New car time and looking for either hands on experience or informed enlightenment.

I have a 10 year old Mondeo and whilst it’s a nice car to drive and has good gadgets I’ve never really got on with it over 8 years of owning it, like I did with the Focus I had before it. I think I’ve narrowed down my lack of like for it to its size. I find it too long. I have to park on side streets near work and I don’t think that’s helping much so I’m wanting to get a smaller car this time around, but I have a family to fit in. Kids are 6 and 8, and as I intend to keep this car for another 6-8 years again this car needs to fit teenagers in at some point. It needs to have a big enough boot for stuff we use at the moment like bikes etc.

Anyone got any nuggets of advice? Anyone got any of these and have a similar scenario to me? How do you find them etc etc?

Despised our CMAX, worst car I’ve ever owned and was glad to be rid of it though we had loads of trouble with the engine. Size wise it was adequate for me, my wife and our two boys at the time along with their bikes in the ample boot. A more modern version would no doubt be a worthy purchase and it wasn’t overly big either, same footprint as a focus if I remember correctly??

We find the C-max big enough for our needs – family of four, camping trips to France with bikes etc. We use a roof box and a towbar rack as needed. It’s no harder to park than a Focus but is bigger inside. You could look at the Focus estate as well. I drove it to the Alps overnight a couple of years back and it was absolutely fine.

How do you find the Cmax in the back for the kids? Knee room ok? Our neighbours had a focus and said the legroom in the back was not enough for their 8 year old so changed it for a Mazda 6.

We have a petrol Grand Cmax. It’s slow to accelerate but once it’s going is great .
Loads of usable space and is shorter than a mondeo which we previously had.
Great rear leg room (at least a foot)though I did take out the third row of seats so we could have a spare wheel. Love the sliding doors.
Our next car will be another one.

We had a 53 regarding CMAX, it was OK, nice place to be but the air con died and the 1.8 petrol was a thirsty beast.

We had a look at the new ones over the summer and thought the space was good, but the interior was a bit low rent. Brand new ones might be better though

How do you find the Cmax in the back for the kids? Knee room ok?

I’ve sat in the back and it seems ok. Having said that, I’m not tall so it might be a squeeze if the front seats are pushed right back. The rear seats do slide back but that eats into boot space so I don’t tend to bother – my kids are too young for it to be an issue anyway.

One thing that I like – the individually removeable rear seats mean I can carry the two kids and fit my bike between them (with the wheels off).

Wife’s 08 plate CMax was worst car we’ve had, even more unreliable than the Scenic it replaced. Bought ex-demo nearly new and we sold it when the warranty ran out. 1.8 petrol and it averaged 24mpg over the 30k miles. Many many parts were replaced under warranty and it broke down a few times. Replaced with a Soul which has been better in every way. Not much boot space so for the OP question, I’d be looking at Kia/Hyundai options with 5/7 year warranty

24mpg!!!!
Our LWB T5 converted van gets 34mpg.
We’ve just changed from a 1.8tdci Focus estate which averaged 53mpg over 6 years (mileage against actual fuel use).

On my second cmax both from new. First was a 61 plate 1.6 petrol. Was nice but lacked a bit of acceleration did about 28k in two years but turned it over for another 63 plate diesel 1.6 which has a lot more acceleration. I get 48mpg out of it according to the trip computer which I’ve checked. I’m on 40k in three years on this car.

I have two teenagers and regularly head off camping and carry 4 bikes on a tow bar rack. I usually use a roof box when camping. It all fits in along with the four of us who are all adult sized with wriggle room. I regularly stick two bikes in the boot (with all seats in but two lifted) in order to go riding with my son. It will fit a single bike in the boot with all seats up.

Funnily enough I’ve been thinking about what I would replace it with and come up with …… well, if I was desperate to change model then a Focus estate, and if I really didn’t want to go Ford again then maybe a civic estate?

I did want a Kuga but they were tiny inside and a grand cmax was just too much of a franken car to my eyes 🙂

Have you considered the B-Max? It’s Fiesta based, instead of Focus, it’s neatest feature are the sliding rear doors, which allow better access to the rear seats, along with a big rear hatch.
I’ve driven two so far, and they were really fun to drive, had heated screens and various other nice bits and bobs.
Nice driving position and great on twisty roads.
I’ll be driving a Grand C-Max tomorrow, so it’ll be interesting to do a bit of a comparison, although the B-Max was a 13-plate and the C-Max is a 16-plate.

Just bought a 14 plate cmax (non grand)

From 2010 onwards is the current shape, and this year they did a facelift but essentially same I think

I would agree the interior is not quite vw feel, go for the titanium for better stereo and gadgets. The basic zetec spec is not that great.

