Ford road test reports and car reviews

Ford Transit 2008

Bought my 2008 Transit at a year old with 10,000 miles on the clock. The side door handle was broken so was replaced as was the battery. It also needed a new ERG valve and the track rod had gone at 20,000 miles. I had a ’97 Transit bought in 98 and drove it for 11 years of trouble free driving. I drove it like a slave and it never let me down. It had to be scrapped, not because the engine was done, but the old Ford issue of rust! My 2008 is 5 years old with 28,000miles and now the old issue of rust is back, it seems the Ford will rust no matter what you do as I keep my van immaculate. People remark thinking its a new van and if it wasn’t rusty round the edges it would be good as! A Mercedes for me next as I can’t be doing with the let down.

Responses to this review

Not Mercedes if you want to avoid rust, Vitos have an awful reputation for it - Steve from England

Ford Focus Ford Focus ST3 2012

This replaced my Focus RS and the car is excellent apart from the sat/nav, which has many faults and my Ford dealer and Ford technical do not seem to have the information on how to repair. On the main screen when on a selected destination it will show and say turn right in 500 yards and at the same time on the small screen between rev counter and speedo it will show turn right in 500 FEET. Also speed camera warnings are useless as they only show a small triangle (red when on selected route and only give a single "ping sound" a few feet from camera.No lead up audible warning as one gets with Garmins etc.To get prior warning one has to take eyes off road to look at screen-dangerous. The cost of this option from Ford is very expensive and definitely not worth the outlay. In fact it is not fit for purpose.Four months have passed and Ford are no where near to fixing it.One of their comments "its too new" that should not be the buyers problem.

Ford Focus 115 Zetec Diesel 2010

Bought my car new. It broke down after 12 months and was off the road for 3 weeks with clutch and gear selection problems. 12 months later it broke down again with same problem and was off the road for just over 1 week. Seems it was ’fit a new part each time’ until fault was ’cured’. The car is totally unreliable and fuel consumption is nowhere near those stated in the book details, failing by about 10 mpg and I pride myself on being very frugal. If only I had my 1.8 back with no stop/start to add to any problems and was more economical avereging 64mph

Ford Focus titanium 2008

Bought our 1.8 petrol Titanium last year and wish I hadn’t. on a couple of times the engine has cut out, but started fine. The dealer can’t find fault. now the a/c has packed up. It’s had a re/gas, but now needs new condenser £400+. I have used the a/c each week to keep it "going", but an independent Ford engineer said a stone is to blame. Rubbish on fuel, only getting 37’ish to gallon. F.O.R.D.-Found On Rubbish Dump!

Ford C-MAX 1.6tdci 2006

The Worst car ever bought. Spends more time at garage due to engine systems failure, which the garage says they’ve fixed, then it lasts for 6 weeks before failure again. 9 times in 2 years,and a couple of occasions have been close to causing a severe accident!

Ford Focus Saloon ST3 2012

I took delivery of new Ford Focus ST3 30th Nov 2012 with a number of expensive Ford options. Initially I could not get a fully compatible smartphone and Ford could not help much as any model they suggested was out of date. After about 6 weeks and a lot of pressure from myself they eventually suggested 4 phones one of which I now have. The main problem is the very expensive option I purchased namely a Sony DAB Radio/CD Navigation system with rear view camera and SYNC in-car connectivity. The navigation system is poor and the speed camera/problem warning is virtually non-existent unless you take your eyes off road and watch sat.nav screen for small warning triangle (black when used without input destination and NO audible warning at all. If input destination function is in use the triangle is red and again you have to watch screen for it so eyes off road and the audible warning is just a quiet single ping sound when you are on the camera or incident, with no prior increasing audible warning as one gets with a very, very much cheaper Garmin or similar portable satnav.) I have had contact virtually on a daily basis with Ford CRC and occasionally the dealer and neither can sort the problem and Ford technical say it is "too new". Another fault with it is that the main screen on a designated route will show turn right in 500 yards and say this as well but on the small screen between speedo and rev counter it shows turn right in 500 FEET. Again Ford do not have any idea how to fix it. This option is a total waste of money and not fit for purpose. Sorry I ever bought it.

Ford Transit Connect

I bought mine at 28k,it was fantastic though suffered the alternator loom problem. I was actually conned into buying a new alternator. The big problem you will all face is the rubbish injection system, Delphi, not good mine went down at 100k and the vehicle is now scrap as £2000 to replace pump, injectors/ring. Ford let themselves down in my opinion here. I would never buy another connect!

Ford Mondeo 2.0 Ghia Manual Hatchback, Petrol 2001

I bought my 2.0 petrol Mondeo with 40,000 miles on the clock at 4 years old and have had it almost 8 years. In that time it has averaged 30,000 miles/year and I’ve thrown it up and down all the motorways in the UK. It now has 210,000 miles, but still has the original exhaust and the engine is sound and starts first time, even on the coldest of mornings. The clutch has never been changed and is only now showing signs of wear; this plus one or two other age related issues means I have to say goodbye to the car. I will definitely be replacing it with another Mondeo as they are solid, dependable and great fun to drive - sometimes exhilarating. My car has always made me smile throughout its long service and I’ll be sad to see it go.

