Ford S-MAX MPV (2006-2014) | owner reviews: MPG, Problems & Reliability

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This is the worst purchase I have ever made. In less than 2 years since I owned the car I have spent about £3500 on repairs, from snapped handbrake cable, to fuel injectors, to faulty alloy wheels which led to tyres losing pressure continually, to oil leak and now the final straw was a total engine failure last week. It is now virtually worthless. A piece of metal junk. If you are tempted please don't make the same mistake as me and put your trust in this model.

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The car is great from my wife's point of view. The versatility is brilliant, 1 day we have 7 people being ferried about and the next the family of 5 is packed with bikes and kit and off on holiday. Unfortunately that is where this story turns sour. I had a bill for £1000 for wiring issues within a year. Within 2 the automatic gearbox was gone at a cost of £3600. Which led to another wiring issue that could not be viably fixed. In summary a great design which we loved ruined by complete technical failure. Did we just get unlucky? I would not buy a higher mileage ex hire SMax. I might consider a newer model with a solid warranty.

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Good value MPV that doesn't look like a mini bus or a Chelsea tractor. Mileage OK but not good, servicing reasonable, reliability good save for a recurring electric window fault. Painful not having a spare wheel, the expansion foam wont fix a rip from a drain to my cost, but a good car non the less and does the job well in reasonable style.

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Brilliant car. Good mpg considering 90% urban driving. Solid build quality with plenty of storage space.....best of all, brilliant to drive. Had the car for almost a year, ex reps car with 73,000 on clock very clean and straight and no issues to date. Excellent.

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Nice and comfort ride as a city MPV. A warm and welcoming design compare with other MPV on the market. Pros: 1. Spacious interior 2. Panoramic Roof Screen 3. Well insulation of noise outside 4. Comfortable interior lighting 5. Individual seats recline and fold down for middle and rear 6. Stopping net in the boot 7. Soft notification sound 8. Friendly horn sound 9. Front and rear parking sensors 10. High visibility and few blind spots 11. Automatic vipers and headlamps 12. Seats are firm and supportive 13. Dual zone climate control 14. Mechanical hand brake lifter. 15. Dual-clutch 6-speed automatic gearbox 16. Hill launch assist 17. LED daytime running light 18. Front and rear fog lamps Cons: 1. Sluggish throttle response in "D" mode or changing gears( P<>N<>D). 2. Big turning circle ( Curb to Curb) 3. Faulty binnacle possible 4. Sagging of panoramic roof curtain 5. Cooling power is weak in hot summer, especially sunny days 6. No spare wheel onboard 7. No tyre pressure sensor is selective item 8. Adjustments may be need for some door hinges 9. Fuel consumption is high 10. A heavy MPV 11. The suspension is slighty hard, with wrong tyre pressure would causing bumpy ride

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First S-Max was second hand Zetec and though very good at what I needed from it (space, economy) the build quality was not great with many small problems on engine and trim. Always relatively cheap to fix though. After 3 years I bought another new S-Max but this time a Titanium on lease and it has been much better. Build quality has really improved as has comfort and general refinement levels.

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Had no problems yet other than an annoying squeak coming from rear suspension

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Possibly due to the build quality or youngish age, it suits every need I have, brilliant fuel consumption, comfort and hard as nails.

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No problems at all so far with this model or the previous model which I had for 2 years

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No problems so far

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NO PROBLEMS

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It's been fine

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No problems to date

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Minor problems with alarm system

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exhaust problem

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no major faults

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No issues in 50,000 miles at all

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NO ISSUES SO FAR.

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A few odd issues such as having to replace coolant more than normal

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Had a couple of things wrong but majority of the time it runs fine.

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Reliability so far is excellent

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It's never let us down

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Has never let us down

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No problems

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No major problems

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It has suffered from minor issues since I've had it but in my fifth year of ownership I have spent over Ł1200 this year on repairs for major component failures

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the best car i have owned

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Since new i have a problems with the stereo system. the electric windows, the doors in winter freeze sometimes, the paint is very thin and chips easily, the bluetooth frequently fails.

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lots of silly issues, tailgate jammed shut repeatedly, then opened whilst driving the car, 4 breakdowns relating to fuel filter and immoboliser issues, poor cold starting, flywheel problems.

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never let us down.

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Excellent

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the alarm senser has been replaced twice, no other falier in 119,000 miles

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never had a problem

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Is diesel so sometimes hard to start in the morning however that's the only problem we have had

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Faultless after 102000 miles

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There have been problems with the battery draining & the ignition malfunctioning. The main dealer suggested that it might be the instrument binacle malfunctioning but were not sure as they had 'never seen anything like it'. It was eventually fixed following several software patches, and an unintentional admission from the dealer that there had been Maintenance Updates from Ford about the problem.

