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Ford "You Choose" feedback review thread

84 replies

AnnMumsnet · 22/12/2011 13:18

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

OP posts:
worley · 28/12/2011 20:44

fiesta sec

worley · 28/12/2011 21:01

fiesta second week update;

I've had a little go of the cruise control, only for a few minutes before I chickened out ! I didnt read manual to find out how to use it just kind of went for it. seemed ok but I couldn't quite trust it. will try it again when I'm feeling brave.
I have managed to fit ds2's batcave and hot wheels track in the boot today so a happy ds2 :-)

I still need figure the radio out properly, I keep pressing the M button in the middle of the control panal and it changes the frequency. Not a big problem admittedly just a little irritating. As is the lack of light in the back still when I'm trying to do ds2's seatbelt up in the dark!

had a drive along a busy dual carriageway today and felt safe. It was a lovely smooth ride and it coped and responded well to my weaving about this morning.

I still have just over a quarter of a tank of fuel left and not topped it up yet, I've drove nearly 400 miles in a week!! very economical so far.

Christmasford · 29/12/2011 12:43

Also I love the tinted windows. Keeps the sun out of the kids eyes, makes me feel less visible etc. The galaxy has sky lights?!? Not sure what else to call them, so when you look up from rear seats you can see the sky. Kids love this. But they have handy shades that just pull over to block sunlight if needed. I like that I keep "finding" things Smile

Hulababy · 29/12/2011 18:05

I need to do more video stuff. Have done some in first week but not much since. Weather has been so horrid in last day or so that videoing woutside def wasn't an option and inside too distraacting! Will do more this week.

Christmasford · 30/12/2011 14:17

I need to do more video too. I have made a list of things to talk aboutBlush

pickofthepops · 30/12/2011 16:27

A

worley · 30/12/2011 18:11

I had to fill up with diesel today!! It still had just under a 1/4 of a tank of diesel left but I didnt want to run it to low! Its done very well, its done 12 days of driving around, Ive done a lot more journeys than I normally would have done to be honest, but i've made the most of it and am going to devastaed when they take it!!

Anyway, I remebered to check which side the door was on before I pulled up so I didnt look silly Xmas Confused. It was quite easy to do, just pressed the hatch door and it opened, and theres no fuel cap to mess around with, you just pressed the novel in and it opened up. This was brilliant to me as I have to fiddle round with keys and keeping the cap safe with my car.
It was frosty this morning, although not so bad as I had to de-ice the car but I did have a little snowflake light show up warning me it was cold.
Im waiting to try out the heated wingmirrors, which I only read about today!

I also discovered that I could change the display on the dashboard between mileage, how much fuel is left, MPG etc. I was wondering why it only told me the total cars mileage when I switched the engine on and then It disappeared but I realised why when I read the manual today that I could flick between displays.

Also, I didnt realise that the rear view mirror is an antiglare mirror, so it will automatically darken/brighten its self.

One downside I found, which is a bit girly Im ashamed to admit Xmas Blush, is that their is no light on the sunvisor mirror! I had something in my eye and as the rearview mirror is slightly tinted I couldnt look in that to see properly and pulled the sunvisor down, expecting there to be a light above the mirror and their wasnt one. After franticly rubbing my eye I got the lash out but am now bloodshot in one eye lol.

I too have not done much videoing this week. Ive had to do three days at work this week, so put the car to use driving up and down the dual carriage way. I plan to do lots this weekend and get ds1 directing! Has anyone used the tripod we got with the camera? does it stand up on the dashboard while driving? Im not sure im brave enough to try it out as I drive in case it slips over.

I will also just apologise to mn... my 5 year old ds2 has an obsession with the word poo, he was talking quite normally, telling me I drive like an old lady!! and he suddenly decided to throw the word in to the discussion while we were mid record! I cant figure out how to remove it so please edit that bit lol!!!

Christmasford · 30/12/2011 18:24

I discovered the child view mirror thing! It's great. I could see the kids in the back without attaching other fiddly mirrors etc and they can see me. No more turning around to see who is stealing what off of who!!...

We haven't filled it up yet...but it's a quarter full tank and it's done verging on, 400 miles. Which is bloody great for a big beast. We have done lots of dual carriageway driving, but also driving around town a lot, so fuel consumption seems pretty economical to us. I may not say that when I fill up the tank as its is huge.

I too will miss it when it's gone. It's given us a good chance to look at what we want for our next car though.

worley · 30/12/2011 18:57

To follow on with some of the mn questions:

What's it like to drive?

