Ford S-MAX (2006 - 2014) 1.6 EcoBoost Zetec (Start Stop) 5d Owner Review
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In their own words
Firstly, the good: in my opinion it’s a good looking car and from a practical point of view it’s a brilliant car with tonnes of space. It also drives extremely well for such a big vehicle. Fuel economy was also better than expected.
The bad: The car was hugely let down by the reliability of the 1.6 ecoboost turbo petrol engine. Read up on this engine before purchasing because you will find it has a shocking history of problems, particularly relating to the cooling system. Ford seemed to acknowledge this when they replaced our engine free of charge. The main dealer even referred to other engines being ‘more robust’ in one of our numerous conversations. The car spent more time in the repair shop than parked outside my house. The whole experience completely put me off buying another Ford in future. It’s quite revealing that this particular engine wasn’t on the market long before Ford drew a line under it and replaced it with a 1.5 turbo petrol which seems to be much more reliable.
How reliable do you find the car?
Most unreliable car I’ve ever experienced. Catalogue of problems. Issue with fan controller module - fan refused to switch off. £800 for genuine Ford replacement so used knock off version from eBay which did trick. Issue with turbo actuator valve. Replaced turbo which subsequently affected the compression in one of the cylinders resulting in coolant loss with no obvious leak. Ford replaced engine at cost which is to their credit.Does the car do everything you expected it to do?
SMax is a fantastic car but avoid the 1.6 ecoboost petrol engine like the plagueAbout their car
- Fuel type Petrol
- When purchased March 2020
- Condition when bought Used
- Current Mileage 70,000 miles
- Average MPG 39 mpg
