Ford S-Max

Crizzy · 13 Oct 2018 at 09:24

Hello everyone.

Does anyone have much experience with the Ford S-Max at all?

Would a budget of say 9-11k be enough for a good one? If so what sort of trim level can I get for this budget (Titanium X?)

Also does anyone have experience with both petrol and diesel models and whether the auto or manual is best?

It's for a family motor, won't be doing mega miles in it and not too bothered about age or mileage.

Cheers

Crizzy · 13 Oct 2018 at 18:09

... or do I save some cash and get a Mazda5? hmm.

MissChief · 13 Oct 2018 at 18:36

Not had an S-Max myself but given you can get them with the Focus ST engine, albeit in a lower state of tune a fast family bus appeals. I also read that the Titanium X trim was introduced on these as they had a lot of orders from expanding well off families with every option ticked and had to ask dealers what was going on. Top trim was apparently only Titanium when it launched.

Phemo · 13 Oct 2018 at 19:09

I (well my wife) have had 2 now. Both have been 2 litre diesels (though different engines) primarily because we got reasonably lucky with the price/spec at the relevant times and there doesn't seem to be many petrols around. Early in the year I paid £6.5k for our 62 plate Titanium which had 100k miles on the clock and had just had a service, cambelt, clutch and DMF change which I didn't think was too bad.

9-11k should be plenty to get a decent one. If you don't do that many miles then a petrol is going to be the better option, if you can find one. How fussed are you about performance?

Despite being a big family wagon and despite the 2 litre diesel engine, I actually quite enjoy driving hers. It's deceiving because to me, it doesn't feel like you're driving an MPV. Did 1500 miles on a jaunt to France a few weeks ago and despite being fully loaded with 2 adults, 4 kids and a whole load of junk, it did the trip nicely - decent comfort, decent amount of space for everyone and returned good fuel economy too.

Aston998 · 13 Oct 2018 at 19:27

I would not get one, My friend had one a couple of months ago, the amount of problem he had was unreal! I would go for something like VW Touran or Renault Scenic.

Crizzy · 13 Oct 2018 at 19:55

MissChief said:
Not had an S-Max myself but given you can get them with the Focus ST engine, albeit in a lower state of tune a fast family bus appeals. I also read that the Titanium X trim was introduced on these as they had a lot of orders from expanding well off families with every option ticked and had to ask dealers what was going on. Top trim was apparently only Titanium when it launched.

Cheers, there appear to be very few with the ST engine for sale, and they all look like pre-facelift examples, did Ford stop selling the S-Max with this engine at some point?

Phemo said:
9-11k should be plenty to get a decent one. If you don't do that many miles then a petrol is going to be the better option, if you can find one. How fussed are you about performance?

I'm not overley fussed about performance, but would be nice if I could get it of course! I'd rather a better condition car with more equipment over the performance, especially given the type of car it is.

Aston998 said:
I would not get one, My friend had one a couple of months ago, the amount of problem he had was unreal! I would go for something like VW Touran or Renault Scenic.

Thanks for the response, it looks like your friend may be in the minority as the S-Max is generally regarded as quite a reliable car, what engine/tranmission did your friend have?

Phemo · 13 Oct 2018 at 20:44

Yeah I can definitely say that our old one was pretty reliable. It made it to 170k miles before we got shot of it and cost nothing but basic servicing and brake discs/pads in that time. It had a fair few issues at that point but nothing was terminal - and indeed, from looking up MOT history it seems that someone has bought it, fixed it up and it's still going now. The one we've got is the 140bhp one but it's been remapped to (supposedly) 201bhp. Not sure if it really is that but it certainly feels surprisingly nippy for the kind of car it is.

Dis86 · 14 Oct 2018 at 00:45

My next door neighbour has a 2015 model, 2l diesel. It sounds like an absolute bag of spanners.

Phemo · 14 Oct 2018 at 00:51

Doesn't every 2 litre diesel?

Dis86 · 14 Oct 2018 at 00:54

Phemo said:
Doesn't every 2 litre diesel?

No no. This thing goes way beyond dag dag. If I didn't know otherwise you'd think it was on 200k miles and running without oil. It's horrendous.

Crizzy · 14 Oct 2018 at 09:24

Preference would be not to have a diesel and I am in no rush to buy so I can wait.

The question is though are the diesel options better than the petrol ones?

Howard · 14 Oct 2018 at 09:32

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201810061240568

Just make sure the Powershift transmission oil and filter has been changed on time (every 3 years or 38k)

Mujja · 14 Oct 2018 at 09:48

The 2.5T was only on the first generation, I bought one a couple of months ago and very happy with it.

11K will get you in to an early MKII titanium X. Read lots of negatives about the diesels and autos in smaxoc so decided to play it safe with a petrol and manual. The 2.5T was the recommend petrol. I drive less around 3000pa miles now and a petrol made sense, would have preferred an auto but for the little use the car gets didn't need any unexpected repair bills.

Crizzy · 14 Oct 2018 at 09:52

Howard said:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201810061240568

Just make sure the Powershift transmission oil and filter has been changed on time (every 3 years or 38k)

Cheers, looks like an ideal candidate, 2.0 petrol ecoboost titanium x, auto. I like that it's got nav and reversing camera as well.

I think this is the spec I settled on previously, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a trick with the diesel options.

Crizzy · 14 Oct 2018 at 10:55

Mujja said:
The 2.5T was only on the first generation, I bought one a couple of months ago and very happy with it.

11K will get you in to an early MKII titanium X. Read lots of negatives about the diesels and autos in smaxoc so decided to play it safe with a petrol and manual. The 2.5T was the recommend petrol. I drive less around 3000pa miles now and a petrol made sense, would have preferred an auto but for the little use the car gets didn't need any unexpected repair bills.

Cheers for the info. I've got it my head that an auto would suit this kind of car better, unless you know if there are any fundamental problems across the range with them?

Deleted member 66701 · 14 Oct 2018 at 11:02

I'd get a Mondeo over the S-max - the S-max no no more space but comes with the downside of having to drive a psuedo people carrier.

Phemo · 14 Oct 2018 at 12:16

It depends what you want. With all seats up the S-Max has a tiny boot but with the rear row of seats down the S-Max boot is huge. There's also the obvious difference of the Mondeo having only 5 seats and the S-Max having 7 seats so if you need to fit 6 or 7 people then the Mondeo isn't an option.

Crizzy · 14 Oct 2018 at 13:39

Yes we we need the capacity to have 7 seats, not all the time but just occasionally.

Already got the mondeo haha

Simon · 14 Oct 2018 at 15:47

amigafan2003 said:
I'd get a Mondeo over the S-max - the S-max no no more space but comes with the downside of having to drive a psuedo people carrier.

S max is one of the only cars that can fit 3 small kids in the back in their seats. A mondeo isn’t wide enough

.:SAmSuNG:. · 14 Oct 2018 at 17:22

I Had an edge that has the same chassis, engine and interior mostly as the current Smax I think.

The 2l diesel was pretty noisy and interior quality is average I guess. Also not very good on fuel. Was a lot happier to change back to a petrol.

Ford S-Max

Deleted member 66701

Deleted member 66701