So far I love it; Its very smooth, and actually quite nippy. I love the little green arrow that lights up on the dashboard advising you to change gear if the revs are too high. I passed my test over 17 yrs ago (blush) so it is teaching drive economically again. As christmas ford said about changing gears at rev points, maybe I was taught that and its long gone out of my memory, but its a good habit to get back in to. It may save me some petrol in my old car? I love the reversing display video that shows up on the rearview mirror, and the guidence lines when your parking into a space, no more wonky parking when im in the fiesta Grin and the alarm if you get too close to something when reversing. It even went of when some one walked behind me when I was trying to reverse out of a space in a very very busy supermarket carpark.

Is it a comfortable ride?
It very comfy to drive, I adjusted the height of the steering wheel to suit me, and of course adjusted the seat to my position. Its not too far to reach the buttons for the heaters/ windows etc. ds1 (13 and about 5ft 5) says he has enough room in the back, He doesn't knee me in the back through the chair while im driving, which is good from my point of view. The rear windows are tinted so im assuming this would be good in the summer to stop the sun getting to ds2.

What's the boot space like?
The boots has so far stood up to expectations. I got my christmas food shopping all in without any squashed items. It has fitted ds2's new batcave and a hot wheels circuit in without any bother. I dont have a pushchair to fit in anymore, but it would be interesting to see how one fits in. I had to sell my old fiesta when I had ds2 as I couldnt fit my mamas and papas pram and frame in and traded up for a volvo estate, so now I wonder if the boot is bigger or not with this new design fiesta or if its just pretending to tardis like.

Does it have any useful extras - cup holders etc?
Oooh, cup holders!! theres two large cup holders, adjacent to the handbrake, which has held my coffee mug the past few mornings. There's also a handy little box/ tub (?) where I have kept my phone, Ipod, lipsalve and carpark swipe all at handy reach. Theres a little pull down pocket i found under the dashboard to the right of the steering wheel to hold little bits and bobs.
And on the windowscreen there is a little plastic clip that I have used to hold the carpark ticket in place to be displayed. I dont know if thats what the plastic clip is for but it works well holding carpark tickets Grin

How does it cope with different road conditions eg town, country, motorway?
I have driven in quite a lot of different places in it, through town, through a very busy Norwich city centre last week, through the country back lanes to my house. And it has been a pleasure all the way. I have even actually driven it off road... we went to a national trust area in north norfolk and had to drive down a very rough unsurfaced road, full of big potholes and puddles, to the carpark. It managed well and wasnt as bumpy as I thought it may have been.

What do your friends/ family think of it?
My children love it. My parents are impressed with the look of it and my dad was particulary impressed with the rearview mirror video display. I need to take them out for a little drive in it. My mum already has a fusion so she doesnt need any converting to ford at all.

Hulababy · 30/12/2011 20:29

Was coming on to comment on the diesel filler up thing and worley has beaten me to it. The Kuga also has the same system and DH, who did the filling up, said it was lots better and far less chance of mistakes. We had gotten down to about a quarter of a tank - cost just over £66 to fill it up, so not too bad,.

In the videos what has everyone commented on, and have you donme them in the car or elsewhere?

I feel I will just be repeating what I say here tbh. Is that fine?

Weather dreadful again today so videoing in pouring rain not really an option. Must remember to take some still pictures too.

Hulababy · 30/12/2011 20:50

Kuga

Also wanted to comment on the aircon/heating. We are very impressed. The system is far better than any other car we have been in, although my FIL, who used to deliver cars for a while, says Fords are reknown for their good heating systems. The car is blowing out warm air almost as soon as you turn the engine on, no waiting for it to heat up. Really handy when getting in the car in heavy cold rain.

Bluetooth phone - very easy to pair up, easier than it is on my Fiat 500. However, it only pairs if the radio is turned on, so you have to remember to do that. The controls ont he radio screen are okay, but it is not as intuitive as on my Fiat, where it is on the steering wheel. There are buttons on a stick near the steering wheel but they are not illuminated so as soon as it gets dusk it's really hard to see them rendering them unuseable tbh. However, once connected the sound quality is very good and the voice ont he other side very clear.

DAB Radio - in Sheffield we like this. It is very clear and the sound quality good. DD enjoyed the Christmas channel and DH and me have liked the 90s channel. However, we had done a few trips to Doncaster to visit family as it is Christmas time and as soon as we get down the M18 and towards Doncaster the reception is dreadful. It cuts in and out and loses the signal all the time. I am not sure if it comes as standard or as an option - so, if anyone was looking at buying a DAB as an option - check what the reception is like where you will mostly be driving. In Doncaster is is a pointless expense.