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Bought my s-max in may from ford dealer excellent ride all the space you could ask for I find the seating comfortable the stereo amazing a real turnaround from the blauepoint system although with the classical music the tweeters dont handle it well storage capacity for niknaks and things well ive never had so much Bad points sun glare off windscreen engine management problem costing a new turbo fortunately under guarantee and my first inclination to buy a car was the zafira but I had heard so much about the dreadfull dpf I didnt buy it so bought s-max instead only to find that it has the same manufacturing cash cow installed is it going to be a horror story for the s-max I hope not only 3 stars so far would still recommend at this stage but who knows it could get worst

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I bought this car as i needed a larger style family car that would comfortably sit 3 baby seats in the rear with room to get the children in and out. I am so happy with this car. Its perfect. Tons of room for children and yet still tons of room for buggies, bags and bikes in the boot. Driving position is fantastic and all the extras on my zetec model make the s max a dream of a family car and a real pleasure to own.

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A brilliant compromise -- good looks, great handling, seven seats, fantastic flexibility!

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The only downside of this car is the direct injection petrol engine which is good on performance but only not class leading on fuel consumption

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Practical car, but very slow, not very efficient for a diesel either.

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Excellent vehicle apart from plastic finsh

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Excellent vehicle apart from plastic finsh

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Excellent car to drive, a workhorse, excellent for towing, considering size of the s-max resonable economy 46mpg, comfortable on long journeys incl passengers, although firm suspension. Would buy another but will down size next car with more economy lower emmission and lower price bracket.

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Great family car & enjoyable, to drive.

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Great family car & enjoyable, to drive.

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Superb

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Great

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This car is better than expected , it has out performed my expectations

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Brilliant concept, well executed. Minor penny pitching in fittings.

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Great, good and versatile vehicle.

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Brilliant drive, comfortable only down side fuel consumption not as good as expected

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Good all rounder

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Very reliable & very comfortable car to drive. Still enjoy driving the car on a daily basis after nearly 3 years

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Amazing. its quick yet can be economical when driven cautiously. petrol prices unfortunatly making it more expensive to run

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Very practical and responsive to drive, an all round fammily car.

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Comfortable, quiet, roomy and flexible.

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I have never had a mpv before and i love it. The space is fantastic and the whole car is just superb. Go ford!

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Very pleased with the car. Very good performance; speed, handling & fuel economy. Very practical.

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Very good - one key fault has been the sat nav which took ford a long time to fix correctly.

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Hugely practical, surprisingly good to drive, very good build quality. Have been very pleased with it. Only problem so far is rusty wheel nuts.

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A good car to drive in urban and motorway conditions. Automatic gearbox has no obvious dead spots and is responsive when acceleration is required.

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I like the car for it's practicality and performace, but it is a very poor starter.

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The car has given me 60000 trouble free miles with minor niggles such as oil pressure, abs and esp warning lights coming on for no apparrent resson and bonnet cable snapping only occurring in the last 5000 miles. No issues have had the car off the road for any long period of time, it has been an excellent and overall a reliable and enjoyable car to drive.

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Great car to drive. Very practical but with style. Quality issues around cosmetic areas - ford badge disintigrated within its first year, number plate delaminating, air conditioning leaked into car foot well.

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I think it is a good car to drive it has good visability and is very practical

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Only had this car a few months but so far very impressed.

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Its a great car, very pratical but it has been back to the garage over 20 times for minor faults in the last 2 years, one in particular is the fact that it indicates it needs an oil change every 3000 - 4000 miles. We have been told by the ford dealer that to prevent this from happening we have to drive the car for at least 15 minutes every three weeks over 3000 rpm. So we have to go out put the car in 4th gear at 70mph for a 15 to 20 minute drive, waste of time and fuel, i dont like to be told how to drive my car!!

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The best mpv on the market - but it's still an mpv

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So far so good

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Very reliable, comfortable (over long journeys to the south of france), my wife and i find it an easy car to drive albeit it's bigger than previous cars. The practical nature of the seating is excellent from carrying 7 people to seats flat and fully loaded!

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Exceptionally practical but stylish and good to drive.

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Good car, poorly equiped, poorly built,not very comfy but very practical.

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Very nice just upgraded toan automatic

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Very positive experience - ford exceding vw in build quality these days

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Excellent family car, that is very flexible, comfortable, well built, and fun to drive. Would recommend one to anyone

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Meets expectations. Good all round, very comfortable ride.

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Very reliable very good car only problem is front tyre wear is excessive and tyres expensive. otherwise very happy.

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Overall, the car is very good, with high levels of comfort and performance. I am a little disappointed with the fuel economy at the moment, only 40mpg, but the car is only a month old with 700 miles on the clock, so hopefully it will improve as the engine loosens up. The noise intrusion into the cabin is minimal and makes for a very relaxing drive.

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Excellent all rounder, lots of space, economical and great to drive

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Great mpv with goo dtowing capabilities. I have had 3 x s max now

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Great all round performer, and great for transporting invalids with wheelchairs

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Chips very easy (stone chips), bluetooth keeps failing as does the usb stereo. Heating is very poor. Heated windscreen is excellent. Could have been the perfect vehicle if it wasn't for poor build quality and very bad dealer network. Almost there, but would not recommend or buy again.

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Disappointed it has not got cruise control

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Stylish,driveablity,comfortable and pratical.

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I'm very impressed with it. It's fantastic to drive, hugely practical and looks great, it's the only mpv that i've seen turn heads. Economy is Not quite as expected, i think it is impossible to achieve the manufacturers results.

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Yes Green thumbs up