Ford "You Choose" feedback review thread

[AnnMumsnet]

This thread is for the five Mumsnetters who are reviewing the Ford car of their choice over the next 3 weeks.

The cars being reviewed are:
Fiesta x 2 Mumsnetters
KUGA x 1 Mumsnetter
Mondeo Estate x 1 Mumsnetter
Galaxy x 1 Mumsnetter

Each tester and their family will have the car for three weeks and will also be making a video review - look out for these on site soon.

Here are the review questions - don't feel you have to answer them straight away - some of them will make more sense once you've had the car for a week or so. We'd like you to state the car you are driving (full model details if possible), and give us your initial thoughts, first impressions - both from you and the rest of the family - and then add feedback at least twice a week for the next three weeks until the car is collected - though please feel free to give more regular updates throughout the extended test drive, and don't feel you have to stick to the questions too rigidly - they are just a guide.

Thanks for volunteering. Safe driving.

Here are the questions -

~ What were you/your partner's first impressions of the car?
~ What do the children think of it?
~ Do the children fit comfortably in it?
~ How easy is it to fit car seats/ adjust seats etc
~ What's it like to drive?
~ Is it a comfortable ride?
~ What's the boot space like?
~ Does it have any useful extras - cup holders etc?
~ How does it cope with different road conditions eg town, country, motorway
~ What do your friends/ family think of it?
~ Has testing this car made you more or less likely to buy a Ford?
~ Has testing this car changed your perception of Ford cars at all?
~ What one thing do you like best about it?
~ What one thing would you change about it?
~ The idea of this project is to show there are Fords for all kinds of families - so how well did you think the car you chose worked for your family?

Please add any other comments and don't forget your video diaries and photos!

You can read more about Ford and Mumsnet by visiting their hub here

Any queries please email [email protected]

Thanks again,
MNHQ

We have the Ford Mondeo Estate, I think it's a Titanium which appears to mean it has a few jazzy gadgets! We've had it 4 days now.

~ What were you/your partner's first impressions of the car?
I had an audible gasp when I first saw the delivery lady with the car. It's ginormous. We have a Seat Ibiza which we think is a reasonable medium sized car, but the Mondeo is huge. I actually feel tiny inside it, which is quite good for the ego :)
DP's first look was at night, when he tried to shift DD's car seat over so I could use it with her the next day. He was impressed with the extra lights in the back which helped him do this job. When I asked him what he thought of the size of it, he just looked at me and said "Yep, it's massive. You'll still fill it up when we go to your mums."

~ What do the children think of it?
DD is only 10 months so she's not saying too much at the moment. I've been taking her to nursery in it and she's seemed happy so far gazing out of the window.

~ How easy is it to fit car seats/ adjust seats etc
The car seat fitted easily - we have a Britax Duo Plus Isofix. I did have to buy a Top Tether for it though but even that was much easier to fit than I'd anticipated. DP managed to do it in the dark so it must be pretty easy!

~ What's it like to drive?
First impressions - it's big. And I can't quite get over that yet. Every time I turn a corner I think about just how big it is. I sound a bit foolish, because of course it's big but the thought really is dominating my driving.
The gears seems really close together - you don't have to push far to put it in a different gear if that makes sense? That's throwing me a bit at the moment. We have a long journey tomorrow to DM's so I imagine I'll know more once I've let it loose on the motorway rather than pottering to work/nursery and back.

~ Is it a comfortable ride?
Loads of space in the front passenger seat according to a friend and DP. Not so much in the back by the looks of it so I'll see what DM says about that.

~ What's the boot space like?
It's the biggest thing I have ever seen. It may be bigger than our bathroom.

~ What do your friends/ family think of it?
One friend hitched a ride yesterday and got a very warm bum from the heated seats. She was very happy!

