Ford S-Max or Mondeo – opinions and experiences

Here we go, pics of the upright in the back bikes
Empty- 60/40 seat only completely flattened in passenger side

120mm forks in the opening to get an idea of size

2 bikes in, one with seatpost out, one just lowered

I reckon 5 bikes would fit

from the front

my mondeo tyres are 235/45/17/W

Phototim – Member

So Dez says the seats fold flat but someone else says the seat base is the same as the focus, i.e. does not split?

FWIW, my Focus seats fold flat and both the tops and base have a 60/40 split.

PeterPoddy – Member

That’s very poor advice. Tyre ratings also include a load rating. If you don’t fit the minimum recommended by the car manufacturer then your car is technically illegal and your insurance can refuse to pay out in The event of an accident

Well. Commonly repeated this but I’ve never seen anything in law to support it.

If your tyres are underrated for the purpose- ie the vehicle is physically overweighting them- them you may well have a problem. It’s also obviously not a good idea, insurance or not. Similiarly your insurance may well have specific clauses which become relevant.

The SMax and Mondeo are the same floor plan, just the SMax has a larger (height-wise) body on it. We have an 07 SMax.

The seats all fold flat but there is a 2-part pull on the lever to drop them…unless they have changed the seating layout, all seats are individuals i.e. no 60/40.

With the seats folded flat it’s a big space BUT the seats leave a flat area but for some reason they don’t drop (like the Vauxhall seats do) – so although they fold flat, it feels like a lot of the height is lost.

My 120mm Marin won’t go in without the seat removed and front wheel off – upright or upside down – my wife’s Stumpy D4W fits in with the rear wheel removed. I’ve not tried my 146 but I’m guessing everything will need to be removed.

If the bike can go sideways all I need to do is drop my saddle (which is easy with the Reverb).

It has been a very good car, the front tyres tend to wear twice as fast as the rears and I’m paying £100 per corner – it’s the 2ltr TDCI so it’s a heavy lump on the front wheels. Can’t recall exact size but they are 17s…it’s the 2.0 TDCI Titanium model and the tyres are Khumo KH31 (I think).

Apart from biking duties it has been a superb car – biking duties work but I do reckon the usable height in the back isn’t as good as it ‘should’ (subjective opinion) be, saying that, plenty space on roof so it hasn’t been a major issue.

Only 2 issues we have had with ours – the design of the bonnet release cable meant it was open to the elements so after 3 years use without much ‘maintenance’ it seized and eventually snapped – garage wanted £180 to replace it with the same kind…got a friendly Ford mechanic mate who did it for £50 – same design but he coated it in plenty of very sticky grease so it may be a dirt magnet on the outside but at least the cable is free of stiction. Apparently the 08’s onwards have an improved routing/design which means they don’t get all the salt spray and mank from the road.

Only other issue we had was it ran out of diesel and it doesn’t have any manual method of pumping the fuel through to the engine…so 20 minutes of turning the engine over and it kicked into life…took it to the garage to check it over and thankfully no damage but for some reason I thought all cars had a manual pump in case they ran out of fuel (be aware, I’m clueless about cars so my thinking isn’t actually based on any facts!).

Our needs have changed somewhat (daughter is getting older and we no longer need to carry another house around with us of kit) and the wife isn’t needing to shift the kind of musical gear she was shifting before…I think we are going to downsize later this year to something Focus-sized.

I’d have another even though the internal height isn’t as good as I think it should be.

my Focus seats fold flat and both the tops and base have a 60/40 split

I wuz right then 🙂

Dez – is that an estate or 5 dr? Out of interest checked my 5dr mark 3 today and the seat bases can lift forward like yours, but although the seat backs then fold flat, there is still a slight ridge where the bottom of the seat backs are bolted in.

07 estate.

Wow, wasn’t expecting so many replies. Thanks everyone, very useful.

Dez, I assume that your driver’s side passenger seat is only like that because you haven’t lifted the seat base like you have on the other side?

If anyone can be bothered to post similar pics of an S-max, it would be much appreciated 🙂

I think I need to go and look at both and compare heights and widths. I guess it will be down to which one I have a better feeling for as they are both level pegging right now.

Tyres seem to be a bit cheaper for the Mondeo but it seems possible to buy at a reasonable cost for either. S-max should be bigger and more adaptable with the seats but Mondeo would be cheaper to run and handle better. I’m not really getting any closer to a decision!

S-Max is a nice place to be. Cabin is bright and airy, especially with that big front window and glass roof panel (if fitted)

S-Max owners…do you think there’s enough space for someone 5ft 9 to sleep in the back next to a bike? yes, I like my bike a lot 😀

Dez, I assume that your driver’s side passenger seat is only like that because you haven’t lifted the seat base like you have on the other side?

Yep. Could’ve folded em both flat, but just to show the difference left the driver side as it was (and I couldn’t be bothered 🙂 )

I’ve got an ’11 mondeo estate (163 BHP diesel). Huge inside, vast.

Tyres – got 28,000 out of the fronts and 35,000 out of the rears and I drive very enthusiastically and also tow frequently. The handling encourages you to drive enthusiastically, BTW. Far superior to Audi A4 and A6. I had a 3 series touring before which also handled beautifully, slightly better if anything, but much smaller inside. The big Ford probably isn’t the most economical diesel around, though.

I’m on my second post-08 Mondeo. It’s the only car I’ve ever wanted a second one of.

My mk4 Mondeo is due to go back at the end of the year, and top of my list right now for its replacement is another Mondeo.

28k miles from a front set on a TDCi MPV is not bad. Were they fancy expensive tyres?

pedalhead – Member
S-Max owners…do you think there’s enough space for someone 5ft 9 to sleep in the back next to a bike?

Absolutely, good for up to 6′ 7″.

Info from owners manual:
Max cargo length to back of front seats = 2053mm

Tyre sizes on recent cars are stupid, so much so that I’ve concluded they’re in bed with the tyre manufacturers.

Mk3 mondeo: 205/55R16 £80, Mk4 215/55R16 £110+

Similar with the 17″. I refuse to believe the Mk4 needs 10mm extra width and 5mm extra height but the tyre manufacturer gets an extra £120 everytime you swap 4. Its a conspiracy I tell you.

Avoid run flat tyres on the smax, cost me a fortune