Would I regret buying a 2.5 turbo s max?

As title really.

Looking at galaxy and smax and have come across a smax petrol 2.5 turbo with 20k Miles on the clock within budget?

Anyone know much about them and if they are thirsty beasts.

Cheers

Steve

I’m guessing that that will be the same engine as the focus ST? If so the I get 33 mpg at best on a motorway and about 20 mpg around town in my ST.

Your wallet might regret it but I can imagine it being a bit a chuckle to drive in a this shouldn’t move so quick kinda way.

I had a 2.8l Golf for a while. Great fun to drive but very expensive to run.

Bags of fun to drive, proper stealth vehicle! Comfortable, fully loaded and probably cheap to buy , but tax will be expensive and fuel is outrageous. Same engine as focus ST. The one in work does 22mpg around town and 30 on motorway. Not cheap on running budget!

Imagine if driven as god intended it’ll not be cheap on tyres either, bit of extra mass to shift around. Still.

as above its the exact same engine as the ST, add a sh*t load more weight… i’d give it a miss IMO.

bloke in work had the kuga with the ST engine, 3 months later it was gone.

if you have the cash, sod it!

Or in the same vein, there’s a VXR Zafira 🙂

Jesus wept OP. I once totally filled a Golf V6 4motion twice in one weekend.

It slowed (ish) me down abit. Think a 60quid bill to a 120 regular bill everytime in real world terms.

A Turbo diesel is 90% of most of your needs.

Ha Hora I can see where you are coming from !!

Going to give it a miss to be honest as the tax is a killer to !!

on the lookout for a nice Smax titanium diesel now!

My sister has one and has been faultless. I have an ST and would be glad of 30 mpg !! ever. roadtax is only a bit more than others but turns a bland machine into a fun machine for the sake of £75 a year tax difference. Tyres arent an issues, as the car has retarded boost for the first 3 gears. Would rather a 5 cyl volvo petrol engine than any Ford diesels, or many other diesels with dpf, egr’s etc.

Depends what you’re wanting this for.

I drive a 4.2 V8 supercharged Jag (and have a diesel Transit for biking duties).

Not sure that I really understand the fast people carriers. If it’s your car and you’ll get out in it alone then yes, it’s probably a good compromise but with the kids…

If you’re going to be driving it to use the performance with the kids in the car I’d be pretty worried. Even overtaking it’d be handy but would you really subject your kids (and wife) to full throttle acceleration overtakes anyway? When I’m in the Jag it has to be me on my own or a mate who likes fast cars for me to use it hard. Family in the car or people who aren’t interested in speed it turns into a cruiser.

If you’ve got the kids in there 90% of the time I’d say you’ll resent the performance more than use it. Would be a good idea to check out if the ride is harder in that version too.

cheers for the replies.

it will be our only car and I will get chance to get out in it on my own occasionally.

Anyway can I ask your opinions on these two Smax’s…..

http://www.smc-cars.com/used-cars/search/9702/ford-s-max

its only done 5358 miles which seems a little low??

What do you think of the price ?? to much?

http://www.smc-cars.com/used-cars/search/9360/ford-s-max

This one has done 9000 more miles but is 3k cheaper??

what are your honest opinions of them ??

cheers

Steve

9k miles isn’t £3k worth! The other check to be made is on the service history, as an 07 car they should have had 3 at least at a guess but on the mileage possibly not one.
I’d go for the cheaper as long as the history is good.

Have you considered an estate or do you need three rows of seats?

Currently have a mazda 6 estate mate and have run out of room, hence the smax or galaxy which becomes a seven seater which is mega handy when the outlaws come and visit.

Great car, and yes it’s the same engine as the ST. I’m a rozzer in the IOM constabulary and our traffic division has one, we did our driving training in it and safe to say if I could afford one I’d have one…smooth ride, spacious, fast as hell and practical. Look the business too. Do it!

its the real world mpg that has me slightly concerned although I have heard that remapping them makes them slightly more economical.

Fair enough :-). I have driven a petrol S-max and it was a nice dynamic drive for a people carrier. I think a 2.2 diesel would be better still. Although I love petrol cats, I really think that large capacity diesel engines are so much better in larger cars than petrol, the higher torque of diesels compared to similar capacity petrols really tells. I also like diesels with auto boxes – they can be a great option for long drives or stop-start driving in heavy traffic although there is more to go wrong obviously, but again the diesel torque really makes the most of a good auto box.