~ The idea of this project is to show there are Fords for all kinds of families - so how well did you think the car you chose worked for your family?
My thought at the moment is that actually the car is just too big for us, especially as we do a lot of City driving. I think it's going to be great for the visiting we have planned over the next couple of weeks though so we will see...

And a big thank you for the Magnetic Drawing toy that came with the car. DD is very pleased when she manages to make a mark on the surface although confused as to why the pen thing doesn't taste of paint like at nursery!

~ What were you/your partner's first impressions of the car?

We were wowed by it. So new and shiny and clean. We drive a Peugeot 307 at the moment and it's due it's mot next month and it's doubtful it will pass so have been looking at other cars and this was a perfect time for us to test dive. We thought it was huge and looked massive to drive. 7 seats, but with two folded down, a massive massive boot. But upon driving it was/is really nippy.

~ What do the children think of it?

It has DVD players embedded in the front headrests with wireless headphones, need I say more?? They are two and four and they love it. It's so high up they can see everything.

~ Do the children fit comfortably in it?

Very easily. I have super tall children and dp is tall so when we drive one child's legs are squished behind dp of she is driving. This car is amazing. The leg room in the from and back is heaps. Kids can stand up in the footwell when we get in and out. Also the middle seats all can move back and forth independently of each other so they can be at three differ places depending on the passenger. The middle seat is a full size seat. So with a car seat on either side an adult middle passenger can get in with full leg and bum room! Fabulous.

~ How easy is it to fit car seats/ adjust seats etc

Very. As I said the seats can be moved so getting a car seat in was simple. Also the fact that the car is higher up means no bending at awkward angles.

~ What's it like to drive?

After I stalled it a couple of times I found it lovely. It's so quiete, gears change with ease. My old car clunks in comparison (I say old like I am getting to keep this one, I forget it's not ours). It has been in the city, the town where we live and the country so far and it drives like a dream so far. Yet to make a trip longer than 30 mins in it but we will be soon.

~ Is it a comfortable ride?

Very comfortable. The steering wheel is adjustable. The seats have lumbar support so you can adjust it accordingly. The driver seat has adjustable height at the touch of a button which I love as I am a bit of a shortie. Although as a passenger the seat height is not adjustable and the windscreen is panoramic so the sun shines in my eyes easily.

~ What's the boot space like?

Huge enough to accommodate two people or a load of shopping. Very happy with the boot in this car, it's perfect.

~ Does it have any useful extras - cup holders etc?

Cup holders, folding tables in the back for kids with drink holders. It had 4/5(would need to check) overhead compartments right down the middle of the roof, so lots of storage!! Kids love it! The wireless headphones and DVD player is a def bonus. That and the fact that the kids can store toys in every nook and cranny

It also has a rear camera so when parking you can see behind you. This makes parking in small spaces with a big car a breeze, so city driving is easy.

It has a touch screen in the front which is good for switching between sat nav, radio etc. it has Bluetooth so I can make my phone wireless if I receive a call, iPod connectivity too.

It has voice control, but I find this quite unresponsive and sluggish. Ie it's faster to manually do the task, change the track or whatever, than wait for the voice command to do so.

~ How does it cope with different road conditions eg town, country, motorway

So far so good! Have yet to take it on a real road trip

~ What do your friends/ family think of it?

It's received wows from them so far. The inlaws are here next week and I am sure they will love it too. My niece was impressed with it today when she went in it.
~ Has testing this car made you more or less likely to buy a Ford?

More. If we could keep this we would as it is perfect for us. Though this model is out of our price range(can we keep it?) we will definitely be looking at a ford when we upgrade, very impressed so far.

~ Has testing this car changed your perception of Ford cars at all?

Yes. I had them down as old folk cars and not sure why! Driving this makes me feel very at home it it.

~ What one thing do you like best about it?

So far? Fuel economy in such a big car, you get your money's worth
And comfort. Very comfortable.

~ What one thing would you change about it?

The voice control....it's very slow.

~ The idea of this project is to show there are Fords for all kinds of families - so how well did you think the car you chose worked for your family?

