Ford Tourneo Custom van review (2024)

• Steering light for a large van
• Easy to drive around town
• Fantastic ride

The Tourneo Custom might have a different name to the van on which it is based, but the driving style has historically not been able to hide the link between the two vehicles.

Ford has revamped how the Tourneo behaves on the road, which means that both van and passenger car version now drive more like a car. This means it loses some of its appeal in some senses, but also gains in others. The steering is lighter, which makes it feel smaller and easier to drive around town than its predecessor, which needed a more definite turn to the wheel. This does mean that it is slightly less rewarding to drive, and that you need to pay slightly more attention on the motorway to keep it in its lane, although it is backed up by all those safety systems.

The traditionally excellent Ford commercial vehicle ride remains, though, as it is composed even with no passengers on board. Those in the back will arrive at their meeting without feeling shaken around.

The area that feels the oldest is the engine offering. While the 170hp 2.0-litre diesel engine is undeniably strong, it is a tried, tested and established unit that doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the vehicle or the sector. It’s a good fit for many of the jobs the Tourneo will need to do, but it’s sometimes a little noisy. The forthcoming plug-in hybrid and electric models promise more in the way of excitement and diversity.

• Eight or nine seats
• Increased luxury and flexibility
• Sliding and rotating seats

Historically, it has been a bit tricky to draw a clear line between the Ford Tourneo Custom and the Kombi versions of the Transit Custom with their many seats. Ford has looked to differentiate the two more this time around and, given that the two vehicles are fundamentally the same when it comes to engines, body shape and styling, it is on the inside where we see the biggest change.

The biggest changes come in the rear, with Ford looking to appeal to those wanting to, say, ferry important customers back from the airport or similar. To do this, it has upped the perceived quality, the levels of kit and the overall layout of the cabin.

Increased practicality up front

Up front, there is a 13.0-inch touchscreen as standard, with an 8.0-inch digital display for the driver in place of an instrument cluster. The touchscreen is smart and comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, but there is also a 14-speaker B&O sound system, wireless phone charging, and ambient interior lighting on the tech front.

Two of the eight passenger seats are up front, alongside the driver, but the one who ends up in the middle seat in the front row doesn’t lose out as much as you might think. One of the notable changes to the Tourneo Custom is the inclusion of a flat floor in the cabin, which means you get more room and easier access to get from one side to the other.

If you really care for the middle-seat passenger then the automatic gearbox is the better option. The manual gearbox has a lever that encroaches on the kneeroom, while the automatic is controlled via a steering-wheel-mounted shifter.

There is a good but not necessarily excellent level of storage, with some clever touches here and there. For a start, there are three decent and fairly conventional pockets in the door, while there is a pair of gloveboxes. The lower is, again, fairly run of the mill, but the higher one sits where the airbag would normally go and is far deeper than it is high – it’s shaped to take a decent lever-arch file. There’s no light in there, though, so keep smaller items elsewhere otherwise you’ll be scrabbling around to find them when they roll down the slope to the front.

The airbag is instead located up in the roof, which means that there isn’t any overhead storage. The roof also feels slightly lower than previous generations of Tourneo, making it feel a little cramped by comparison.

Lots of options in the back seats

The six seats in the rear are all full-size affairs (although not individual ones) and can be configured to face each other, should you want to hold an impromptu meeting on the way to the meeting.

There is enough space on offer that you need not play footsie with Dave and Sarah from accounts, and this is boosted by the improved flexibility on offer. This is because you can now slide the rear seats forwards and backwards on a set of rails in the floor, so you can increase the amount of legroom or increase it if you need to carry more stuff in the boot. These seats are easily moved around, as they are lighter than before, and the series of fabric loops allow you to carry out most of the functions one handed.

One element that really ups the feeling of comfort is not connected to the seats at all – there is a panoramic glass roof available for the first time, which floods the cabin with light and makes for a much more open feel inside.It stretches all the way back to just in front of the third-row seats, so everyone benefits from it.

• Diesel only to start off with
• Warranty not great versus rivals
• Good standard kit levels

There are loads of different versions of Tourneo Custom to choose from, to the extent that you might well be able to pick a model rather than having to dip into the options list to create your chosen version.

Ford Tourneo mpg

The official fuel economy ratings for the Ford Tourneo are not that great with the initial engine range, with none making it above 38mpg. This keeps it much the same as the outgoing model and doesn’t really move the game on – no massive surprise given the engines are unchanged.

The bigger changes will come with the plug-in hybrid and the electric. The former promises up to 157mpg, although that will depend on how you drive and charge it of course.

Ford Tourneo servicing

The servicing intervals are two years and 25,000 miles apart.

Ford Tourneo warranty

It’s the standard Ford warranty for the Tourneo Custom, which gives three years and 60,000 miles of cover. This is short compared to the likes of Toyota, which offers 10 years cover.

Ford Tourneo standard equipment

The Tourneo Custom’s trims are aligned with Ford’s passenger car range, rather than the van equivalents. This is partly to reflect Ford’s intention to make the Tourneo more car like, but also because there is a greater degree of equipment than there will be on the van.

Zetec is the entry level trim, and comes with that 13.0-inch touchscreen, twin side sliding rear doors, auto lights and wipers and the navigation pack, which includes front and rear parking sensors and a rear camera, speed assist, adaptive cruise, lane keeping aid and 16-inch alloys.

Titanium is next and that adds body-coloured bumpers, heavier tinted glass, comfort seats, rear climate control and 17-inch alloys. This is also the point at which you get an alarm included.

Titanium Luxe is where the luxury gets upped in the back, as it adds that glorious panoramic roof, as well as heated seats on the outside spots in the second row. You also get wireless charging and the B&O sound system.

The Active trim is one that is now only on the Tourneo, not the Transit van, and that brings a few more rugged visual upgrades, including a bespoke grille, black wheel arch mouldings and a front skid plate. You also get powered side rear doors comfort plus seats. It’s worth noting that this only comes as an eight-seater as standard, as you get a single front passenger seat.

Titanium X and Titanium X Luxe will also follow, with the former bringing a chrome window strip, a 360-degree camera parking system, powered side rear doors and 19-inch alloys, while the latter adds the panoramic roof, heated seats in the second row and ambient interior lighting. In short, there are loads of combinations so you can pretty much pick and choose.

The Ford Tourneo Custom is a brand-new vehicle, with the engines being the major carry over from the previous version. However, the most recent recall was back in 2021, and was not related to the engine.

• Safety made a priority
• Gets more than the van version
• Lots of airbags and assistance kit

The Tourneo Custom has yet to be crash tested, but Ford has ambitions in this area. It is aiming for the van version to get a high score in the Euro NCAP assessment, and this means that the passenger equivalent benefits too.

It gets a lot more than the van version, for example, with curtain and side airbags as standard on all versions. The Driver Assistance Pack brings a selection of systems, including speed sign recognition, blind spot assistance, intelligent speed assist and adaptive cruise control.

You have to go up to Titanium to get an alarm, though.