ford s-max road test reports and car reviews

Ford S-MAX 2L TDCI 140 ZETEC. 2008

I bought my S Max 2LTDCi Zetec last July and it is already giving me trouble!! Firstly the boot has a mind of its own and won’t open anytime I need it to open as I have 5 children and I need to get access to the prams in the boot. Secondly the build quality is shockingly awful. My children could take it apart no problem and the quality of the interior is terrible considering I paid £18,500 for it. Lastly the dealers are very poor as I have been to two different dealers and one of them didn’t actually fix the boot and then the second dealer did but promised me another S Max as a courtesy car because I have 5 children but of course they gave me a new FORD KA instead!! What was I supossed to do but walk. Would not recomend this if you are planning on keeping it for a couple of years.

Responses to this review

My SMax has done exactly same thing in terms of the boot lid. They are cheaply and awfully built using cheap low rent plastics - Jackie from Buckinghamshire

The exact thing happened to me as well. I buy a new car every year and a half, before the S-max I had a Citroen C4 Picasso and it was great, no trouble at all. But 7 months ago I purchased the S-max and it has to be the worst decision I ever made. The boot simply will not open at all and the parking sensors are jammed on and I cannot turn them of. Ford told me i have to wait 3 weeks until they can fix it!! - Keith from Dorset

I had similar problem with boot not opening. I bought a new switch from Ford for £25, not had a problem since. A bit of a pain to fit and you need to use torx sockets. Good luck - Lawrence Dutton from Cheshire

Ford S-MAX 1.8 TDCi Zetec 2007

Just had my s-max for two and a half years and am going to swap for it a 2 litre titanium version after much anguish over what to replace a fabulous car with. I have had Fords in the past and they never quite lived upto expectations. The S-Max always has. Yes, I have had quite a few niggly faults including two alarms sounders and two heated front winscreens, but my local dealer has been brilliant. Ultimately when you get in a car you want to be sure it will start and get you where you want to go. This people carrier does it with aplomb and if the mood takes it eats up the twist roads like no other people carrier and never fails to put a smile on my face. Yes, the build quility isn’t quite up to Toyota standard, but then toyotas don’t drive like a Ford. If the build issues could be sorted this would be a six star car. I have no hesitation in recommending this car to family drivers just make sure you use a good Ford dealer like the one in my area.

Responses to this review

Thought it a good idea to update this post: I have had my new 2 litre Titanium S-Max now for two months. The build quality is much better than my first one. Touch wood, nothing has gone wrong so far! A softer ride and better fuel economy from a larger engine!! There are plenty of gripes on various forums but you see loads about and mine is fab. I’d still recommend the s-max as the best people carrier I have driven, and I have driven a few over the years!- Phil Suddaby from Yorkshire

Ford S-MAX Titanium 2006

Now at the end of the lease, 45K on the clock and time to keep or get rid... and the verdict is... get rid. I read somewhere that this has been one of Britain’s most unreliable cars, and I must say I share this experience. Blew a fuse with a cheap mobile phone charger, went to replace them... and none were fitted as spares where they should be. A handle came off a seat tilt lever, the air con defrosted into the footwell so I was paddling whilst driving, 1/3 of the quick clear elements in the window fail to work on a frosty day, but the worse of all was when I had to call out the AA when the clutch failed. Evidently the dual mass flywheel fell apart, with 40K miles on the clock. And I AM the guy who spends all his time on motorways. Cost me over £200 in clutch parts (you see clutch parts are not covered under the warranty) and yes, before you ask it was serviced religiously. So in summary, the concept of the S-MAX is great, but yet again it has been let down by poor build quality. This is my second Ford from new, the last, a Mondeo was a crock of you know what as well, with a hydraulic valve failing on the power steering and an engine core plug dropping out ! It’s about time Ford employed some Japanese expertise on reliability... and then it would be a 6 star car.

Ford S-MAX Titanium 2006

They say you should never be the first to get a new model car..........they use the first year to sort out all the problems. I wish I had listened, sometimes, but overall this has been a great experience for me. The marketing was aimed square at me, 42 and 3 young kids starting world war three across the back seats of my older model Honda Accord. Time for more than 5 seats, so I could put one seat between them. Ford wanted to build a MPV that appeals to a driver, and in this respect it should have 6 stars. I tested the Toyota Avensis verso, 7 seats , 2 small ones and a CRACKING new diesel Engine, but the road noise from the tyres was horrendous. The Mazda 7 was too small and under powered. Second choice for me would have been the Honda FRV with its funky 3 across in the front, but tiny rear boot. I test drove the 1.8TDci (thought this was great ! and bought the 2.0 Tdci titanium. This car drives REALLY well for a 7 seater. The torque available is huge, a rolling start coming up to traffic lights and it will equal a 2.0 Petrol no problem. The suspension is great, you can throw it around a roundabout and have some real fun. OK, it is not a sports car, but it is good for a 7 seater. My kids LOVE the back seats, they are full sized and the car has good all round visability. THe Titanium spec has cruise, an in dash 6 CD player, front and back park sensors, auto wipers, twin climate control. I added the panoramic glass sunroof as MPVs can be very dark places. It is actually two large glass roofs, each with a blind, and they make an enormous difference on a lovely sunny day. Well worth it. 90% of the time I use this to motorway burn solo and get 40 mpg at 70 to a bit more than 70.;-) Why not 5 stars ? Well the build quality let it down initailly. One seat handle came off in my 6 year olds hand, it leaked water into the footwell when the A/c defrosted, there were no spare fuses where there should be some after I blew the cigarette lighter. It has all been fixed now and it hasbeen fault free 9 months. So Good things.....the drive, style, equipment, cost of ownership, size ( it is a BIG car),seat flexability, sunroofs Bad things.....teething problems in the beginning, you have to unload the boot to lower the back two seats, wife says passenger seat is hard. Get one.

Ford S-MAX 2.0 TDCi 140 Titanium 5 dr

This is a great all rounder. We looked at a number of MPV’s before settling on this one and chose it because we felt overall the quality was better. It handles brilliantly, and my wife, who was initially worried about driving something larger than her old, beloved Fiat Panda (very old) loves driving it. The kids like it too; my six year old think it looks ‘posh’, can’t argue with that!