So far it fits us very well. I will struggle to go back to my old car!!! I will blog about it daily if we can keep it

I will come back and revisit these questions once we have had it longer as some of them need better answers

Omg. That was far to long....sorry

Also I have namechanged for this and we are testing a galaxy

We have the Fiesta 1.4i Titanium. We loved the biscuits, and I've put the doodle game to one side for when DD is old enough to play with it!

~ What were you/your partner's first impressions of the car?
It's a bit flash looking inside, the stereo etc. are sloped away from you and I find that a bit odd. DH has said lots of blokey things about the gearing and a-panels, I'm intending to catch some of these on video as I've no idea what he means.

~ What do the children think of it?
DD is only 10 months old so not too vocal, but happily naps in it.

~ How easy is it to fit car seats/ adjust seats etc
Very easy, although it's taken me a bit of time to work out how to easily fit a car seat into a 5 door car as mine's only 3 door! It does make me realise how easy it would be having a 5 door car.

~ What's the boot space like?
I'm really disappointed with the boot space. We've got a single buggy with umbrella fold and it only fits in one way. Today I went to Asda and bought 2 bottles of tonic water, put them in the boot and then tried to put the buggy in, I had to move the bottles to fit the buggy in.

~ Has testing this car made you more or less likely to buy a Ford?
I'm just starting to think about changing my car as it's getting a bit old (Ford Focus) and I'm not working at the moment and I'm keen to have another Ford. I daren't look at how much a new one of these would cost.

We are test driving the Kuga Titanium

~ What were you/your partner's first impressions of the car?

It's huge! And very high up. I normally drive a Fiat 500 and DH a Golf R. It looks nice and my first drive was surprisingly easy despite being very nervoud of driving such a large car.

What do the children think of it?

9y DD really likes it. She is a bit obsessed about big cars being unenvironmental friendly but is happy that this is actually better than DH's Golf apparently. She likes being so high up and says it makes her feel like she is on top of the world.

~ Do the children fit comfortably in it?

Loads of room! And a better seating position for DD in the back so she can see more. Later in the test drive we will test with three children in the back - I normally do that at least once a week in term time so is important.

~ How easy is it to fit car seats/ adjust seats etc

I am only 5 foot but have managed to find a good seating position, high up, not too close to the steering whee. DH is 6'1 and again - now he had adjusted the seat he is comfortable. I think because we are so different in height electronic memory seats would be the best idea.

~ What's it like to drive?

Really easy surprisingly. Has more umph than I expected and is pretty fuel efficient. It;s automatic so a doddle to drive in that sense - and DH's car is also automatic so at least I had experience of that. I am havign to consider automatic for my next car anyway so good to try more. It is far better and easier on my left knee, which is affected by arthritis.
I find the no key start very odd though and the hand brake took me by surprise but used to it now.
Dh would prefer a chunkier steering wheel; thinks this one is too skinny.
And having to turn the parking sensors on every time is a pain. Is there a way to have them on all the time?

~ Is it a comfortable ride?

Very! Both of us have said this. DH's car has sport's suspension and I find that uncomfortable especially when my neck is playing up woth arthritis.

~ What's the boot space like?

Much buigger than we are used to, although now as big if you use the cover. Not really used it much yet but will get more use from the boot on Christmas Eve.

~ Does it have any useful extras - cup holders etc?

DD likes the arm rest for her in the back, and the storage.
I like the fact that I can use my phone through it. Have dowloaded and paired, but not got it all working yet.
Have spotted the voice commands so will investigate further.
DH loves having the DAB radio.

~ How does it cope with different road conditions eg town, country, motorway

Only used it in town type driving really and the odd dual carriageway. Has been very good. Will use it on the motorway on Christmas Eve. I ill be a bit wary when I have to use it on narrower lanes though, and tomorrow I will have to parrellel park it on a busy road - so I will report back again after those tests.

