Titanium 2.0 TDCi 5dr People Carrier

Really an Excellent Car

On The Road - handling 5/5, ride (17" wheels) 5/5, quietness in the cabin 5/5, (manual) gear change 5/5, economy 4/5, performance 3.5/5. Ford's chassis engineers have done themselves proud, but the 2.0 Tdci engine could do with another 20 bhp and similar hike in torque. Bit of a shame, that. (Only the 1.6 Tdci was available for a test drive, which I found to be a little gutless so I was hoping that the 2.0 Tdci would be significantly more perky. Perhaps it will when it loosens up properly....)

Build Quality / Reliability - Overall 5/5 for the price. After more than 2,000 miles there are no niggles whatsoever to report. Not even any minor squeaks or rattles, which I was mentally prepared for since this is, after all, a car that is having to compete with the Renaults, Peugeots, Kias and Hyundais of this world. All the doors shut with a satisfying clunk! The materials and overall quality are markedly higher than a 57-plate mkV VW Golf that we used to own. The Sony stereo system is also much better than I was expecting.

Practicality - Overall 4.5/5. The main positive points are the sliding rear doors (didn't realise how useful they would be!), interior space, the fold-away middle seat and brilliant (front & rear) parking sensors display. The only negative points are that there is nowhere to store the tonneau cover when it's removed (so I'm glad I opted for the privacy glass, as it effectively allows me to leave the tonneau cover in the garage), and a dedicated mechanism to allow storage of a couple of bags of shopping securely upright would have been welcome (or perhaps I had to forgo that in order to have the optional extra space-saver spare wheel). Some people may find the load area to be a little high. I agree with many other reviewers that the rear 2 seats are suitable only for kids, although I think occasionally OK for adults on trips of up to an hour.

In summary, I can't believe how good this car is for the money - it has totally exceeded expectations. The motoring press may bang on about how improved Korean manufacturers are but I think Ford is still ahead. Also, the premium I would have had to pay for a more prestige marque was simply not worth it - after all, this will be the family workhorse and a status symbol wasn't required.
This is not a plug but credit where credit's due - I ordered it via Drivethedeal.com (had used them before) and secured an overall saving of over £5,000 compared to list price (it meant taking a finance deal and I've taken the interest in to account when stating my saving). The Ford dealer was also excellent and the delivery guy was great.

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