Ford Kuga 2009

Nice looking car but has a load of typical Ford problems. 1. Bad fuel economy. 2. Can’t see out the blacked out windows. 3. Too many gears, should all be auto. 4. Not much space inside. 5. Engine malfunction at speed, very scary! 6. Noisy tyres after 10k.

Ford Transit Connect 2004

I have had it now for 6 months and I am impressed at how much I can load in it. It’s very good that I can take the rear seats out easily when I need to. It has 135000 kms on the clock and I’ve had to change the alternator and clutch. It would be better if it wasn’t so noisy. Also it has very bad front seats, a very bad sound system and a little trouble with rust, but it looks so much better than the Kangoo, Caddy, Berlingo, Partner, Combo or Scudo, that I can forgive the bad points. I fully intend to change the front seats and sound system.

Ford Transit fwd 2006

The build quality is a let down, bits just seem to fall off. The rust cannot be stopped, wheel arches have been sanded back treated, primed and painted, but one month later the rust returns. I cannot see me keeping this van, which is a shame because the ride is good.

Ford Focus Titanium 1.0 ecoboost 125 2012

Quite simply an amazing piece of engineering. I am 61 and have driven and owned many cars in my life. Some have been very good and some have been poor, but the all round blend of ride, poise, comfort and accomplishment offered by the Focus is outstanding.

Ford Ranger Double Cab 2001

I bought a Ford Ranger double cab 2001 model with 172000 miles and it drives well. I drove it from Namibia to Zimbabwe to Mozambique to South Africa and not even on a single day can I say that it gave me a problem.

Ford Fusion 2009

My Fusion has an ongoing problem with the E.A.C.

Ford Transit 125ps swb 2004

When I first got the van, wow, I loved it! Then the clutch exploded @30,000, then rust started to appear. Ford use cheap metals. I bought the van for £7800 and I’ve spent to date about 4k! Beware, it’s also has terrible mpg - the rust bucket just has to go!

Ford Transit 125 T350 mwb fwd 2012

I wrote a review sometime last year mentioning some minor faults with this van and decided to give it a chance and the benefit of the doubt. So where do I start? In 85000 miles it has had three clutch assemblies, three flywheels, two complete gearbox rebuilds and this month’s fault was a gearbox mount failure resulting in the gearbox being left hanging precariously. The company I work for has also got another two of these vans, one has been off the road since January with various electrical problems and the other has had gearbox rebuilds and flywheel failures, so not a good advert for Ford. When these vans are due for renewal I will be strongly advising my company to go back to Sprinters as from 2001 till 2012 we had seven Sprinters all covering in excess of 300k miles each and only four days in total off the road due to fuel pump failure. As it happens we will be luck to get to the end of our lease period with these vans as they are basically turning into nothing more than scrap metal. As for the dealer, they couldn’t be more unhelpful if they tried. Thank God for the AA.

Ford Fiesta 2008

So far I’m quite surprised about the comments about the 1.4 Tdci diesel as I find it a lovely car to drive with cheap tax, nice looks and good on running costs, what more do want? All cars will need new parts somewhere along the line. Go Fiesta Tdci diesel Zetec!

Ford Mondeo 1.8 Petrol 1998

I am a retired qualified mechanic. Our little Fiesta was stolen and found burned out so a quick visit to our local garage and we came home with the Mondeo. Not exactly what we wanted. 1998, £1100, 140,000 miles, but it looked clean and well looked after. It has now done 169,000 miles and we love it so much I even had a new clutch fitted at 166,000 miles. Servicing: 4 new tyres and a battery. That’s it, not even a light bulb. The exhaust is the original one piece. The old lady sounds like an alien when it’s cold, nobody knows why. When it comes to replacement I will not be replacing it with a dual mass flywheel ’thing’. I’ll find another golden oldie somewhere. I have never had any trouble with a Ford in over 40 years.

Ford Grand C-MAX 1.6 Diesel Titanium X 2012

The fuel consumption is appalling! I can hardly reach 38 MPG in combine cycle with cruise control on, but Ford say "The 1.6-litre Duratorq TDCi - there’s exceptional fuel efficiency (combined cycle) of 57.7 mpg." OK, I wonder what the dealer will say when I come in to return this car due to false advertising?

Ford Ranger 2008

Bought 2nd hand 18 months ago to replace a Nissan D22. It has good comfortable leather seats and plenty of power. The gearing is too high in first and reverse when pulling away, especially when towing necesitating the driver to ride the clutch but is OK once underway. Having to stop to change into fourwheel drive is a complete pain e.g. as snow increases half way up a hill and there’s nowhere safe to stop to do so. You can shift into 4x4 if the front wheel hub lock light is on (at lower speeds). The paintwork not brilliant. My 2008 model lacks EBD on the brakes and is inclined to use the ABS system too easily on a wet muddy road turning the vehicle into a 2 ton sledge -beware! Its going to be sold ASAP.