~ What do your friends/ family think of it?

Those wh have seen it so far have been impressed with how it looks, although not convinced by the grey/silver colour. Personally would go for balck or white I think. Most people say how big it is!

~ Has testing this car made you more or less likely to buy a Ford?

Not sure yet. DH is a self confessed car snob ;) But he has been very pleasnatly surprised. He did not expect to like it as much as he has and says it is a great family car.

~ Has testing this car changed your perception of Ford cars at all?

I think so, for the better.

~ What one thing do you like best about it?

Comfort, space, high driving position, fuel economy

~ What one thing would you change about it?

Steering wheel to be chunkier
Colour!
Parking sensors permantently on.

~ The idea of this project is to show there are Fords for all kinds of families - so how well did you think the car you chose worked for your family?

Good so far. We want a bigger car or specifically DH wants a bigger car, mainly for holidays or taking bikes out, etc. I have aways been against this and not liking the idea of driving a big car. But I have been surprised at how easy it has been to drive.

And thank you very much for the gifts.

The biscuits have been enjoyed
The doodle toy is too young for DD so she has happily wrapped it up to give to her nieces as an extra Christmas present.

We have started our video diary with our first impressions.
Must remember to take some photos tomorrow.

I'm test driving the fiesta titanium Eco drive 1.6 diesel. I have so far done approx 300 miles in 3 days (I have made special trips out with the ds's as its the holidays) and have used half a tank of diesel so far.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS; very swish, I think of a fiesta as being a small car, which it is in a way but it feels like I'm in a bigger car iykwim. it doesn't feel flimsy but quite sturdy. the stereo/dash board is very very nice and way to use. was excited to see I could plug my iPod in and play it through the stereo. the colour is lovely, a type of Metallicy lilac grey. very impressed with the rearview mirror reverse parking video display; I didn't know they even excisted and got ridiculously excited when that came on when I first reversed off the drive.

CHILDREN'S VIEWS; ds2 (5) says its awesome!! he was very impressed with the wing mirrors when they fold in and out when you lock / unlock the car. ds1 (13) wanted an arm rest in the back but there isn't one, he has to sit up straight instead ;). both boys have fitted in comfortably in the back. I also ran ds1 around yesterday with his friend so had two teenagers (who are almost same height as me 5ft 5) and ds2 in the back and they all fitted in. they were only short journeys so I'm not sure if they would still be talking if we were out for hours and they were still all sat together in the back though!

CAR SEATS; I've only got to use a booster seat for ds2 now so not had to try to fit a car seat in. although I did read it had the isofix suitability. the only draw back I had was last night and trying to put the seatbelt on for ds2 in the dark and there was no rear interior lights which made it harder to try and see what I was doing. I had to fumble about in the dark then as the front lights weren't quite bright enough to see what I was doing when I had to lean over ds2 and hint out the buckle.

I've had a quick glance in the boot. it doesn't seem to bad a size. I have as yet to do a big food shop but that will be a test!

otherwise, so far so good, in 3 days I feel quite comfortable with it and getting used to finding buttons without having to look for them!

Update for our Kuga

~ How does it cope with different road conditions eg town, country, motorway

Drove it again today.

It was pouring rain - really heavy. The automatic wipers were good. I don't have these on my car but DH does, and I like them. I worked out how to change the sensitivity so they worked faster too.

Had to park on a very busy main road too. Luckily I didn't have to figure out reverse parking though :)

Heavy traffic through town - the automatic made this a doddle, esp with my sore knee.

Tight parking space - felt very nervous about this and even with the sensors it took me a while to reverse out. My car is definitely easier as so small. But wasn't as bad as I expected it to be and I would get better with time.

Motorway - really good. More powerful than I expected and felt very safe, even despite the dreadful rain and road conditions. Very responsive. And no battering about when the high winds started.

Country lanes - found this quite nerve wracking initially as the car is so wide and the cars coming in the other direction felt very close. But it did improve and started to feel more confident.

