Ford Galaxy/S-Max choices, advice, pitfalls

[JuniorD]

This is my first foray into the Ford forum, not to ask about RS or GT40 advice, but rather MPV advice!

The missus has decreed that we need a Galaxy and as I know my place, and little about these cars, I seek your guidance. VAG Sharan/ Alhambra are ruled out as they "look boring", S-Max because too small.

We would be going for a 2011-2013-ish Titanium X, prob up to about £15k, likely a 2.0 diesel.

But there seem to be more 1.6 TDCIs available. On paper they are more economical than the 2.0 TDCI but I'm worried that they wouldn't be able to pull your dick straight, let alone haul a young family of four in such a big car.

Is the 1.6 TDCI to be avoided?

Is the 2.0 a better proposition (either 140 or 163 ps)?

I like the idea of the Powershift 'box. Is this a good, pleasant reliable transmission, or is manual more reputable? I hear the Auto boxes need expensive, regular oil changes so don't know if they're worth the hassle overall.

Are there any other pitfalls or things to be avoided at all costs?

We are looking for a long term proposition that will do us 10 years or so. I can't afford to be stuck with a bag of spanners.

Any pointers/practical experiences are welcomed.

Thanks

[rehab71]

If you're only really using it as a 3 seater the S-Max is fine. Both cars are the exact same width, the Galaxy is about 2.5" longer and 3" taller. The S-Max is much nicer to drive, looks a lot better and is considerable more desirable.

Don't know of any Powershift issues and the 2.0 TDCi is the one to go for. Honestly, there's not much difference in drive between the 140 and 163.

One thing and can tell you is S-Max's of this vintage are EXTREMELY popular, if you find the right car, buy it! If you're too slow someone else will get it.

Hope that helps.

Source - I'm a Ford dealer

[JuniorD]

rehab71 said:

If you're only really using it as a 3 seater the S-Max is fine. Both cars are the exact same width, the Galaxy is about 2.5" longer and 3" taller. The S-Max is much nicer to drive, looks a lot better and is considerable more desirable.

Don't know of any Powershift issues and the 2.0 TDCi is the one to go for. Honestly, there's not much difference in drive between the 140 and 163.

One thing and can tell you is S-Max's of this vintage are EXTREMELY popular, if you find the right car, buy it! If you're too slow someone else will get it.

Hope that helps.

Source - I'm a Ford dealer

Thank you rehab71, much appreciated.

I know that good ones go quickly. The only one Ive looked at (when I didn't even know what the various trim levels and rough values were) was a late 2011 2.0 163 Titanium X Galaxy, 25k miles and totally pristine example, at £14900 from our local Volvo dealer here in NI. I saw it the morning it went for sale and by lunchtime later someone from London bought it on the strength of a iphone video

[conanius]

We had a good look at Galaxy's and S-Max's and ended up in January buying a 2012 '61' S-Max Titanium X Sport. 2.2 (200PS) TDCi with the power shift gearbox. It had just over 16,000 miles, 1 previous owner (a Ford Branch Manager who gave it to his wife to use) and was absolute mint.

I've since put nearly 10,000 miles into it, and its been a great family car. It handles well, and has plenty of performance.

We got it from a Ford main dealer, and paid just over £18,000 for it. I guess on paper its probably one of the most desirable specs (1 owner, low miles, diesel, top trim level) so we paid a bit more than you'd really want to on a 3 year old car.

You'll see plenty of them for sale, but the condition of some is absolutely appalling. We looked at several that looked like a rugby team had tried their best to trash them, but this didn't stop people listing them at 'excellent condition' prices. The crazy thing is, they still sell.

I'd suggest you try driving both, for me, the S-Max just felt more like a car and responded better on the B roads. Its actually a really decent drive.

[Pablo16v]

Can't comment on the diesels but we have a 2011 Titanium X S-Max 2.0 Ecoboost, with the Powershift box. Bought it in 2012 with 9k miles on the clock and it's now at 69k miles and hasn't put a foot wrong. If your yearly mileage isn't too high I would look at the Ecoboost models as well as they tend to be significantly cheaper than the diesels. We get an easy 30mpg average out of ours but we don't do a lot of town driving.

[JuniorD]

Got sorted with this:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cac...

The colour is a lot more metallic and vibrant in the flesh but condition is absolutely stunning, having been owned by a relative of the particular Ford dealership onwer. The only issue appears to be the driver's side seatbelt which is fairly badly frayed along the leading edge. This is being replaced before I collect on Sat.

My only concern going forward is DPF issues in the future.

All contributions to the thread have been apreciated!

[Howard-]

The Powershift 'box needs an oil and filter change costing around £250 every 3 years or 37k miles, so it's neither expensive nor particularly regular (unless you're a taxi driver).

[JuniorD]

JuniorD said:

Got sorted with this:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cac...

The colour is a lot more metallic and vibrant in the flesh but condition is absolutely stunning, having been owned by a relative of the particular Ford dealership onwer. The only issue appears to be the driver's side seatbelt which is fairly badly frayed along the leading edge. This is being replaced before I collect on Sat.

My only concern going forward is DPF issues in the future.

All contributions to the thread have been apreciated!

Well lo and behold it's back to the drawing board.

On Saturday packed the wife and two infants in the car (which was being traded in) and made the 85 mile journey to the dealer for the above linked Galaxy Titanium X

All the work that we had agreed on, bar sorting a little blemish in the front bumper, had been carried out and the car was looking great. While the sales guy was with another customer I had a good look around and finally got my hand on the service book. Until this point following phone calls and a 170 mile round trip with kids in tow the previous Sat, it had been my understanding that the car was fully serviced. The saleman had told us that the car had been leased to a cousin of the dealership's owner, and as part of the contract he was allowed to be responsible for the servicing, but they knew the car and all was good etc. I assumed (stupid me) that all would be kosher and before I agreed to buy and departed the Sat previously, I asked "And everything is correct with the service history?". That was given an affirmative. ( I left it that as by that time of the day the dealer was a hour past closing, my two year old was getting a bit too fed up and the two month old was going nuts).

Anyway, the car was first registered in March 2011. The service regime is 12,500 miles or annually.

The sercice history had three entries (milages rounded to nearest 1000)

1. 7700 miles, Feb 2012, Ford stamped

2. 38,000 miles, Sept 2014, a scrawly unidenfiable signature

3. 51,000, Sept 2015, Ford stamped (at present dealer).

So, no service record for 31,000 miles/2.5 years, and the 2nd entry could have been Mickey Mouse at that.

The salesman had no idea of who made the second entry, but told us a very roundabout, non-senensical story of the leasor being in the a certain sensitive profession, and getting it serviced there (or something). Anyway, I have mates in the same job and they don't get their leased cars serviced there that's for sure.

Anyway, we walked away. The car appeared to be in first class nick but sadly I didn't appreciate having the full truth being glossed over somewhat.

For the benefit of anyone googling, and to save a long, wasted journey, the particular Galaxy has carried the following registrations:

EK11JBX
KNZ202
VUI4963

back up for sale again: http://www.usedcarsni.com/2011-Ford-Galaxy-TITANIU...

Edited by JuniorD on Tuesday 22 September 15:32