Ford SMax Titanium X Sport buying guide.
Discussion
Evening people.
The time has come for me to plunge into the dreaded MPV world of cars. The idea of space with all the baggage kids entail has become too of the list I need in a car.
But trying to find the car I find that has sporty looks and practicality is hard as I am picky.
But it has come down to the S Max. The titanium x sport has the bells and whistles I need and some the wife wants. Got a budget of £10k.
Going to go for the 2 litre ecoboost engine. As don't warrant paying the extra for a diesel where we don't do the miles.
Has anyone got any buying tips? Anything to look out for when going to view one?
Many thanks
The time has come for me to plunge into the dreaded MPV world of cars. The idea of space with all the baggage kids entail has become too of the list I need in a car.
But trying to find the car I find that has sporty looks and practicality is hard as I am picky.
But it has come down to the S Max. The titanium x sport has the bells and whistles I need and some the wife wants. Got a budget of £10k.
Going to go for the 2 litre ecoboost engine. As don't warrant paying the extra for a diesel where we don't do the miles.
Has anyone got any buying tips? Anything to look out for when going to view one?
Many thanks
Maybe they all have this feature but I had an S Max as a hire car recently and it had one-touch buttons in the boot to fold the rear seats flat. Absolutely loved this, may have played with them for a bit. So yeah, make sure it has those! 
(Side note: I was quite impressed by the car all in all. I'd requested an estate and was a bit miffed to get the S Max instead, but it proved a very civilised drive. The only things I wasn't too keen on were the electronic handbrake and the fact that the A-pillars are at such an angle that they block the view round bends on country lanes. Oh, and the steering is a bit meh but all new family cars seem to be like that...)
(Side note: I was quite impressed by the car all in all. I'd requested an estate and was a bit miffed to get the S Max instead, but it proved a very civilised drive. The only things I wasn't too keen on were the electronic handbrake and the fact that the A-pillars are at such an angle that they block the view round bends on country lanes. Oh, and the steering is a bit meh but all new family cars seem to be like that...)
This was mine
Great review here
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/ford/s-max-200...
Back in 2013, upon the arrival of #3, I chopped in my Audi A4 for a 10 plate S-Max Titanium Sport X. 2.0 Ecoboost petrol with the powershift box. Mine was an ex Ford management car and came with every extra - wide screen sat nav, elec memory heated / cooled seats, window blinds, electronic park brake, the lot.
It really is an amazing family car - it's vast inside and used as a five seater, the boot is massive. The rear seats slide back and forth, so even with kids in a full car seat, there is still miles of legroom. There is room for three full size child seats across the middle row (the 2 outers have Isofix). In 7 seat mode there is still boot room for a Bugaboo type buggy and a few bags of shopping, and in 5 seat mode, the boot is bigger than pretty much any estate. In 2 seat mode, it's like a van.
As an MPV the Seat Alhambra is bigger and has a more usable third row of seats, but you need to be ferrying around 7 full sized adults all the time to need that - for kids and occasional use, the S-Max seats are fine.
However the trump card of the S-Max is that it's fantastic to drive. The ride is excellent, and it really does like a decent A road. You're not going to chase down an Elise in one, but even when you've got the family aboard, it's got great handling, decent turn in and doesn't roll like a cross channel ferry.
The petrol engine is great although criminally thirsty. I live in London so the average rarely goes above 22 mpg, and on a 2,200 mile tour of France with 5 on board, loaded to the roof and with the biggest Thule roofbox on top, it failed to crack 30.
My advice would be to get the post '10 facelift (LED day running lights), and the post '11 2.0 Ecoboost with the 240 bhp engine (it'll have a digital fuel gauge). Mine was the facelift but had the older 200 bhp engine which was decent enough but the 240 is a lot better.
Apart from regular servicing nothing went wrong on mine but the build quality is a bit fragile (it wasn't close to the Audi), but unfortunately mine developed a fueling problem which was never really sorted so I got rid of it for.... another S-Max. New shape this time - 2015 Titanium Sport X Pack with all the toys. This one in fact:
I think they're fantastic. Another thing is that they are so brilliant and totally unpretentious which I like. I can take mine when I see a client and although it costs 5 series money, it simply does not register AT ALL.
Any questions, please ask.
Great review here
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/ford/s-max-200...
Back in 2013, upon the arrival of #3, I chopped in my Audi A4 for a 10 plate S-Max Titanium Sport X. 2.0 Ecoboost petrol with the powershift box. Mine was an ex Ford management car and came with every extra - wide screen sat nav, elec memory heated / cooled seats, window blinds, electronic park brake, the lot.
It really is an amazing family car - it's vast inside and used as a five seater, the boot is massive. The rear seats slide back and forth, so even with kids in a full car seat, there is still miles of legroom. There is room for three full size child seats across the middle row (the 2 outers have Isofix). In 7 seat mode there is still boot room for a Bugaboo type buggy and a few bags of shopping, and in 5 seat mode, the boot is bigger than pretty much any estate. In 2 seat mode, it's like a van.
As an MPV the Seat Alhambra is bigger and has a more usable third row of seats, but you need to be ferrying around 7 full sized adults all the time to need that - for kids and occasional use, the S-Max seats are fine.
However the trump card of the S-Max is that it's fantastic to drive. The ride is excellent, and it really does like a decent A road. You're not going to chase down an Elise in one, but even when you've got the family aboard, it's got great handling, decent turn in and doesn't roll like a cross channel ferry.
The petrol engine is great although criminally thirsty. I live in London so the average rarely goes above 22 mpg, and on a 2,200 mile tour of France with 5 on board, loaded to the roof and with the biggest Thule roofbox on top, it failed to crack 30.
My advice would be to get the post '10 facelift (LED day running lights), and the post '11 2.0 Ecoboost with the 240 bhp engine (it'll have a digital fuel gauge). Mine was the facelift but had the older 200 bhp engine which was decent enough but the 240 is a lot better.
Apart from regular servicing nothing went wrong on mine but the build quality is a bit fragile (it wasn't close to the Audi), but unfortunately mine developed a fueling problem which was never really sorted so I got rid of it for.... another S-Max. New shape this time - 2015 Titanium Sport X Pack with all the toys. This one in fact:
I think they're fantastic. Another thing is that they are so brilliant and totally unpretentious which I like. I can take mine when I see a client and although it costs 5 series money, it simply does not register AT ALL.
Any questions, please ask.
Just over but here's a facelift with the 240bhp engine.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
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