Will update when I have done more...

I've noticed the same as Worley with the lack of interior light in the Fiesta. The footwells in the front are lit up beautifully, and there's a lovely red light around the glove box, but you can't really see a thing in the back if you're trying to fit a baby seat.

Also, is the video image in the rear view mirror supposed to be blurred? I took my friend out today and was showing her it, and it looks like you're driving in a fog at all times.

Another update from me now we've really given the Mondeo a run out :)

Is it a comfortable ride?

Apparently so! Both DD and DP had a nap on the way up to my mums today. I kept myself awake by turning the heated seat down! DP had room to stretch his legs out which he appreciated.

What's it like to drive?

This is the first day that we've taken it out more than a couple of miles. DP and DD did Christmas card deliveries the morning and popped to his parents about 30m away. He thinks the drive is pretty decent but can't figure out the air con! I suggested he read the book but to be fair there are a lot of knobs and whistles and it's not very intuitive.

I drove the Mondeo to DM's, which took a couple of hours. I still think the gears are a bit odd - second gear has almost nothing in it so you need to change up quite quickly. We live in a big city so I spend a lot of time in second usually. The car felt very stable on the motorway and I definitely noticed how much more respect I got from other cars. I think it's a very heavy car which you can tell when you get to cOrners. Not sure that I like that.

What's the boot space like?

You'll have to check our video for exactly how much we've jammed in there but suffice to say, Santa will have a little bit more room in his sleigh thanks to Ford!

FIESTA UPDATE ; running Kate, yes my mirror likes like its tinted or something! I have pressed the on and off button on it to see if that made a difference but it didnt (I don't know why I thought it would but worth a press!!!) and also when the reversing screen. ones on it looks like its a big foggy outside when it's not. I might try to find the camera tomorrow morning and give it a clean and see if it's just dirty making it look foggy.

i had to parallell park this evening in snall back street with out much street lighting, in the dark and the rain, so limited visibility. I really did rely on the reversing alarm and rearview camera. It parked beautifully andante one attempt. it was very easy to steer in.

I have a stonking cold so only done a small amount of recording so far. not a good look with bright red nose and watery eyes! although my nose is seasonal I suppose :)

Galaxy titanium update: well today we shall be testing the boot space with a late night trip to collect presents. I would film this but it will be pitch black so will video review it. Hopefully will get more chance to do more video next week, it's been a bit chaotic this week. But I know it will cope with the contents with ease.

One small thing we can't work out is it has the touchscreen middle panel with radio etc, and also a screen right in the middle of the driver dashboard. Both of these are really bright when driving at night and are quite distracting. Is there anyway to dim them down? Must check the manual, but this is a bit of a downside.

Totally agree re the parking sensors helping. The galaxy is big, no doubt and I am used to a smaller car, but you really can drive it and park it just like a normal car.

We can't find park assist? I thought it had it in this model but cannot see it in the manual so maybe not!

Also how much footage have you all done? We have only done about 6 minutes this week. And hope I am not repeating myself.

I've done maybe 5 mins. have watched what I've done yet. um trying not to say umm!! ds1 and ds2 had recorded me so I dread to think of the angles they'd captured!

I've Just done the trip to tescos and filled the boot to the brim but comfortable. No squashed bread :) although as i drive it did feel bottom heavy and as though I was driving along doing wheelies!! im sure I wasn't but a guess as I'm used to a v40, that copes well with a boot load of shopping, that I would notice a difference.

I did feel a right wally filming the boot of the car in the car park though!!

Haha!!! We will film the boot tomorrow as no doubt it will be filled to the brim after going to my mums!!

Ford Kuga

About 5 minutes or so. I feel I am just syaing the same tbh. I do find it off putting to be videoed driving too. Had to get DD to stop.

Meant to video putting all Christmas pressies in the boot but it was raining and cold!