Not sure about the kuga, just don’t want an SUV at all so I didn’t look at it. I expect it’s not as roomy as the cmax though

Also worth looking at the touran but expect to pay £5k more. I much preferred the drive of the cmax over the touran which feels more bus like, because it is!

So far I’m enjoying the cmax. I’ve got the 1.0 ecoboost which is surprisingly nippy. Mpg is a bit disappointing, best I’m getting is about 35 around town and 45 on motorway so nowhere near the claimed figures. Otherwise it’s a great car, fingers crossed it’ll i won’t need the warranty!

Good to see there are some good things regarding the Cmax and space etc.

I can’t see me ever needing to pack camping stuff as my wife hates it. Caravans might be different but camping is a no go. Hopefully the boot will be big enough for all our stuff.

I’ve had 3 Ford’s and so has my wife so I’m fully aware the quality isn’t perfect but it’s good enough for us I think. Titanium spec might be a good option though.

Kuga is way smaller inside and in the boot than the size of the car seems to be… seats felt quite stiff/firm and not as plush as the Mondeos.

I quite like my wife’s 57 plate cmax four our family of 4 + dog. 2.0 petrol is quite thirsty and costs a fortune to tax but so far it has been reliable, and we’ll keep it ’til it dies I think. We have to park in the street and the small size is a bonus.

I’ve got a 99 VW T4 and the cmax is a pleasure to drive compared to that!

How tall are your kids? The leg room in the back of the Kuga is not great.

Also, the mk1 has a narrow boot entry so it’s had to get wide things into it.

It’s a great 2-person car, not so sure for a family.

Similar thought processes resulted in me getting a Yeti which I am very happy with.

we have a 60 plate C-Max 1.6 zetec
we’ve had it for 3 years and its been good so far. economy wise the best i’ve managed out of it is about 39mpg…if its driven enthusiastically then that drops down to about 35mppg
its not the highest spec…rear windows are manual..no cruise control or bluetooth…but its does us just fine
drives like a car and doesnt feel mpv-ish even though the seating position is higher than a normal car
as for boot space…thats quite big and the access to it is very good…low lip on the sill, which is wide enough to sit on too.
the only issue i have with it is getting the bike in the back…small/med frame size with 26″ wheels
the rear seats are a funny design…you have to fold the backs of the seats down and then lift the whole seat forward and then use the bungees to secure it to the front seat…with the seats in that position you loose about 18″ of boot space…you can of course take the whole seat out if you have somewhere to store them
but as it is the only way the bike fits in the boot is upside down, with the wheels off and with the seats folded

ours is in panther black with the privacy glass which makes it look pretty cool…but just be aware that reverse parking on very dark nights or in poorly lit areas can be a bit of a pain

mudshark – Member
Similar thought processes resulted in me getting a Yeti which I am very happy with.

I’ve been down that route but only the Ford’s have the quickclear front screen which is amazing.

I recently bought a 2015 Cmax Easy. 1.6 Diesel. So far so good. My stepdaughter is 16 and 5′ 10″ and has no complaint on back seat space. She complains about many things constantly but nothing about the car so I imagine she’s happy there. Plenty spacious for 4 of us going away for a weekend.
I love the park assist as I’m a bloody hopeless parker and in Vienna it’s amazing parking on the street.
I didn’t buy air pressure sensors for my winter wheels so the dash has an error message saying I’ve got 4 flat wheels but I can live with that.
I was rear ended but a young girl. Her car just crumbled whereas the Cmax was hardly damaged at all.

That’s what’s supposed to happen.

You see a lot of CMax and BMax and come to that SMax’s around my way. Theres a massive Ford dealership near Portsmouth that knocks em’ out, always a sale or event going on throughout the year.
I’d suggest you look at those large independent dealerships too, my 5 mins looking around a couple down here revealed vehicles ex-demo or with <7k on the clock can be had for £6-7k off list..

Bargain.

CountZero – would be nice to hear what your thoughts after driving the Grand Cmax are….

We’ve had a grand cmax for about two years now and love it. I’ve got two tall boys, 5 and 9, and I’m 6 foot. With the rear seats right back there’s plenty of room in the back even with me driving, boot is good too.

Used the extra seats a reasonable amount with taking kids and friends to places etc, can fit adults in too but you wouldn’t want to spend too long on them as they are quite small.

Bootspace wise, it’s very tall, a little narrower than our previous 55 focus. We got the cargo net with it which give loads of extra room as you can ram it to roof. We do a lot of camping and it’s been great. Main thing for us is that the boys have a lot of space so very happy on long journeys.

