S max - have been put off reading reviews :o(

[littlebearsmummy]

I would love a 2nd hand Smax as our main family car, my husband isn't convinced but was just coming round to the idea. HOwever, we read a lot of online reviews from experts and owners and they seem to be very unreliable in lots of ways, which has seriously put us both off. If there's anyone out there with one, could you let me know your thoughts, how happy you are with it, how many problems you've had etc. Would be really helpful. I know buying any car (especially a used one) comes with risks, but it seems silly not to take the reviews seriously.

I don't have one but am probably going to be buying one very soon. What bad reviews have you seen? I last looked a few months ago but from what I remember they got very good reviews, in fact they seemed to be the best 7 seater in their price range.

Off to have another look now!!

Argh sorry! We looked at the owner reviews on whatcar to start with. Then we looked at honest john, a random car forum (can't remember which one but we just found it doing a web search) and also which magazine (online). They seemed to be really well thought of in terms of the drive for such a big family car, but not for things going wrong with it, for the quality of fittings or for things falling off inside.

God I love mine!

Not had any problems so far (fingers crossed - is only a 10 though).

The trim is ace - random bits not fallen off despite use by 3 kids. Had a verso a few years ago which was dire in terms of trim quality. Then a honda Fr-v which was more solid. The S-max is better still. Only criticism would be the rail thingy that goes across the end of the boot to form a lip - gets in the way and gets whacked when I lug the pram in and out. But that's sorted by taking the thing out!

Really nice drive. We bought it second hand but was an ex-ford owned one, with only about 3500 on the clock, about 6 months old.

I have one, love love love love love it! Great to drive, loads of space (I have 3 children) even with 7 seats up it has some space. Have had no problems. If I had to replace it I would replace it with another S Max!

I'm confused now!! The parkers review and owner's reviews on Autotrader are very good. The Which review is very bad as far as reliability is concerned which is a big issue for us as we have had horrendous luck with cars lately!!

I have an Fr-v at the moment, bought it 2 months ago and hate it, boring, boring, boring and horrible to drive, particularly to park. I think we were a bit spoilt having had fast, sporty lovely cars before but now have a 4th dc on the way so need something bigger. We thought fr-v was the sensible option but it turns out we're just not that grown up yet! I have my heart set on the 2.5 S-max but not if its going to spend all its time in the garage!

What else is there though?!

DH has our FRV now, I have the s-max. Is amazing the difference! Feel like I'm driving a van whenever I use his car now - very chuggy and clonky.

Mine is the Titanium X. 2.2l diesel.

I had an S-Max for 3 years and absolutely loved it, far more than one should love a car really

The only thing that went wrong with mine was the lid of the storage box between the front seats came loose as the screws worked loose, not helped by DD2 fiddling with it.

I did about 6000 miles a year in mine and NOTHING mechanical went wrong with it at all. Oh hang on I just remembered, the alarm sensor went on it and the alarm kept going off one weekend, but they changed that in an afternoon and it was fine after that.

I loved my S-Max, it was a great drive, economical (we had the 1.9 turbo diesel) and really roomy. I wish we'd got another one.

I have a knackered old V reg Sharan as well that I got for childminding but will be selling soon and I actually prefer driving that to the Fr-v, it has more go and better handling!! It was when I realised that that we decided it was pointless keeping the Fr-v!

Have been looking at MPV reviews on Which and the S-max still comes out quite high overall. I think we may still go for it and just make sure we get a good warranty, will take one out myself if necessary.

I think our problem is that it would be second hand, probably a 57 reg, so the chances of the things going wrong in the reviews are quite high (relatively speaking). It always scores so highly in terms of the drive and looks etc (both very important to me!). It's reassuring to hear others have had no problems and loved driving one. May well be able to persuade my husband yet!

The reviews from experts and users here are positive - www.carbuzz.co.uk/Ford-S-Max

My dh is waiting a year or two and then he is buying the new Seat Alahambra that came out in Feb/March. It is the same as new VW Sharan but loads cheaper. We are waiting a couple of years for a 2nd hand one and also to see if any faults are noted on it.