Room in the back - have now sat in the back a couple of times, with one other adult and DD. DD can fit her car seat in with us if she needs to but hasn't bothered (she is by far tall enough) as she tends to go inthe centre in such cases as her booster doesn't sit flat in the middle. There is a raised bit so car seats move about too much. They are fine either side though. Lots of room in the back for three though and plenty of leg room, even behind DH, who has long legs.

Parking sensors - ignore DH's original comment. They do come on automatically when reversing. You do need to turn them on if driving into a space after driving though - they turn off over 15mph or so we think. Need to remember this if parking forward towards a wall or whatever.

Steering wheel - DH thinks it is too thin, although he realises this is a personal thing. He prefers a chunkier steering wheel. And as mentioned above the sticks near the wheel are too dark at night - so the volume for radio, the phone controls, etc. The words could do with some form of reflective letters or some form of illumination.

Rain sensor - on the automatic setting. You can change the frequency/speed of the wipers. This is great and been very very handy with the awful weather we are having. But the control for the frequency is the opposite way round to what you might think - took a few minutes to work it out!

iPod/MP3 - it is possible to do this int he centre arm rest thing, I believe. But you need wires to attach it. Not sure it is the same one as I have for my Fiat though. I will try it, but otherwise I am not likely to buy the wires just for this test drive - but good to know it is possible.

Colour of car - still not convinced byt he colour. It is a lilac/blue but not silver type of colour. I would prefer black I think! But again a personal thing there. Just can't imagine anyone chosing this particular colour.

Comfort - still very happy both in the front and back of the car. I like that the driver and passenger seat are adjustable as useful when I am 5 foot tall and DH sis over 6 foot.

Boot space - I am liking the much bigger space. With the cover over it isn't huge, but remove that - and it still feels safe as the windows are tinted enough - and there is loads of room. I have two huge bags in the boot at the moment as they need to go to the charity shop tomorrow. They wouldn't have both fitted in my Fiat's boot and in DH's Golf it would have filled the boot. In the Kuga there is loads of room for the two bags and we also fitted in five winter coats, two camera bags and other stuff for a day out today.

Stoarge in back seats - if only one or two in the car then there is the centre arm rest, which opens up and has a small storage hole. There are pockets ont he reverse of the front seats. But there are no pockets or holders in the back doors. DH thinks this is useful as means less rubbosh kept in there, but DD would like somewhere to keep the "sucky sweets" for long journeys. No cup holders in reverse either I don't think.

Overall, mid way through - really like it as a family car, would recommend it to people. Too big for me for daily use, but I knew that anyway. But DH is now convinced he definitely wants a bigger car when he trades in his Golf R later in the year.

Hulababy · 30/12/2011 20:51

worley - we have the tripod but no idea how or where to fix it inside the car.

worley · 30/12/2011 23:50

hulababy - if you have an actual IPod or iPhone you can use the power kea to connect to the car, the USB bit goes in the car. it does in the fiesta any how. I did wonder about leads and just thought I try the iPod lead and it worked. was very happy :)

worley · 30/12/2011 23:51
  • power lead
Hulababy · 31/12/2011 08:59

Great to know thanks, will try later today.

Christmasford · 01/01/2012 12:55

End of week two update on the galaxy:

~ Do the children fit comfortably in it?

Kids are loving the space. I sat in the boot essentially the other day and was quite amazed at the leg room. Not to mention there were speakers in there as well as a cup holder on each side. So even though you feel like you have been put right in the back, you still feel like you have as much comfort as the rest of the car.

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

I found putting the two rear seats out a bit of a fiddle to start with but figured it out pretty quickly. If we were keeping the car it would soon become second nature. We still love the three middle seats being adjustable individually, as we have had all sorts of folk in the car and it meets their needs.

~ What's it like to drive?

It's brilliant to drive, same as before really. Tried cruise control and it was pretty straightforward to use.

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

As I said above I discover the cup holders in the boot, which I wouldn't have known existed had I not sat in thereeGrin

~ What do your friends/ family think of it?

Family, inlaws etc are very impressed with it. They would love us to get one! But the price of this is too much for us unfortunately but we are thinking of looking at the c-max and s-max after the trial is over. A seven sweater would be brilliant for us as we fill it often!....if we could keep it....Grin

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

At this stage in the trail we are seriously considering a ford and plan a trip to our dealership in feb to have a test drive of some smaller more affordable ones.

