Ford Kuga (2012 - 2020) Vignale 2.0 TDCi 150PS FWD 5d Owner Review

We’re a family of 4 with two children with a 6yr age difference. Youngest is still in an Isofox car seat which was easy to fit.

Being the Vignale, this car has most features and more, I love the Pan roof though I feel it starts a bit too far back, the auto park feature is a gimmick, takes forever to get in a space, I can reverse/parallel park much quicker/ easier myself. If you need to use it I’d recommend you give up driving.

The heated seats are great and warm quick, the Ford heated screen works good on cold frosty mornings when I leave for work at 5:30am.

The auto boot is good if your hands are full, especially if you have the foot swipe option. No bother so far.

Had a towbar fitted as I have some trailers for camping and motorbikes, tows without problem.

The engine is way better than the 1.5DCI Qashqai I owned previously, driving is a pleasure now. The seats are sublime, I’ve done 4/5 hr drives non stop and not had any aches or stiffness.

The touchscreen flickers which is a bit annoying. I’ve turned it to day mode only as sometimes it was flicking between day/night modes constantly, it still flickers. Just live with it now.

The 6 speed manual is smooth and faultless in the 11000 odd miles I’ve used it. The engine has an anti-stall feature which was strange to get used to, it revs the car as you let the clutch up.

My main gripes are the front parking sensors that go off randomly when it rains. I just turn them off.
The second is the shockingly bad coating on the multispoke alloys. It’s peeling in multiple places and was when I bought it at 2.5yrs old.

I bought this car after test driving a few estates and other SUVs. The Kuga was the one that suited us best, as a family we pointed out the good and bad of all cars we tested and kugas came out top. Spacious, comfortable and quiet. I was considering an Octavia estate VRS, tiguan, A4 estate or 3 series tourer.

Overall I don’t have any real negatives, the car has done everything. We’ve filled it and went camping around Scotland/isle of Arran/Yorkshire. Short trips, town commutes and long journeys it’s a pleasure.

In hindsight I maybe would have got an STline X for the styling with the same features though with firmer suspension maybe it wouldn’t be as comfortable.