S-MAX and Galaxy extended test drive

[LittleDonkeyCarriemumsnet]

Hi all

By now you should all have received your new Ford car - hope you are enjoying it. Below are some of the questions we'd like you to cover in your feedback. 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 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 if you'd like to, and don't feel you have to stick to the questions too rigidly - they are just a guide.

Thanks for volunteering. Safe driving and Happy Christmas!

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?

If it has in car entertainment, what is that like?

So far is it economical to run?

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

How did it cope with the snow (if you had any)

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 ?

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

Any queries please email [email protected]

Thanks again,

MNHQ

dh went to ikea today to get a full length mirror, which he fitted in the S Max boot longways! in my clio we'd have had to do some amazing trickery to fit it in.

been looking at other 7 seater type cars out and about. must say, i think the S Max is one of the best looking. considering the space inside, ford have really managed to keep it looking stylish from the outside, as well as being gorgioso on the inside! some 7 seaters just look like a minibus, big bulky boxy things, but the S Max is really not like that.

as far as how economical it is..well the trip computer says we've averaged 39miles per gallon. now that means not a lot to me but dh says that is good. he says that's cos even though it's big it has a diesel engine so it's fuel efficient. all i know is that in the 3 weeks we've had it we haven't had to put any fuel in. it came with a full tank and we've used up nearly all of it, trip says that's 600 miles.

this 3 week test drive has really opened my eyes to what a larger car could do for us. up until now i was more than happy with my clio. every 2 or 3 years i go back to the dealership to get yet another clio. the chap i see there has tried to persuade me to get something bigger, and i've always felt it would be too much to handle, too hard to park and too much money for something we don't need. now though, we're seriously looking into it. just need to decide which car to lose and look at finances etc. not sure we can stretch to a brand new S Max like we've been testing, but we're looking at our options.

the only downer really has been the snow although that has meant we've really gone to town with testing the heated windows etc! so unfortunately some features we didn't get to try, such as the cruise control, as we had planned to test that this weekend on a long trip up the motorway, which never happened .

the only two niggles i've found have been that due to my height i have to do a little jump to reach the boot lid to close it and also that getting the seatbelt around ds's newborn car seat is a little bit of a struggle as there is no extra slack on the seatbelt once it's fastened around. if it was set up on an isofix base this wouldn't be a problem though, and long term that is probably what we would do.

so i have been seriously impressed, and i am usually very very hard to please! so thank you ford, and thank you mumsnet

Today my sister and I wanted to test out the cars ability to be filled with 6 children and 1 driver.

My sister has four children and already drives a 7 seater Toyota so she was able to make comparisons.

She thought the Ford S-Max had more space. She was impressed with being able to fit two of the chunky child seats in side by side for the two two-year olds.

We were also impressed with the boot space that was still available after all 7 seats were filled. Enough space for a buggy, maybe even a double, and plenty more room.

I noticed that the back two seats are lower than the others and although there is plenty of leg room for the kids as the middle row of seats pulls forward, I was concerned about how comfortable it would be for an adult. So I climbed in the back. I'm 5'2" and managed to sit quite comfortably. My kneed were higher than my hips because of the lower seat position, but certainly tolerable. And definitely more comfortable than I feel when i have to sit in the back of the focus between two child seats. That's a bit of a squeeze . I'd be happy therefore to sit in any of the seats of the S-Max and feel comfortable enough.

One problem we did discover was the parcel shelf. It has to be removed to make room for the 2 extra seats in the back, but then I couldn't find anywhere to put it. This wouldn't be a problem if you knew you were going to need the back seats before you set off, but would be a problem if you needed the extra seats at last minute. My sister says this is also a problem in her 7 seater though and so she just leaves it at home. The blacked out back windows mean that the stuff in the boot is out of view anyway.
I think it would be handy though if there was somewhere to put it in the car.

I haven't had a call yet to say when they will be collecting it. I live in hope that the snow keeps Trevor away for a bit longer.

My car is going back today. Some time this afternoon, so expecting him any time onwards really. Did a load more videoing this morning. Struggled with that side of it, haven't looked at what we have done. Daren't! Think I even swore this morning and told DH to switch it off - oh well, hope Ford are good at editing. More snow overnight, although the roads aren't too bad. DH got a great bit of filming as I skidded towards a car driving past at the junction. Thankfully I stopped in time, really didn't want to be the first one to have a crash filmed. He mumbled something quite calmly about how good the anti skid thing was .