Cars not ‘cats’…

We have had a 2.5t for a year, and while we can’t see a better alternative, it has its faults. Our avg mpg on the cars trip computer is just 23, and servicing is pricy. It eats tyres and has no spare. Wipers are £50 and main dealer only. It is impressively quick, and the trim is same as standard models so its stealthy. It is longer geared than the focus st which shares major components, which limits performance, but also means little scope for chavs to have chipped them so you’re less likely to find it thrashed.

Been meaning to reply to this as I’m having exactly the same dilemma! I would recommend joining the S Max owners club forum for £10, it’s not exactly riveting but has a lot of useful info. Things what I been gone done found out;

Owner of one told me he was getting 24mpg, after the Bluefin remap 28mpg, still not great but a bit more palatable. Remap also took it to 260bhp, wheee! Real world mpg for the 2.0TDCi seems to be low 40s and high 30s for the 2.2.

I think the 2.5T has a DMF but doesn’t seem to suffer anything like the failure rate on the diesels which seems depressingly common. Clutch and slave cylinder (I think) usually done at the same time due to labour involved and you won’t see any change out of a grand.

All 06 and 07 S Maxs seem to suffer premature steering rack and PAS pump failure, again around a grand. Build date as shown on the Ford ETIS system is the giveaway, believe Sept 08 onwards are best for reliability

The DPF failure rate on the diesels isn’t anything like as bad as on other makes, e.g. VAG cars

The 2.5T lump has a common problem with the crank case breather, £350 to £500 to sort, a fair number should have had it done by now though.

I’ve driven a 2.0 TDCi which was good enough and a 2.2 which had more grunt but still didn’t set your pants on fire, a late 08 onwards 2.5T is still tempting me, especially if it has had the crankcase breather and remap done. The price difference between them and equivalent diesels would pay for a lot of petrol, even more so with the potential repair bill savings. 2.2 would probably be the most sensible choice though.

In terms of those two cars £13k seems a lot for a 2.5T, the mileage also seems too low to have done the car any favours. Much higher spec than the other one though (no sat nav though! 13k? Pffft). I had seen both of them and discounted the first for the aforementioned reasons and the other because I like gadgets. Not in a position to buy yet either so following this with interest!

‘Chipping’ a car is very 90’s old boy. Modern cars are remapped, slightly different :wink:. I guess I am a chav with my 300 bhp ST, but I obviously have brains, as mine doesnt make any fuel increase and actually being ford registered mods by Mountune, means my insurance is still cheap at £290 PA.
Oil breather is the oil diaphragm. Not a ‘big’ issue. £150 for a new Volvo one from the dealers is cheaper than Ford. Watch out for slippy clutches if you mod them. Boost actuators fail , but are about £50 and an hour to fit.

Davosurusrex have you actually had a look at both of those then mate or just seen them on the net?

Just wanted to see what condition they are in?

I really like the black one and as long as it had a full history I think it would be ok.

Not bothered aboit Sat nav as you cam pick up some very good double din stereos now.

I pit the details into we buy any car and it valued the black one at £6238 !!

Is the dealer dreaming with a £13k asking price then?

Do you think there is room to haggle?

renton – nope, haven’t driven a 2.5T yet. I do think it’s pricey, doesn’t have the panoramic roof either, for that money feels like it should be fully loaded to me. If I really liked it I’d maybe offer £11k, they can only say no! It’s been on their site for a couple of weeks now.
Just been told my company car might be re-allocated next week so I may be looking properly soon, don’t want to spend more than 9k on a 2.5T to offset the thirst though, 12k is my ceiling for a diesel.

Cheers for the info!

I’ve found an 08 plate for 8995 complete with Panoramic sunroof.

WHat would be a good price to get the £13k 07 plate for?

I argued the WBAC trade in for the V50 I have just bought with the dealer at £4200 and what price he bought it from the last owner. He showed they bought mine in for £5900, so for them to service it, new discs and pads and 2 yr warranty, the £7250 was not too bad as he has to make money. If I am honest, you are buying a car which has a reasonable tax loading, so making it ‘slightly’ less desirable to the diesels around. This should make buying a cheaper way to make an sensible offer. Have a look on Autotrader and see what they are going for and take 20% off as a trade price.
07 is the year that the clutches in the ST were a bit soft. Not sure if it affected the S Max too.

