Current gen Galaxy - thoughts?

[AmitG]

I'm thinking again about getting one of these. I may soon be at a point where I regularly need to cart large amounts of stuff around, so it's either a large 4x4 or a Galaxy. I've ruled out other MPVs for various reasons.

I'd be looking at paying about 12K for a diesel auto version, though I'd consider an Ecoboost petrol version (and in fact might prefer it).

Any feedback from existing owners would be welcome. What is good, what could be improved, would you buy again?

What goes wrong? And when it goes wrong, how painful is it? What should I be looking for when buying? I'm assuming there is a fair bit of parts/knowledge overlap with the Mondeo.

Has anyone driven the Ecoboost versions and are they any good? It seems that the vast majority of owners choose the diesel.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Pablo16v]

My wife has a 2011 2.0 Ecoboost S-Max which I guess will feel very similar to the Galaxy but in a slightly smaller package. This week should see the mileage tick-over to 31K and so far (touches wood), nothing has even looked like going wrong. Servicing is cheap…….£132 for the interim service at 12K and under £200 for the major at 25K. Build quality is excellent, but then I would expect it to be pretty decent as our car was probably touching £30K new, (we bought it at a year old with 9,000 miles on the clock).

The 2.0 Ecoboost engines are very economical, we’re currently averaging 32mpg on sticky winter tyres and usually average around 33mpg on summers, so unless you’re covering a lot of miles I have no hesitation recommending a petrol version. Friends who have a 2.0tdci Kuga struggle to top 40mpg. Most 2.0 Ecoboost Galaxy’s will have the 203bhp engine, although there’s a later 240bhp available which we have in the S-Max, and the Powershift dual clutch gearbox is pretty good to use and appears to be a reliable unit.

The driving experience is really good for such a big car. Steering feel is fantastic and the handling is typical Ford, so once you’ve got used to the higher centre of gravity you can actually enjoy yourself on twisty roads. Titanium X spec suspension is pretty stiff so I’d recommend a decent length test drive before committing to buy. Titanium spec on 17’s will be a bit more compliant.

We were told not to expect more than 15K out of the front tyres but we managed nearly 20K on the original fitment Michelin Primacy’s, and another possible reason to plump for 17” wheels is the cost of tyres. £168 is the cheapest online price I’ve found for the 18” Michelins.

Hopefully some of the above has been helpful.

Cheers
Paul

[AmitG]

Thanks Pablo16v - very helpful and greatly appreciated!

[Skodaku]

Hi. Drove a hired 1.6D manual Galaxy from Lincolnshire to Southampton last week. 5x large adults and lots of luggage. Surprisingly impressed with the beast. Not going to win any drag races but it didn't disgrace itself. Room and comfort for everyone, (rear seats left folded down), were excellent.

Ride quality highlighted how, (relatively), coarse my Volvo S60 is on big wheels and 45-series tyres.

Whole experience started me asking myself if I truly need a Galaxy in my life. Common sense has prevailed so, no I don't. However it has demolished my misconceptions about Fords; which I have kept clear of for last 25 years. Isn't prejudice wonderful ?

All in all, I really liked the thing. Do I need a S-Max, I wonder ?

[Prince Rupert]

Parent's have just got a 1.6 Ecoboost manual Galaxy having checked out all the competition and think it's great. The car itself is, in context, really enjoyable to drive and handles very well for what it is (a Ford trait). We also tried the diesel in 163ps guise and the petrol feels as torquey and doesn't have that annoying diesel trait of running out of puff higher up the rev range. The petrol also feels a lighter and more agile car to drive. The one they got was bought at 1 year/6,000 miles and seems like a new car (as you would hope). The dealers seem to be abit hit and miss, some of the sales guys were awful to deal with and others excellent - as per most brands I suppose. In terms of spec, they ended up with a Zetec which comes with all you could really need including parking sensors, dual zone climate, heated front screen, 8 speaker stereo with bluetooth and aux in, various steering wheel control etc etc - the only thing really lacking is a digital radio which is standard on the higher spec models, although this is an option and I imagine could be retro fitted. The one they got also has cruise, privacy glass and interior blinds all of which were options. The Titanium and Titanium X are obviously better specced but don't really seem to include anything that you would miss if it wasn't there. They initially wanted a higher spec one and we looked at a Titanium X with the touch screen nav / reversing camera option and frankly the nav was inferior to even the most basic Tom Tom and the reversing camera appears stuck onto the boot lid as an afterthought, perfectly positioned to be knocked off in a car park.

The only real issue was finding a petrol one - there just aren't that many around.


In terms of competition, the only real contender is the Sharan/Alhambra - these are a little better specced and a newer design, but don't drive as well and are considerably more expensive. Also if you want a petrol it has to be the 1.4 tsi, which is known to have a number of issues, whereas the 1.6 Ecoboost appears to be pretty problem free. They also come with sliding rear doors which could come in handly depending on what you need to carry.

As for reliability, having a look round on-line reveals very few scare stories or problems and most issues are quite cheap to resolve. Also, Addison Lee run 1000's of the things around London (although they are all diesel auto) and apparently have very few issues.

[AmitG]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. It seems positive. It's good to hear from people who actually own and run them rather than the usual pub experts.

The Sharan/Alhambra have been ruled out. They are just too drab. I didn't like the interiors, which were rather cheap in places. The sliding doors are nice, but that's about it. The new VW corporate face just doesn't work on the Sharan, IMHO. I think that the previous model looked better.

I will visit a dealer this weekend...

[Dapster]

I too run an S-MAX which like Pablo16v, I'd whole heatedly recommend. The advantage of a Galaxy over an S-MAX is that the rearmost seats are definitely better for adults in the Galaxy, as the ones in the S-MAX are quite low mounted. If you don't specifically need to seat 7 adults regularly, then definitely go for the S-MAX as it is huge inside and better to drive than the Galaxy. I spent about 2 months waiting for a petrol to come up and got an early 2010 203 bhp Ecoboost with the Powershift Auto(would have preferred the 240 bhp but none were around in budget).

Mine's the Titanium X and was a demo so came fully loaded - touch screen nav, elec memory seats, heated and cooled seats, the lot. Most of the toys you don't really need, but once you have them you can't go back.

I use mine only in town and the fuel consumption is predictably horrific but I don't have to worry about a clogging DPF and sounding like a Addison Lee Airport Cab.

The build quality is good (I've come out of an Audi) and it's totally unpretentious despite costing more than £35k when new. I really like it and I'm not just post rationalising buying a sensible family car!!

If you go for the S-MAX, go for the post 2010 face lift - you should still be able to get something still in warranty.