - people are dropping big engined stuff like idiots so there has never been a better time to buy.
Here's the one photo I've taken of it so far at Watford services. I'll get some more this week at some point. Oh and the wheel off picture purely for the haters.
Long report/story this so buckle up bitches.
So the DC2 went as you are probably aware - it was on nearly 105,000 and getting towards being a bit long in the tooth.
I did think about getting an EP3 but as I've said previously - I had one from brand new in 2004 and I like to remember it that way. The idea of buying one within my budget (£4k that I got from the DC2) was off putting for me personally as it would have to be a pre-facelift with high miles. Nothing wrong with that as such, but not what I was after.
I thought for ages about what to replace it with. The DC2 was an epic car and thoroughly enjoyable, but I always had the feeling that I'd have enjoyed it more and forgiven it it's shortcomings if it had been a weekend only car that could be enjoyed properly. Using it to commute every day and driving down south and back in it was starting to get less enjoyable. Not because it was a bad car - far from it, but because that's not what it was meant for. It was meant for "proper" driving, and I wasn't really doing that.
I liked the idea of another estate. The old Volvo T5 we had was awesome for shifting our dogs about in and now our eldest hound is getting on a bit and is having some health problems, getting her to and from the vet easily is something we need to think about. Emma had been doing this in her Smart, but for obvious reasons that wasn't ideal.
I started looking around at what I could get a fair while before the DC2 even went up for sale. I still wanted something with a bit of poke, didn't want German (personal reasons - my Granddad was killed in WW2 by THEM), would prefer something that had at least a slight air of aggression and vulgarity about it, and that could be obtained without daft mileage. Ideally, I also wanted something V powered.
List I considered went as such:
Accord Type-S estate - not bad, but for me, not a great looker.
Volvo V70 T5 - Like Volvos a lot, but everything seemed to have 149,000 miles on it. I think they all had this from new as I couldn't find anything less anywhere.
Vectra estate SRI thing - can't get on with Vauxhalls TBH. Had one previously, didn't like it.
Saab 9-5 Aero thing - I'm not an architect, and tbh I just can't get excited about Saabs.
For a while I couldn't think of anything else. Then I remembered seeing on one of the many Traffic Cop shows that I hungrily consume - the Mondeo ST220.
Daft enough engine size to appeal, gets back to my Essex boy roots, and I have no issues with Fords - I've had plenty in my time and enjoyed all of them (apart from the XR3i that I had that was utter ****).
Started digging about and realised that you could pick these up for not a lot. Found several examples around 70k for well within my budget.
Whittled down to 3 in the end.
1. In Southport - just down the road from me at a dealer. Went to look at it straight from selling the DC2. As we pulled in the dealer, it pulled out - SOLD to some other shmuck.
2. In Leicestershire or somewhere. Set off to see it immediately after the one above last Saturday. Got as far as Stoke and then got caught in the ****ing snow. Eventually gave up 20 miles from destination to then sit for 3 hours stationary while BMW and Mercedes ****s attempted to drive up a slight hill. Another reason not to buy German. Eventually found out that contrary to the advert - this one didn't have any service history. Glad I found this out at home because If I had got there and then discovered this, blood would have been spilled.
3. Wild card entry - Autotrader, one picture only, scant details, gravel drive. 50/50 chance or tarp or buyers dream.
Ended up speaking to no 3.
"Tim and Nadine" bought the car a few years ago. She previously had an EP3 that she loved, but 2 young sons made it difficult in the end. Nadine persuaded Tim that if she was to give up the EP3 for something more practical, it had to have some poke to it.
Tim seemingly had been hurried into getting the car advertised. They had got themselves a nice replacement - a new 5 series estate, and the ST was now no longer needed.
Turning up to the clearly expensive house, seeing the cleaners at work in the house and measuring the depth of the gravel on the drive at at least 3 metres, I was fairly happy that it was going to be a good one.
Full Ford main dealer service history, brand new MOT (because he couldn't remember when the other one ran out - incidentally it was July this year, I checked), stack of receipts.
Everything that ever needed doing was done at Ford, including ludicrously overpriced Ford wiper blades.
2003, 57,000 miles. Everything works.
Interior needed a clean as it had been a family car for a fair while.
Crack in the windscreen that I knocked money off for.
So in the end I bought it and cruised home. £2900.00
What's it like? completely different to anything R. It's fast, nicely fast, but not visceral. You feel cocooned from everything, smooth and quiet, it's very very easy to do speeds that are very illegal.
Makes a great noise up to the red line - not hugely loud, but you can certainly hear it well. Under 4000rpm is silly quiet.
Power is in every gear from any revs - 4th gear from 10mph? not a problem. If you're booting it then the traction control comes on in 1st and 2nd gear.
MPG - on the way back home on the M6 I was getting 35mpg. Since then around town only with lots of booting it, it hasn't dropped under 25. Not bad for a 3 litre V6.
Equipment wise - it has pretty much everything. It all works and it feels nicely put together. The cabin is well set out and decent materials. Heated seats and climate control are awesome. Cruise is also the bollocks.
Oh the only problem so far has been a wheel vibration at motorway speeds. I thought this might be a wheel balancing thing but having had it checked out at the weekend it was a tyre with a bulge. Had this replaced and now perfect.
I'm very happy with it. It's not as involving as the DC2 in any way whatsoever, but it's fast, comfortable and makes a nice noise.
If you're an older **** like me, you still want something that is semi-stupid, but is also comfortable and a nice place to be, then these things are a bargain at the moment. Ultimately, if you're still into your Type-Rs then this probably won't interest you. But.....if you do tire of the thrashing, there are some silly bargain cars out there at the moment with big engines. Not specifically ST220s either - people are dropping big engined stuff like idiots so there has never been a better time to buy.
Here's the one photo I've taken of it so far at Watford services. I'll get some more this week at some point. Oh and the wheel off picture purely for the haters.
.
