My other half has always favoured Ford. He was one of the people that laughed at me when I said I wanted to go back to Skoda "because it's a Skoda" But after visiting Horton's in Lincoln he laid eyes on the mk3 Octavia vRS... he's absolutely smitten! Every advert he sulks as we're not in a position to get a new car as we only got mine 2 months ago!

 

Ladies and gents, I've achieved what was thought to be impossible!

:clap:

 

I did the same with my Dad when he got his Citigo.

I did the same with my Dad, got him to borrow the car from my Mums boss for a few days before he ended up buying it

Good job :P

 

I've managed to convert a friend that a Skoda is no joke!

Well done.

Converting from Ford is pretty easy to be honest.

Over priced uninspiring rubbish

Converting from Ford is pretty easy to be honest.

Over priced uninspiring rubbish

 

Don't hold back :P

Mrs Brimma used to laugh at my love of the Skoda badge, until I managed to convince her to take a 1.9 TDi Fabia out for a test drive, she's now a very contented Mk2 Fabia Sport driver  

 

She even likes the Monster, even more so after yesterday when her dad thought it said Munster  :(

Converting from Ford is pretty easy to be honest.

Over priced uninspiring rubbish

 

Generally my thoughts too.

 

But I have to say the Fiesta ST looks interesting and they do big discounts on Minibuses.

Generally my thoughts too.

 

But I have to say the Fiesta ST looks interesting and they do big discounts on Minibuses.

According to the van fleet buyers I know, Ford need to do big discounts on minibuses, to make the price to you reflect product quality. We're not just talking about Mercedes and Vw being better, but even about PSA and Iveco (FIAT) being better!

According to the van fleet buyers I know, Ford need to do big discounts on minibuses, to make the price to you reflect product quality. We're not just talking about Mercedes and Vw being better, but even about PSA and Iveco (FIAT) being better!

All together now,  'Ford Turkish Delight.......'  (if you're old enough to remember the Fry's commercial.

Generally my thoughts too.

 

But I have to say the Fiesta ST looks interesting and they do big discounts on Minibuses.

My issue besides the dealers, is the short 12k servicing and inflated prices of major services every other one.

 

Then there's the cars.  Those radios with big buttons, those blanking plates covering bits the higher spec would fill as a permanent reminder you dont have enough money.

 

Compare say a mk4 mondeo interior to an Octavia, Superb or even a Rapid and they look so much smarter than the Ford.  It just looks cheap.

 

Which considering the higher cost, and the fact they sell shed loads around the world, you have to ask why?  The US Mk5 mondeo interior looks very smart.  The rest of the world gets a rather dull version with, you guessed it, lots of blank buttons and covers.  :no:

To be fair though, current ford products have got family box FWD handling sorted more than most mainstream manufacturers, VAG included imo.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2

Interesting comments re. current fords & Skodas.

SWMBO & I "should" be loyal Ford owners, (past employment & now pensioners) & we were, back in the day.

I do get to compare a well-specified MK 3 Mondeo with her Octy vRS & my Superb, & we on a daily basis both think that it holds up quite well.

Probably 'cos it does indeed handle well even though it's an estate, and the styling team was headed-up by an ex-VW guy.

Very sober interior, nice materials & a complete lack of "glitz" compared to today's Fords!

As of now, madam is considering an Octy 3 vRS & we have considered a new Focus ST as an alternative.

The pricing isn't too bad & we get £1700 Ford Privilege discount too, but although the ST3 estate that we drove is indeed a quick & practical car, we can't live with the shiny buttons, & the general "juke-box" feel to the interior.

The current Mondeo, probably the last version before the Mk 5 finally makes it into production, (2015?) is much more sober, as befits it's market segment, but it still hasn't got the understated quality feel of my 7-year old Mk3, my Superb 2 or SWMBO's vRS.

It's not only Ford, Vauxhall-Opel cars seem to be just as un-attractive, nothing from France is interesting to us, BMW still has (IMHO) an image that isn't for us, whereas VAG cars seem to have something that suits us, maybe because we are of a certain age, but mostly managing to have all the new electronic toys but with better or at least more user-friendly controls.