Did a big Tesco shop but the shopping still looked really lost in the boot. Am getting used to the parking sensors, so had no trouble in the car park. Then drove the longest way possible home as that will be the last time. Feel unusually emotional and almost a bit teary that its going.

Saw a woman parking a similar model yesterday. Was having a good look at it and I think she thought I was looking at her parking. She said 'think its OK parked here'. I then told her that I was only looking as I was test driving the same model myself. She then enthused about how wonderful it was and how much she loves the car. She has 3 young children and said said it was perfect for them. So its official, I have now become a Ford/S-Max saddo who speaks to other S-Max owners. If I had the car any longer I would probably start flashing them (with my lights of course) as they drove past. Maybe its just as well its going before I do something really odd .

Had a car full yesterday as took the kids sledging. All back to ours afterwards so their friends wanted to come in the car with us. Had 2 large boxes in the boot then had to add bags and sledges. Still managed to get rear seats up and sledges/boxes fitted in boot space left. Will miss that flexibility and seeing the kids enjoy it with their friends so much. Having said that on video this morning they said they miss the old car and are glad we are keeping the old one , what are they like.

Its gone.....sob sob.....they have taken it back.....wimper wimper....i'm never going to see it again...i will report back when i'm more composed

Mine just this minute gone as well . He was a bit late so had a last unexpected drive in it to get kids from school and pick DH up from station. I feel like I have just been chucked .

I haven't had a call yet to arrange pickup.

They've obviously decided to let me keep it.

Ah crap, I spoke too soon.

8am tomorrow

8am tomorrow too

I haven't had a call yet! Don't know whether I can go out today or not!

mine has gone

demo man checked the car over and i noticed that when he closed the boot lid he didn't reach for it like i did, he used a handle just on the inside that i didn't even realise was there!! all that jumping i did to shut it each time..how stoooopid of me!

anyway, that's it for me. dreading looking forward to seeing our video diaries

Oh no Ruddynorah.... I used the handle and kept meaning to mention it to make sure you were using it. In fact as I used it the other day I was thinking, gosh she must be really tiny if she can't reach the handle . Sorry I didn't mention it now!!

I can't even think that they could get anything decent from our video. Was so awful, I didn't even watch any of it back, couldn't stand to see what I looked and sounded like (rough and wrinkled I think). Will do a summary later today then thats it I guess . Keep walking past my car outside and really need to take it for a drive but can't face it.

swagger SNAP re: the video diary. I didn't watch it back either and it was really crap. I did two summaries today just so they had more choice in selecting the choice cuts, lol!!

Anyway ours is gone now too Miss it already.

We did a final trip to Edinburgh zoo yesterday afternoon and I decided to put all 7 seats up and see what the boot space was like. I was extremely impressed! In fact, it was the best feature as far as I am concerned!! As long as you adjust the back two rows to their most forward position there is tonnes of room- I could easily fit the Phil+Teds double in with loads of room to spare- easily enough for shopping, backpack or whatever else you might need! The only thing was that when I slid the seats forward, the seatbelt didn't stretch around the Maxi Cosi Tobi car seat so I had to move the seat back a bit which compromised the leg room in the very back.

Overall, though, it was all fab. Very well thought out with all the little features- lights that come on on the mirrors when you are getting in to the car, the heated mirrors and windscreens, the voice control (which I only just discovered but really enjoyed commanding the cd to 'play' ) etc. It was also extremely comfortable and smooth to drive/ride in- which I particularly noticed today when I got back into my old car!

I asked the dc's yesterday if they would mind the car going (I was filming them) and they just shrugged and said, 'Nah, not really'. Then today ds exclaimed, 'Oh it will be so sad when the car goes, we will really miss it. It's such a great car and I love going it and I really love watching dvd's in it. I wish we could just tell them (Ford) that we have lost the video camera thingy and then they will just let us keep the car for ever and ever, that would be cool!!!' 4yo logic
I asked him why he hadn't said that yesterday when I was filming and he repied that when he said no he had really meant yes, lol.

