There was a time when Ford had a pretty awful reputation in the UK. Whilst there can be no doubt that Ford have always enjoyed excellent sales figures their cars have sometimes had a reputation for having irritating faults and niggles. Lack of starting was one of the most common problens.
I remember years ago my Stepfather had a Ford Transit van that simply refused to start on cold mornings. He used to do building work whilst he was studying to be a teacher and I recall many a winter morning being summoned outside to spray vast quantities of cold start spray into the air intake as he would endeavour to start it. In fact this didn’t seem to make a blind bit of difference and I can still recall that sickly sweet alcohol smell and picture my Stepdad’s face as he grew ever more infuriated with the van. It was a bit like the famous scene from Fawlty Towers when John Cleese got so mad with his car not starting he jumped out and threatened to give it “A damn good thrashing!”
Indeed on cold mornings up and down our great nation the air would be filled with the sound of Ford starter motors refusing to do what they were supposed to as they whined in protest at the Great British winter. Of course what would usually happen would be either the battery would go flat as they were pathetically small in those days, bearing in mind the only electrical equipment you had was an AM/FM radio. Alternatively your next door neighbour who had a wised up and bought a Japanese car that always started first time would come out and say smugly “Oh dear your Mum’s flooded the engine again.” For some reason car engines only seemed to flood if a woman was driving it and to this day I still don’t know what that expression actually means.
Due to the fact that we no longer appear to have recognisable weather seasons in the UK anymore and it now just rains all year round the morning chorus of engines coughing and spluttering into life has become a thing of the past. Modern Fords are infinitely more reliable than they once were thanks to improvements made by Ford. Service intervals on modern Fords have almost doubled and although labour costs are quite high in garages these days Ford offer a number of service packages and Ford parts are priced very competitively.
We have a 2001 Ford Mondeo and it has simply never given us any trouble (I’ve probably jinxed it now). It never uses any oil and the only thing I have had to replace on it was the reversing light switch which cost me £8.00. Sure it’s not the most exciting vehicle in the world but it does what we need it to and when you have kid’s practical functions tend to take over from style, unless you are one of these sad individuals who customise their family car as if they’ve covered it with glue and then driven through an auto accessory shop.
Recently we have been looking to buy a larger vehicle to cater for our rapidly expanding family and a used Ford Galaxy seems to fit the bill quite well. Although it is quite a large vehicle it doesn’t feel cumbersome to drive and there is a huge choice available on the used market with a variety of diesel engines to choose from. If the Galaxy is a bit large for your needs Ford also offers the C-Max and the excellent new S-Max which is a great choice if you need a slightly smaller MPV. Ford has come along way in recent years and there are many good used examples around, the only sound you’ll hear in the mornings now are children complaining about having to go to school and sadly for them the excuse of “The car wouldn’t start” is a thing of the past.
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