300 Trend 155ps 2.2TDCI L1

It does everything I ask of it.

This was a 3 month old pre reg vehicle I bought from a main dealer with delivery miles on the clock. I saved a 5 figure sum over the list price.

I bought this 8 seater version as I have a wife an 4 children and also wished to have seating capacity to take my parents on trips out with us too. I chose the SWB version as I wanted it to be more manageable in standard parking spaces than our previous Hyundai I800 was.

Despite being only a 12cm longer than a 7 seat VW Sharan, it can take 1 or 2 (depending on version) extra people plus have room in the boot for an unfolded wheelchair (or in our case, a dog in a crate and a folded wheelchair) plus have room under the seats for bags/coats etc.

All the seats in the Tourneo are full size adult seats with plenty of leg room in all rows. There have never been any complaints from adults about lack of space. When I purchased the car all my children were young and they all sat in child seats. The Tourneo can take 3 child's seats across one row with ease. What impressed me about the Tourneo is that the rear seat belts are attached to the seats themselves (not the door pillars) at shoulder height and feed through the child seats easily. It also had the highest rated (for the time) crash test result. The seats themselves are split 2/3 and 1/3. When parked on the side of the road (not facing oncoming traffic), the single seat is nearest the kerb, meaning that to access the rear row, only a single seat (as opposed to a double seat) needs to be raised. Most other vehicles in its class eg Renault Trafic, Vitos Vauxhall Vivaro and the Citroen and Peugeot variants have the double seat nearest the kerb which is cumbersome, especially with a child seat still attached.

The sliding doors are also a boon. As our car is an 8 seater there is a big gap between the two front seats, after kids have got out of the sliding doors, it's easy for me to do too,, so I'm not opening my door into traffic. It also has side steps as standard meaning less able people can climb in relatively easily. This is not always so with the competitors previously mentioned.

The vehicle has been almost totally reliable. In nearly 7 years of ownership so far, apart from normal servicing, I have changed a set of tyres and had new front brake discs and pads fitted only. Even the bulbs are all still original.

The only fault it had was with the cruise control cancel and resume button. They stopped working. This occurred under warranty. I reported it at its second and third service (under warranty) and the dealer (Evans Halshaw, Preston) said each time they had fixed it, only for the issue to return soon after. (I subsequently found out on a Transit forum that disconnecting and reconnecting a plug from one of the pedals temporarily sorts the issue). On its fourth service (the first one out of warranty) I reported it again. They then said it needed new buttons and would cost £400 to repair!!. Obviously, I played up at this and they replaced them free as a 'goodwill gesture'!!!!!!. I also reported that a reverse sensor sporadically went off on its own. The dealer took a couple attempts to fix by changing the sensor over but to no avail. I ended up fixing it myself. It was simply the towball cover I had setting it off. Once I changed it for another, the problem went away. I don't have much faith in my local main dealer.

The vehicle is a quiet motorway criuser and a good tug. Fully loaded up, it still tows our caravan with ease.

There are three aspects which I am frustrated with. One is the economy. Our Hyundai I800 had an official combined Mpg of 33.1mpg. I regularly got 31 out of it. The Tourneo figure is 43.5mpg combine. I get 33 only, maybe going up to 36 on a run.

Another is the gearing. The gearing is so high that it makes driving more tiring than it needs to be. You are constantly changing between 3rd and 4th a 30mph. The gear change indicator says change to 4th but it seems happier in 3rd and you need to change down to 3rd if there is any resemblance of an incline. Its comfier in 4th gear at the mid 30s mph. The same can be said of 5th and 6th gear at 50mph. It clocks about 1800 revs at 70 on the motorway. Any longer incline or if you need a quick burst of acceleration then it has you changing down to 5th or even 4th. However, the gear change is pleasant. I'll give it that!. Cruising on the flat is great.

The last issue is the weight of the seats. I can manage to get a single seat out of the car on my own but the double seats are a two person job. However, I have recently taken a large sofa to the tip without removing any of the seats and just folding the seat backs flat. It's a good job I don't have to remove them often!.

The Ford Tourneo Custom is in the M1 'car' vehicle class (not the N1 'van' class). Despite this it doesn't show on car insurance comparison sites. I initially had a bit of trouble trying to insure it. The insurance companies automatically assumed it was a van. I had to point out that it was an M1 class vehicle. As a result, the companies had to manually enter the details of the vehicle into their system. Once this was done, I was able to obtain a quotation without any further issues. In fact, my insurance premiums are very similar to if I was insuring a Galaxy or an Alhambra.

Even this website have it in the 'van' section rather than their 'car' section.

Overall this vehicle has been painless to own. It does all I ask. Its a minibus, family holdall, a van and a decent tow vehicle (5th gear is best for towing at 60mph in my opinion). But above all, it's a perfect car for a large family. As I can't ask anymore of it, I cannot see me parting with it anytime soon!!.

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