If you’re going to be driving it to use the performance with the kids in the car I’d be pretty worried. Even overtaking it’d be handy but would you really subject your kids (and wife) to full throttle acceleration overtakes anyway? When I’m in the Jag it has to be me on my own or a mate who likes fast cars for me to use it hard. Family in the car or people who aren’t interested in speed it turns into a cruiser.

Depends on the children. My brother has an Evo VIII and my 6yo nephew shouts “weee” when he puts his foot down in it.

We are talking about an MPV with a hot hatch engine not a Ferrari.

It won’t be cheap to run but if its cheaper than the equivalent diesel then this goes a long way to off setting the fuel cost.

Check out parkers.co.uk for “book” prices on used cars – it not 100% but will give you an idea of the price you should be paying

I had a titanium 2.2 diesel for a couple of years.

Yes the car is big and roomy but it was heavy and handled like a tank. Fuel consumption wasn’t great circa 35mpg combined and the front tyres wore down super quick (all that weight on the front)

It also had issues almost from new with the turbo which would make the engine billow smoke at motorway speeds and of course that classic plastic overdose on all trim of Fords

TBH put me off ever having a Ford again

yep that was a diesel though !!

Yes the car is big and roomy but it was heavy and handled like a tank

I owned a (09 plate)s-max for 2 years and now looking to replace my current car with a 2.0lt titanium spec diesel. I have never heard anybody or any review say that it handles like a tank.

Even Britains Official Motoring Opinion Mouthpiece, Jeremy Clarkson, disagrees with you….

Better still, it is a hoot to drive. With the new 2-litre turbo engine, it goes like a scalded cock and corners like a hunted fox.

It also had issues almost from new with the turbo which would make the engine billow smoke at motorway speeds

That would be the DPF going into regen, all modern diesel cars do this, not just Fords.

That would be the DPF going into regen

= In plain English please?

If you want a 7-seater, take a look at the other post regarding Zafira’s for £10k, new.

Have you had a look at the VW Touran 2.0 Diesel?
My mum has one and it’s a fantastic car. She used to have a galaxy which swallowed everything up but going to VW wasn’t as different as I would have thought (space wise) but the drive is brilliant! Nippy for a diesel with good mpg and lots of space. I borrwed it a while back and put 3 bikes (with rear wheels still attached) in with kit and 3 people for a week away! 7 seats are helpful when we are all together at Christmas.

Yep I/we have considered a touran but they are also quite pricey in the popular diesel models.

Also not really that much bigger useable space wise compared to the mazda 6

That would be the DPF going into regen

= In plain English please?

Modern diesels had a particulate filter, which catches all the soot. This then starts to block and requires a regeneration to clear it out. It leans out the mixture to the engine to get the exhaust glowing red hot and injects diesel and a fluid based on pigs urine to burn the soot and clean it out. This is usually done on constant high speed driving, such as on the motorway etc.

I’ve had a 2.2TDCi Titanium for 4 yrs now and I think it’s great. It came off the back of a 1987 Porsche 944 Turbo so wasn’t expecting much. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised. It handles great (not like a tank at all) for a large car (it’s based on a Mondeo estate chassis) and though it doesn’t feel super quick through the seat of the pants, it picks up speed very well and actually is pretty quick in the real world. Not much gets the better of it when I put my mind to it. It also goes round twisty country lanes very well, loads of grip, comparable cornering speeds to a normal family car without going too stupid. The best thing is the way it cruises on the motorway though. Very smooth, quiet and eats miles. I certainly don’t get any plooms of black smoke out of the back. I think it’s a brilliant car and if you want a people carrier that is not like a people carrier then it’s got to be the best option out there. I’d love to drive a 2.5T but I couldn’t live with the running costs. I get about 500 to 550 miles out of a tank without driving particularly economically, which is about 37 mpg on the computer. The best I’ve had is 620 miles out of a tank. A mate of mine has the facelift 2.0 ecoboost petrol version. Again drives great but he only gets half the mileage out of a tank. Tyres are pricey due to high weight rating, but I’m getting a good 20k + miles put of a front pair. I only got 15k miles out of my first front pair, but alignment was out, since I got that sorted I’m upto 20k miles on this latest set with plenty of tread left – probably another 5 to 10 k miles. The practicality is brilliant, I’ve got the internal rack system fitted so can get 2 bikes in the back. Can’t really say a bad word against it. Nobody WANTS a people carrier, but if you need one then you can’t go wrong with an SMax.