[Closed] Ford Kuga

Yep, had one for fours years after buying one one a secret Ford intro deal. It's our family and all round utility car. What do you want to know?

Had one as a hire car when I took the last of my stuff to my parents, had booked a mondeo (equivalent) needless to say I was very disappointed with the room inside. Drove ok, ride ok nothing startling not bad.

My sister had one from new(when they were first out, don't know if there have been revisions. Couldn't get anywhere close to the quoted mpg figures on her long mainly dual carriageway commute. Despite numerous times back to Ford, they couldn't make it any better and she got rid.

OK some generics then. I have the original, and remeber this is (fords) the first attempt at a crossover. Yes its not quite a roomy inside as the competition, we average 41mpg not 44-46 as claimed, and the boot is smaller than perhaps it should be.

However, its done us an 2 kids proud in a loaded to the gills to Cornwall/nursery runs kind of way. Its been ultra reliable and the Haldex 4WD is great when it snows. Its cheap to service, everything works as it should.

I believe the new one although address the issues of the older one, has its own problems (IIRC the auto is rubbish).

In my view its utilitarian, not the best of the bunch, but can be had much cheaper.

If we wanted to replace it with something newer, I'd rather sell my '02 BM and keep it to use as "my" car - loads of space for bike kit with the rear seats down and of course 4WD is great to have at SITS/Mayhem etc...

Had one on hire for our trip to Scotland last year. Quite liked it, and I'm not generally a fan of Fords.

Good

Comfy, good driving position, reasonably amount of torque. Well equipped and nice enough to drive. Quite like the look of them too.

Bad

Cabin space was OK but I thought the boot space was pretty woeful for a a vehicle that size. We struggled to fit in all our luggage and kit (1 big duffel, folded buggy, rucksack carrier and hand luggage.) We also found it to be quite thirsty over 10 days of mixed A and B road driving in the highlands & islands. Quite a lot of wind noise at speed too.

Overall impressions were pretty good, but I was glad to get back to our Octavia Scout which drives much better and has masses more room inside.

I test drove one of the new ones recently. I ended up with a Freelander, but the Kuga would have been fine. It was almost as smooth and quiet as a Mondeo at speeds up to about 75, praise indeed. I am a Ford fan, though. Handling was pretty good, too. Much more room than the old model, apparently. Not cheap, though.
The Freelander is part Ford, anyway!

Thanks for the information.

Cheers

Only thing I have ever replaced on one was a near side rear wheel bearing, nice easy job. Other than that just usual service items.

Mrs Leeph has one. 2010 4x4 TDCi Zetec and its been a dog.

Just had the DPF replaced and fuel filters but runs really rough......mainly down to the low mileage and short journeys she does.

Despite driving it lightly, she only squeezes 32 mpg.

Personally avoid.....unless you want to buy a low mileage 2010 Zetec 4x4 😉

Leeph

Thanks for the offer but looking at a new one 🙂

What alternatives should I look just to make sure I'm making the right decision.

Cheers

Kia Sorrento 💡
Kia Sportage if that is too big

VW Touran if you don't need 4x4

I had a go in the back of a Kia Sportage and it was the "crashiest" most rigid ride if any car I'd been in.

I spoke to a Ford salesman, and even he admitted they were a bit naff- using alot of outdated previous model Focus running gear. If i was in the market for that type of vehivle i would look towards the VW Tiguan which is a fab car or a Honda CRV, if you can get past the quirky looks

We are going back to a BMW 120d 5 door MSport but with XDrive this time.

Skoda Yeti?

Or Octavia Scout (I'm assuming you want 4x4). Scout has a bigger boot than the Yeti but seating not quite as flexible

Once again thanks for your help

Will spend the weekend looking around.

Cheers

We looked at one 18 months ago along with a Kia Sportage, Newer x-trail (had an old one), Octavia Scout, Yeti and a few others. Ended up with the Yeti and very happy with it. Drove the Ford, thought it was okay, bit cramped compared to the Yeti.. dunno just didn't make me want to buy it.

And the salesman really, really annoyed me. I'd forgotten how much: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=2655 😉

leeph - Member
Mrs Leeph has one. 2010 4x4 TDCi Zetec and its been a dog.

Just had the DPF replaced and fuel filters but runs really rough......mainly down to the low mileage and short journeys she does.

Despite driving it lightly, she only squeezes 32 mpg.

Personally avoid.....unless you want to buy a low mileage 2010 Zetec 4x4

Don't think it's really fair to criticise it for that. Modern diesels with dpf simply don't like doing lots of short journeys. The low mpg sounds baf but could be due to lots of stop start traffic or maybe your wife uses the accelerator as an on/off switch. Without something to compare it to it's hard to say.

Never suffered the same problem with the Mrs previous car a BMW 1 Series or the Toyota RAV4 before that.

Exactly the same driving style.