Anyway, thank you Ford- we have loved it and I would buy one immediately if I could afford it. But I can't, sob, sob

Just wanted to say a final big thank you to both Ford and Mumsnet for letting us have a fantastic car for 3 weeks. It really made a difference to family life, I feel quite glum without it. My old car has snapped back into life very quickly, although it feels like I am driving a go-kart in comparison. The three main things I miss are the comfort of the S-Max, the flexibility it gave me with the extra seats and the fantastic visibility from the front window. I seem to be back to peering through the window of my Astra. But 3 weeks of luxury was definately better than nothing, so once again thanks so much, its been emotional

Right on time, and the man who we call 'the opposite of santa' came yesterday morning and confiscated our SMax.

Our 5 year old threw a tantrum, told me he hated me and tried to swing for me while I explained that it was time for the car to go back. (something I was clear with him about from the start as I knew this would happen).
So that was nice.

I still need to do a bit more of a final write up to make sure i've answered all of the questions although tried to in the video as much as I could.

Thankyou Ford and Mumsnet. It was fun.

I'm going to miss being able to overtake.
And sitting comfortably in luxury.
And how far a tank of diesel can go with that car!!!

I think i will miss these mini reports we have been doing oh well all good things come to an end i suppose...so to sum up.
I was nervous about how large the S max looked when it arrived but it quickly became a fantastically easy car to drive.
Every feature added to the ease of driving in comfort and safety.
I was impressed by the internal space the S max, it was ample for our family of four and plenty of storage space for all the nick naks that comes with having family (i hope i cleared them all out of our stuff).
The DVD player in the rear seats was a stroke of genius and managed to keep both the boys quiet on a long journey.
By far the most impressive thing was the boot space.A weekly shop just looked lost in the boot and that was with a buggy.Ikea would have been a breeze with all that boot space.Even when the 2 seats in the boot were up there was still plenty of space for a buggy and a bit of shopping.Amazing.
The driving position was excellent as i had a brilliant view of the road which was due to every aspect of the seating and stearing was adjustable.
The handling of the S max was incredible it felt like it stuck to the road when going round corners, it felt and responded much more like a sports car than a MPV.Much like the Mohammed Ali of the car world.
I managed to clock up approx 450 miles in the 3 weeks and was thrilled that i didn't have to fill the tank up (but i suspect Fords weren't).
This car has made me feel like a confident driver and our family has been blown away by it's style, performance, practicallity and economy.
Thanks again for the opportunity to drive this amazing car and if i find £28k down the back of the settee i will be heading straight for the Ford dealership!!!

Nobodysfool, did you ask how much it would cost to buy your actual car? I did and it came in under £20,000. A great price I felt but unfortunately still not one we can afford .

@ Swagger - the basic S-MAX TDCi Titanium 2.2 is MRP £25,590 the extras bump it up to the price of approx £28K (ours came with DVD players, body kit, metallic paint, bigger alloy wheels all of which you pay extra for).
Lots of money eh?

Just been looking at the one I had, it was 2.0 but automatic which bumps it up, was also extra for the colour, DVD's, Panoramic roof etc. On the web site I have clicked the base price is £27,166, then there would be the extras. So gutted as it was such a good price, but we were never looking to spend £19,000 on a car and I keep having to remember that.

was that £19k for the actual demo model or was that a price they'd give you for a new one IYSWIM?

That was the price to buy the one I was driving for the 3 weeks.

Anybody else feel their own car has shrunk?

we have an s max, model down from the titanium (now can't remember what it's called lol) but it didn't cost near the prices you are quoting (but we didn't get the dvds, we don't do enough long distance driving to warrant it and have one car sick child so didn't want to chance it!)

yes my car has 'shrunk'

everything seems so awkward with it. i keep bashing my head trying to strap the kids in.

everytime i see someone cruising around in an s max i just spit, feckers. waaaaaaa, i want one!

i looked on here for a guide price. 2nd hand the titanium without all the add ons and maybe a year old, so the same shape and styling as we've had, seem to go for £20k.

got my vouchers today thank you ford! when will the video humiliation diaries be done?

RuddyNorah- oohhh hope mine comes soon.