Ford Ranger Thunder 2007

I read on here some have had problems with their rangers. None for me. This has been without doubt the best and most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. Bought it with 18,000 on it and have now got 68,000. The only thing that has gone wrong, apart from service items was the battery, which died at just over 2 years old. The Ranger is my daily drive. It goes four times a year to the south of France and tows my motorcycle all over the country. It has never broken down yet and if I stick to about 65mph it returns 40mpg. Just going to buy a new 2.2 6 speed Ltd. Hope its as good.

Ford Focus C-MAX 1.8 Titanium Petrol 2009

Three+ years old with 17000 miles on the clock and one previous owner. For: It’s quiet, comfortable, spacious, and handles well for a for small people carrier. Against: It has very poor fuel economy. I am an ex police driving instructor - I drove 60 miles on the M5 north, late evening in light traffic at a constant 60mph on the flat and a little quicker on downhill stretches. Driving as though with bare feet and broken glass on the brake and throttle returned 41mpg! 200 miles at 70mph returned 32mpg. Suburban, not inner city use returnes very low 20s mpg. I intend to have ECU remapped in an attempt to improve on the above. My 14 year old MB 230 SLK returns similar or better mpg. Disappointing.

Ford Transit Connect 2007

I bought my junker from new and serviced it regularly, but at less than 60,000 klms the big end packed in and I had to pay over €3000 on a rebuild. One week after that the power steering hose burst. Also the clutch and gloplugs went and its also on its 4th battery. Heap of rubbish!

Ford Ranger 2.5 Thunder 2005

Great truck so far. I bought mine 6 months ago, 2005 with 48000 miles on it. My only complaint, like a lot of others it only returns 20 mpg and I also agree it is low geared, but this is probably because it designed for towing and not to be a Chelsea tractor!

Ford Kuga Titanium X 2011

I purchased this ex demo 1 year ago after having 2 Nissan X-Trails. The vehicle is well built and has virtually all of the ’extras’ you could think of. The leg room in the rear is very small and the boot is not very big. When going shopping it is not big enough. The big problem with it is the steering. It has 19’’ low profile tyres and these tramline badly, at times you have to hang onto the steering wheel as it feels that the vehicle is going off the road. Apart from this the tyres cost in excess of £200 to replace. The tracking has been checked and this is O.K. The dealer stated that this is quite normal on these tyres. Why do they fit them? Apart from this when you hit a bump in the road it sends shock waves through your spine. Wish I had 17’’ wheels. Owing to this I will not be buying another one. My old X-Trails were so much better in this respect. Having said that the fuel economy is quite good and as yet it has been reliable.

Ford Ranger 2.5tdci 2008

I have a 2008 Ford Ranger 2.5tdci, which I bought second hand three months ago, with only 27,000 miles on it. The clutch starting giving off an almighty stink after reversing up a hill. I took it to my local garage and was quoted £575 for a new clutch. The garage has just phoned me and the flywheel also needs replacing at £260 plus vat, so not much change out of a grand. I have a demountable camper on the back of the pick up, which is fibreglass and weighs much less than load capacity, I do not tow with the vehicle either. A quick internet search throws up pages and pages of horror stories relating to clutch problems with this vehicle and the total disregard by Ford to it’s customers. They have known about this problem for years and have done JACK to solve it, they should recall all Rangers and sought it out. I will not be holding my breath. Ford Ranger? Not fit fo purpose!

Responses to this review

Most modern vehicles run dual mass flywheels, and sadly unlike the old days where a clutch kit was a pressure plate and clutch plate at well less than a hundred pounds, with these dual mass flywheels you usually have to replace the flywheel as well often around £600 ish. With conventional clutch kits the flywheel is just a solid lump of metal, and the springs to take up load fluctuations and cylinder pulses were in the clutch, so clutch not just a friction plate, but spring loaded as well. With DMF’s the springs have been moved into the flywheel which helps with some of the technology to improve fuel consumption and emissions. But now you have two parts that wear. There was an issue in the early 2000’s where the wear surfaces in the flywheel were soft so they’d fail at 30 to 70,000 miles. Since about 2006 this wear surface has been improved and we would hope they last better. So while I share your frustration with dual mass flywheels, this isn’t a Ford problem, it’s a penalty of emission technology and something most modern vehicles suffer from - M Vaughan from Cornwall

Ford Fusion 2004

Semi-auto. Rubbish! Never again.

Ford Ranger Double Cab 2002

I bought my Ranger at 2 years old and have driven it every day since, its done 150,000 m. It’s regularly serviced and has had no major work done on it in that time! The only work I have had done is wear and tear stuff; brake shoes, tyres etc., other than that I had the brake callipers replaced (seized) and one leaf spring, and some minor front suspension stuff done. It starts first time, every time, and tows my horse trailer with no problems. There is nowhere that I have wanted to go that the Ranger wont; deep mud, snow, flooded roads. It’s getting old now and I have couple of electrical issues; heater fan works intermittently, one electric window is temperamental, and the ignition barrel is worn and needs replacing, but overall it’s a great pick up. I hope my next Ranger is as good as this one.