So my beloved 2012 Ford Mondeo Ecoboost is sadly at death’s door. He has a drinking problem (excessive oil consumption), flatulence (smoke from said oil) and low energy (struggles to reach 110km/h). Needless to say the engine is cooked with only 146,000 on the clock.
Any advice on how best to sell the car? I’ve no interest in concealing its condition to some unsuspecting person - what would you do?
Can’t trade in either as I’ve now got a company car.
Have you tried Instant Offer on Carsales? They take them as is and it'll be a yard or dealer who picks up the car. It's like a trade in but you don't actually have to trade.
On another note, I had a 2012 Ford Mondeo Zetec TDCi with a powershit transmission issue at only 150.000k mark so your engine issue for a petrol version is not that uncommon. That version of the Mondeo is a real hit and miss. Either a premature death or runs like a taxi into the 300.000k mark
Do you recall if the transmission had its oil changed? I acquired a 2010 TDCI at 180,000kms which never had a DCT oil change, it went into limp mode when I got it.
I changed the fluid and touch wood it has done another 25k since then. It does shudder a bit but no other issues so far.
I wonder if these failures are due to poor maintenance or just bad luck
I bought it (140.000k mark) from a friend who got it at around 130.000k mark and he didnt change the transmission fluid during his time. When I asked to change the transmission fluid at around 147.000k mark, the transmission specialist told me the clutch was on its way out, rubbing and grinding its bits into the fluid. So I knew there was no way out.
Did a transmission fluid change anyway. It helped but I could feel the problem was still there (limp mode a few times) so I got rid of it.
I've heard both good and bad stories with this model and it's probably the maintenance.
Hope your Mondeo will last longer than mine. Shuddering usually means the gears are not fully locked in iirc
Put it up as an eBay auction starting at a low figure, as others have said. Chances are there's somebody with the same model who's looking for some panels, parts, tyres who would be willing to pay a few hundred for the lot.
ebay is under rated. Quite a lot of dealers and people looking for cars to fix on there. They pay upfront and no haggling etc.
Just be honest and upfront and price it accordingly and you'll sell it.
We had some HelpX backpackers staying with us earlier this year who had bought a Nissan van and the engine was absolutely knackered (they'd been ripped off - young, French, zero mechanical knowledge). I told them to advertise it on FB and just be honest about it. They did and sold it pretty quickly to another backpacker for a $1000 overall loss. The buyer reckoned he could fix it for not much money - I was sceptical but it's not my cash.
There's a market for most things at the right price.
leave it outside for 3 years
Do a search for similar condition cars and sell it at or around same price. Never give to to wreckers if it is drivable as they will not offer anything worthwhile your time. You may need to find a place to keep it until it’s sold though.
I think there's a homeless kid charity for car donations.
See my previous comments.
Tech colleges doing mechanical courses can be on the lookout for donations of cars that need engine rebuilding to teach the kids how to do it. The colleges can sometimes get parts donated from shops too.
If they succeed (they don't always) one of the deserving kids may get to keep it. I was surprised years ago to see my old Magna about town fully reborn - even spraypainted (albeit badly - fixing engines seems easier for the inexperienced than fixing panels).
Yeah not good rep around this era for Ford. Thread on Whirlpool recommends Checking and Cleaning the Pcv valve. Performing a Leak down test ($80?) for further diagnosis. Can open the oil cap to have a very basic check for sludge. Could also hold a screwdriver next to the cylinder and rev car. Feel for extra vibrations vs other cylinders. Cylinder 1 is supposed to be first with issues.
Post an ad for parts, offload as many as you can then sell to a wrecker.
Could list it on FB Marketplace - could be a fun $500-1,000 bush basher for someone…. or even a back packer who is happy to live with the problems for 3 months then pass it on.
Used cars are still at a premium I presume? It just won't serve a long term daily driver type buyer
Just list is exactly as you described at a little below market value and let them haggle it down to a reasonable price.
It will show up as the first in everyones searches becasue of low price and let them read put ** READ BELOW ** up top to avoid redundant frustrating questions.
Doesnt sound like its impossible to fix so someone with a bit of skill or access to spare a engine might be happy to take it off you.
It could be a little late for this given how long the thread has been going, but you could always donate your car to charity, something like Kids Under Cover or a similar organisation.
Kids Under Cover in particular arrange for a tow truck to come and collect your car from your driveway when it's convenient for you, sell the car at auction, then provide you a tax receipt for a charitable donation for the total that they sold the car for.
I did this with one of my old cars that had several engine issues, check engine light would come on approx. twice a week at minimum and had several misfiring issues (multiple mechanics said that it needed a full engine rebuild) - my enquiries around selling it or trading it in brought me offers of around $1-1.2k. Kids Under Cover auctioned the car off for $3.5k, it was a nice addition to my tax return.
Great idea, thank you.
@Halo375
OP what did you decide in the end?
I'm in similar boat, but with a transmission issue on my mazda3. But being regional don't have auction houses nearby.
Pickles offered $3000, I’m going to try for a rwc this week and see if i can sell it on carsales for 30 days (listing all faults). If no luck, will probably sell to pickles.
You’re unlikely to pass a rwc if it’s blowing excessive smoke.
Agreed - fortunately though its not doing that any more. We've been driving it daily for the past few weeks, still definitely got powerplant issues but its usable as a runabout car.
@Halo375: Out of curiosity, how did you go? I am in a similar position. Engine is in better shape but there is some damage to the door from being side swiped. Trying to work out the best way to sell it in its current condition.
@SmiTTy: It all ended in disaster pretty much. Tried to sell everywhere I could, kept lowering the price and couldn't get a bite. In the end I just gave it away to Kids Under Cover so they could sell it off at auction- https://www.kuc.org.au/. By that point I was happy just to get rid of it but a bit disappointed that it only sold for $1000! So not a good financial pathway (tax deductable though) but at least it got rid of it and I could just move on.
@Halo375: Sometimes doing what's best for the sake of convenience (rather than financial) is the better option
And good on you for doing it for charity.
@SmiTTy: I ended up listing it on Facebook marketplace. Listed it for $4000. Got a bunch of offers I've the next couple days for $2000. Held out and someone paid $3000 cash.
I think they key was being upfront about all the issues in the listing.
Sell it to one of those companies that buy your car. Conceal it.