THE Ford Mondeo has been named Used Car of the Year 2010 at a top awards ceremony.
And arch rival Vauxhall is celebrating a treble after its Corsa lifted the supermini title, the Zafira was named best MPV and Vectra took the estate car gong.
Ford’s winning model - the Mondeo 2.0 TDCi Zetec five-door - can be bought, say awards sponsor What Car? magazine, for £8,600 on a 2007 plate, representing a saving of more than £10,000 on a new Mondeo.
And competition judge Steve Fowler said: “It’s hard to find fault with the Ford Mondeo – especially at the price. It’s a comfortable cruiser for covering motorway miles, yet it’s still great fun to drive and makes an extremely capable family car. There’s loads of cabin space, and it’s solid and well put together.”
Ford also took the Used Green Car award for the Focus 1.6 TDCi 90 Style five-door. Priced at £7765 for a 2008 model, the Focus emits 118g/km of CO2, and costs just £30 per year in road tax plus £990 a year in fuel based on driving 12,000 miles.
The Kia Cee’d won the small family car award and the Land Rover Discovery 2.7 TDV6 SE was voted the best 4x4.
Mercedes-Benz took the executive and luxury category with its S320 CDI while the Porsche Boxster 2.7 took the award for best used sports car.
The 10-strong judging panel were from all areas of the motor industry, including car dealerships and British Car Auctions.
As well as selecting the overall Used Car of the Year, the judges also picked winners and runners-up in nine categories, looking at running costs, reliability, driveability, quality, longevity, safety features and desirability.