Rambling again but the general point is that we like most of the current offerings from Skoda but can't bring ourselves to buy anything from Ford nowadays, & that's after owning at least 15 Fords between us, including 8 Mondeos!

DC

My Son has a new Focus 1litre 122 bhp, while the the engine is a real peach, ( £20 road tax) the new shape is not offensive, the interior & build quality is very good & the std options is very comparable to anything Skoda offer, I would probably consider one as a replacement for my Octy when its due EXECPT for 1 humugous drawback, i could not live with the centre console layout for the radio etc. It is a design disaster & looks like its been designed by someone who went to design school then had a lobotomy.

( as you can guess i really dont like it )

I really liked my Mk3 Mondeo, I got mine in Zetec trim which had everything I wanted (including a heated windscreen) and IIRC had no blank buttons. It went and handled well out if the box for a big car, had loads of space and wasn't expensive to run either. I service my octavia annually so a 12k interval is no big deal to me anyway. I nearly bought an ST220 before I plumped for a vRS and I think I made the right choice overall.

I owned two Mk3 Mondeo's and despite my like of Skoda, I have to say that they were the best cars I have ever owned.  They handled better than the Octavia, they were finished on the inside better than the Octavia and they had bags more room (comparing Mk3 Mondeo to Mk 1 Octavia).  They also were more reliable.  Never needed anything done other than routine service.  I wish I could say the same of the two Octavia's I owned, but I can't.  Also despite a higher new price I was able to get both Mondeo's as nearly news for less than a similar aged Octavia.  While I have never liked the styling of the Focus, I have drived hired Focus cars many times and again they were superb to drive.  Less experience of the Fiesta, but it certainly looks much better than a Fabia.  Skoda have a better city car and the Superb is better than than the current Mondeo (except in external looks), but with thise exceptions the Ford line up beats Skoda or VW.  Sorry but that is my experience.

I hated my barge sorry mk3.

Ok so it was basic, but sloppy suspension, awful seats and handled like a barge. Oh and I know I'm driving a Ford, so don't need everything oval shaped in the cabin

Mk4 was much better, just the interior and dealers let it down.

My mk 3's did not handle like barges, and I found them very comfortable. My second one was not basic. Parking sensors, trip computer, heated screen, auto head lights, auto dim mirror etc. With 130 bhp it drove and handled better than the mk 1 0ctavia vRS with 180. The Octy was faster on a straight, but the handling of the Mondeo was so much better that you could drive faster on the twisty roads. But I agree the oval clock was awful.

Edited 29 August, 201312 yr by CitigoAllen

Maybe higher spec was better than the base version.

There was a known weakness in sub frame bushes. I had my cars bushes upgraded with Bosch parts when I bought it. Perhaps your car had failed bushes?

My other half has always favoured Ford. He was one of the people that laughed at me when I said I wanted to go back to Skoda "because it's a Skoda" But after visiting Horton's in Lincoln he laid eyes on the mk3 Octavia vRS... he's absolutely smitten! Every advert he sulks as we're not in a position to get a new car as we only got mine 2 months ago!

 

Ladies and gents, I've achieved what was thought to be impossible!

My missus has always, always been a VW girl, her dad a Merc/Beemer man and her mum a VW lady. Last year her mum bought a brand new Fabia Kombi Scout, and this year saw SWMBO get her new Yeti.

Generally my thoughts too.

 

But I have to say the Fiesta ST looks interesting and they do big discounts on Turkish built :( Minibuses.

FTFY. Unfortunately :(

The minibuses have been Turkish built for quite a while.

It's the van production that has now been killed off in Southampton.

When they are built the minibuses go on a cruise around Europe and get here six weeks later...

twas a very sad day when the plant shut down. I drive past it most days and it's awful to see all the racks outside empty, the empty staff car parks and the lack of anything going on :(

 

I worked for VFS a while back (heard of them?) and the knock on effect has hit them hard, along with many other UK businesses :(

 

Still, look on the bright side, Ford are saving money