But it did all fit in very comfortable :)

Also sat in the back for the first time and filled the car. DH drove, FIL in front, me DD and MIL in the back. Lots of room to sit comfortable and no problem with leg room. Everyone said how comofrtable the car was.

Forgot to add.

Drawbacks

• the DAB radio. Works great in Shefffield but near Doncaster it just kept dropping in and out of reception, wasn't really listenable at all.
• door doesn't automatically lock with the keyless system, unlike of BIL's car

Good points

• worked out how to make the wing mirrors go in which makes tight parking easier
• DH figured out how to turn cruise control on

how does it drive in different road conditions:
I was on call for work yesterday and had to make a round trip of 30 miles to work and home, involving dual carriage way, country lanes and through town. It drive well, (was lovely driving with out any traffic). It cope well pulling out on to the dual carriage way from the country lane, I always worry I'm not going to be able to accelerate quick enough and cause a que behind me but it did well, and I even managed to over take a couple of cars and it dealt with that easily.

I do like the little green arrow that appears on the dash board when the revs are too high and you need to change gets. I'm assuming this helps you drive more economically ?

So far so good...

can I just add that I'm posting in my phone; my grammar isn't normally this bad ;)

Worley I agree about the little green arrow thing. Makes you think! Although I have only been driving 3 and a half years and was taught to change gears at a certain rev point so am often changing just as the arrow appears!

I find the the voice control button a bit of a pain as it is located on the indicator and I often nudge it buy mistake when just turning a corner.

Back to boot space, well we filled it with ALL of the kids boxes, wrapping paper(three bin bags full) etc. it coped absolutely fine with it....this amazed me. We did film this.

I am off to watch some top gear though to give me inspiration on what to say in the video

Ford Fiesta update:

I've still not dared to use the cruise control but we drove up dual carriageways and country roads yesterday on a boxing day jaunt and the car behaved beautifully. I was video'ing DH driving, so made him hold his hand up when he was going to say something profound so I could capture it. I'm not sure I dare watch of any it back.

We also had great-granny in the car with us on Christmas Day so I sat in the back with DD, and there's bags of room back there.

Second week update:

As you'll see from the video we packed the car up well and truly for the journey to and from my DM's. Coming home we were even more tightly packed but managed to fit prettying everything but one box in the boot. Very impressive.

The Mondeo is a lovely drive on the motor way although I'm not a fan of the cruise control controls. Actually, nor do I like any of the steering wheel mounted controls. My fingers just aren't long enough to reach them without doing a spot of swerving.

I'm absolutely loving the heated seats but DP is not a fan. Says they make his ass sweat. I've actually not really figured out the heating controls properly so am thankful for the heated seat! I'll check out the instructions.

The heated front and rear windscreens are great, and we definitely wish we had them. Our car has rear heated but not front and it's really useful when it's cold.

When we bought our Seat we were torn between that and a Fiesta but the Seat was more car for the money. The Fiesta was a lovely, lovely drive which I'm not sure is true of the Mondeo. It's just so heavy, which was a good thing on the windy M1 on Boxing Day but perhaps less good in the City and car parks. So I guess previously I thought Ford's had an element of fun to the drive. The Mondeo is much more functional than that, but maybe that's what people want who are buying big cars. I probably need to keep that in mind when we come to shift up in terms of car size.

Galaxy second week update:

I agree that the front and back heated windscreen is a great thing

We had all seven seats filled today and I sat right in the back with ds. I am five foot 2 and there was enough room for me but I wouldn't say a taller person would be comfortable for a long journey. FIL is 6ft 4 and fitted in the middle row of seats no problem which amazed us!

We drove it on a very windy dual carriageway today and it handle very well for being a big car. The automatic wipers work well too. I love finding all these little features

Also as I have said I am quite short and I found reaching the boot a bit of a tiptoe job to close. Today I found a very handy handle that made closing easier. Can't believe it's taken me a week to find it though