Picked this up today

[rich1068]

And it's absolutely very nice too. Very smooth and quiet (not Lexus quiet and smooth obvs.) being the 2.0ltr petrol rather than that nasty derv stuff.

Let's see how it holds up to 3 kids and Mrs. rich1068. The wheels will be knackered in short order.

[royoftherovers]

26 minutes ago, rich1068 said:

And it's absolutely very nice too. Very smooth and quiet (not Lexus quiet and smooth obvs.) being the 2.0ltr petrol rather than than nasty derv stuff.

Let's see how it holds up to 3 kids and Mrs. rich1068. The wheels will be knackered in short order.

Very futuristic. Was the previous owner a Mr Dan Dare ?

[rich1068]

Yes. Mr D. Dare on the V5.

[rich1068]

I'm going to add to this. I really do rate Fords. With the odd exception they do exactly what they say on the tin generally with little or no fuss. They seem to not come up on many people's radar because they're not particularly in your face or trying to be something they're not. I'd generally take eg a Focus, Mondeo or S-Max over the German brands. So endeth the lesson.

Dealers are ******* though.

[olliesgrandad]

Owned a number of Fords over the years and despite one issue (replaced 1985 fiesta xr2 with 1987 model which had harsh drive train issues) they have all 'done what it says on the tin). Have driven 100's of thousands of miles in police vehicles from the 70's to the 00's and apart from the last of the Escorts they were all very robust and comfortable. 1970s Escort mk1s and 2s were great fun with slick gearboxes you could  gearchange without using the clutch.  The early mk1 Fiestas were a revelation in unmarked police spec. So modern and well equipped. The Mk2 escorts were a great all purpose response car. I regularly drove an unmarked one which had experimental electronic abs (a manual system was only ever fitted to production cars). 

The V6 Granada engined Transits were a hoot. With a top speed of over a 100 they were an interesting drive especially as they didn't have double wheel rear axles. I did one trip at high speed of around 70 miles and I reckon 11 Mpg was about the consumption. Mk2 Granada 2.8 was a great car. I remember driving one on the A46 from Bath to Stroud on a driving course and being told to keep the speed over 100mph where possible. In those days in the middle of the day driving an unmarked white car with no sirens or blue lights! 

I certainly wouldn't discount owning another Ford. 

[steveledzep]

17 minutes ago, olliesgrandad said:

1970s Escort mk1s and 2s were great fun with slick gearboxes you could  gearchange without using the clutch.

 

My first car was an Escort MkI  1100cc.  Drove it home from work 25 miles one evening with no clutch, dead easy, super slick gearbox.  Fond memories !  Over 40 years ago now 😱

[Ben01]

I used to Grandas Scorpio, I still has soft spot for them. First we had a few 2.0 OHC low-end, next a few 2.9 non-cosworth auto, bulletproof engine and transmission fits (not like cosworths and 4.0, A4LD family transmission was too weak for them). Last one I scrap a year ago (ok, she has left in garage for 2 more years), with mileage like 300k and more than 10 yrs with us. And this fleet included Merkur Scorpio, unique "double bullet-proof" version.

Except rust after 15+ years they were pretty good and loaded for these range and prices, and easy to keep on the road for decades. And one huge selling point for me - interior space, like from another planet. It was unbeliveable for normal people (and merc or audi owners...) how big was scorpio 86-92 inside, even my GS is smaller, I am not sure if normal LS from that era was comparable. Typical joke was "put an audi guy in front, after a minute tell him to set up seat full back, he is a bit shocked by leg room, and next told him to look how much room is still behind front seat and you could learn from a guy new bad language instantly". There is a great story behind these Grandas and Scorpios, with main designer Uwe Bahnsen as main character, but it is another topic.

And many friends were same with Sierras, Scorpios, people have moved now to volvo, audi, me - into lexus, but still a few of them keep roadworthy Scorpios and Sierras, just for fun and sentiment, even as daily ride.

And my yankee fords were fine too, thunderbird 5.0HO was the nice coupe, with better suspension than any factory mustang same era and engine, she flew like locomotive (OK, and she was thirsty like one), only problem with her with this torque and limited slip diff and no any traction control, she was a really tyre-eater 😎 Ford Explorer 1gen. was a bit less reliable with a-bit-too-much-bore 4.0 and transmission a-bit-to-weak, and rust above average, but as a daily solid SUV, on the proper frame and with american gadgets, 4x4 and load/volume, it was a nice workhorse too.

As above comments, from all medium level brands (ford, opel/vauhall, VAG, etc.) Ford always looks for me "honest" and "you got what you pay, no less, sometimes a bit more". Not like European GM "you got much less for your pay" or VAG "you has to pay much more what you got (if anything good at all)".

But on the other hand, I am biased, because I never tried any distantly possible troublesome version from Ford (or in broader view - from any other manufacturer too). I never owned private diesel, turbo, or any oversofisticated or powerfull as "HP per litre" stuff. Probably this is a reason I am mostly happy with my old bangers. If I would tried Ford with infamous VM diesel, or fine but costly cosworths, or any one with detoriated modern electric/electronics, probably I would have different memories. Closer to VW 2.0 diesel or many vauxhall owners experiences.

[Verbout]

My thesis was shorter ^^^^.

[Malc]

Not my very first car  BUT .......   50 years ago I had a 1965 Cortina            Mk1                ( don't think it was a Mk anything then ...........  it was the first ! )   and the first boy at school to have my own car 

to the chagrin of many a teacher at the time  

Malc

Edited August 15, 2018 by Malc
missed a few words

[rich1068]

Well the S-Max performed admirably. About 800 miles altogether and it did it without breaking into a sweat.