Sliding rear doors are amazing, no longer worry about narrow parking spaces as can always get the kids out.

We got a titanium spec model as it just had the extras we wanted. Stereo is really good too.

Down sides, boot isn’t as big as you might expect, especially when compared to bigger smax and virtually non existent with rear seats up. You do lose quite a bit for those rear seats and they cannot be taken out.

Mpg is low compared to what you might expect as it’s a heavy car. We have the 2l diesel and average about 45mpg. But it pulls very well and doesn’t seem to notice when loaded with camping gear, roof box and bikes.

All in all, we think it’s the best family car we’ve had and would get another one happily.

Ive a c-max (06 plate)

Its big enough, but the rear seats dont fold flat so the boot isnt actually that big in terms of getting bikes in which is a PITA. So I have a towbar and a bike rack.

Rear legroom is huge, as is headroom. And the outer 2 seats slide back too if you want full on lime levels of legroom. And my grandparents love it as the seats are taller/upright so getting in isnt a contortion for people 6ft tall with hip replacements (or just cold mountainbikers trying to get bikes and bodies in the back).

Its the older (non turbo, non vct) 1.6 petrol, dash is cuttently showing 44mpg (mostly motorway at an indicated 70). Drops to mid 30’s for commuting/town use. The 1.8 petrol is a lot thirstier and barely more peowerfull in real life as its a small version of the bigger duratec engine (the 1.6 is/was the biggest itteration of the smaller sigma engine).

Reliability wise, the only failure was a power steering hose fixed under warrenty. And Ive serviced it on my driveway for the past 60,000 miles apart from the cambelt. So all its cost me is tyres and the cabelt service which is pretty good going for a 10 year old car!

I have a MkI Kuga Titanium AWD and I really like it. Boot isn’t as big as a Mondeo’s but then again how many cars are?
Plenty of rear legroom IMO and with one front seat passenger I can get a 6piece drum kit, two bags of stands, cymbals, a Marshall 4×12 cab & separate head and two or three guitars in it. Tailgate is plenty wide enough and has the advantage of split tailgate for smaller loads or restricted space. It’s showing 42.6mpg on mostly twisty country lanes with a bit of urban mileage thrown in.
Front wheel drive most of the time but the rear wheels kick in automatically when (if) the front wheels start to spin. Handy on occasional snow between Otley & Ripon.
Makes not a jot of difference to braking on ice or snow

Kuga has pretty large exterior dimensions. Quite a nice place to be. Quick in a straight line but wallowy in corners is apparently the sporty bit of Suv. The boot lip is flat, so the utility bit of sUv is covered and it’s definitely a vehicle.
Fortunately it was a company car, if it were my money I wouldn’t.
From the list it’s the best of a bad bunch.

Agreed it’s a big car but most of the bigness is in the height – about same length & width as the Focus it’s based on but I’m 5’8″ and I can just about see over the roof

Agreed it’s a big car but most of the bigness is in the height – about same length & width as the Focus it’s based on but I’m 5’8″ and I can just about see over the roof

Not a chance, unless the Ford page proves me wrong, I’ll say the Focus I was driving before the Kuga fitted in parking spaces (Charles St Manchester) where the Kuga wouldn’t. Even the C-max is a touch shorter and I also imagine narrower.

I don’t know Manchester but I have no problem parking it in Bradford or Leeds. Certainly shorter than the 320d Touring and 9-3 Sportwagon I’ve had before it, my drive tells me so as there’s now a wheelie bin behind it & it still fits

We bought our 14 plate C-max 2.0tdci auto Titanium over 18 months ago to replace the 57 plate 2-zetec auto we`d had for 5 years

The differnce is staggering the old petrol turned tops 32.5 on a run ,the new one does close to 40 round town and ive seen returns of over 55mpg on good motorway runs over the uk limit 🙂 And it doesnt hang about , big enough for the 2+2 family and all the mod cons , sensors all over the shop ,electric everything , and when the boss isnt using it easy to chuck 3 bikes in the back with wheels off and 3 packs , we did look at the Kuga and glad we turned it down as a friend bought the fame spec as ours and struggles to get 32 around town and tops out at 45 on a run

Pretty sure the original c-max is based on the same floorpan as the mk2 focus estate (or the mk2 focus is on a c-max if you treat it chronologically). So it should be the same size.

Not sure if it’s entirely right but the mk2 focus estate was smaller than the mk1, and my c-max boot isnt as big as my parents old mk1 focus estate.

It is however undeniably taller. Doesnt stop me being a bit entusiastic on b-roads, its not a focus RS, but its a long way from rolling arround like a berlingo or “drives just like a car” T5.