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

Yes. I have to say I wouldn't really have looked at ford before. Not sure why. But now they are on our list of possible future cars.

~ What one thing do you like best about it?

This week, I like the tinted windows the best! The sun is so low in the sky.

~ 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?

The car is perfect for our family. We are only a family of four, but drive between Scotland and England a lot. We drive around Scotland a lot too as we visit family all over. We have a large extended family and this car suits us and the many children around us brilliantly. So if we actually had more children of our own, we would need a mini bus for the rest! But as it is, this suits us.

chocoroo · 01/01/2012 14:31

Quick update here:

The Mondeo still has a little petrol left - the economy has been similar to our Seat which is great in terms of running costs.

Our friends are all very impressed, although everyone continues to comment on the size of the car. Friends with two+ DC or older DC are particularly impressed. We kind of think it's the sort of car we'll look at seriously in a few years. It's too big for where we live currently and parking can be a pain - we have a drive but the Mondeo is too big to fit down it.

If I was going to change one thing, it would probably be the internal layout. I've videoed more feedback on that but I just think its all too busy.

Hulababy · 01/01/2012 14:41

Normal ipod lead does work on the Kuga too, thank you.
However, it is recognising the iPod is plugged in and appears to be playing, but no sound comes out of the car speakers. I managed to sort this once as I had an option on my iPod to select Ford audio - defaulted to dock connector iirr. But this isn't coming up as an option subsequent times, so no sound is playing. And would I really need to do this every time I plug in?

Hulababy · 01/01/2012 14:45

Also, meant to say that we tested car seats yesterday. I often have 3 children int he car - DD and Katz's DDs - esp on a Friday school run. Now the older two are now legally tall enough to go without car seats but on longer runs esp I prefer a car seat as it is safer. The younger one is 6y so in a high back booster or a booster cushion at the very least, ideally the former of the two.

Suprisingly it was not possible to fit 2 booster cushions and one high back booster along the back. It just wasn't possible at all - even in DH's Golf R we can just about manage that. And the Kuga is a bigger car.

And with the headrests in place a high back booster does not sit very stable in the rear - they'd need to come off really. In the end we comprosied with two booster cushions and one of the elder two in the middle with no seat.

I was very suprised about the failure on the car seat front.

RunningKatie · 01/01/2012 20:14

Fiesta update:

Funnily, I hate the tinted windows, I think it contributes to making the back of the car dark which is a real pain.

However, I've discovered that there's a random slot in the dashboard which is the perfect size for our gym car park pass - no idea what it's actually there for but it's fab and I love it. Much easier than putting it in a cup holder!

We've put some petrol in, the warning light came on really early, I had a panic as I was on my way to fill it up as there were 60 miles to go according the gauge when it started warning me. Easy enough to fill though which was good.

I'm still struggling to get the buggy in and out of the boot, that for me is the major drawback. I've actually been looking at the previous model and tried the buggy in there which doesn't seem to be quite such a snug fit.

worley · 02/01/2012 16:45

fiesta update: little niggle still while putting ds2 in, the seatbelt is quite a tricky fit around his booster seat, I just about manage to do it but he can't do it which is a shame as in our car he can do up his own seatbelt.
yes I think to that the tinted windows do contribute to the lack of light and visibility in the back.

The power outlet cover is not attached to anythIng, I can see that getting lost if the car was with us long term! it needs a little plastic string or something to lee it safe while outlet in use. I used the outlet for the satnav and had to make sure no one touched it!!

Used the power steering today, ds1 recorded me using it. It seemed ok but I don't feel the need to use it really. I guess for long journeys on Mroads maybe but he nearest motorway to me is about 100 miles away so not really a function I need.

Still enjoying the car and have only topped the diesel up the one, it's very economical with its diesel. lovethat as I get through £120 a month in petrol in my tank.

worley · 02/01/2012 16:47

I mean cruise control not power steering !!

Christmasford · 03/01/2012 13:13

Well we were going a long drive today but every bridge in Scotland is closed due to wind. Also a car as big as the galaxy would make me nervous driving it in such strong winds...100mph up here

AnnMumsnet · 03/01/2012 16:04

take care Christmasford!

OP posts:
Christmasford · 03/01/2012 18:24

We stayed home! Even when it died down a bit, just wasn't worth it. Shall go on Saturday instead Grin