FORD KUGA 4x4 2008‑2012

Was so excited to get my new Ford Kuga hoping it was going to be the perfect solution for my mainly motorway journeys to work and back. Picked it up and was delighted, seemed to give the reliability, safety and delight to drive I had hoped for and then the trouble began... Big Red Warning Triangle Engine Malfunction lights flashing and beeping, back and to from the dealer who didn't seem to have a clue, stated as it was not leaving "codes" on the system they couldn't do anything as diagnostic equipment not picking up fault, despite purposely driving to them and showing the fault in true flashing red colour! Engineers, Ford technical couldn't make head or tail of it whilst I go through the worry, torment, expense, inconvenience, unreliability of a four month old vehicle causing problems on busy motorway drives. Eventually "a" fault was repaired but there is no guarantee that it has resolved all problems as each time the light came on it could have related to different issues. Ford and the dealers do not want to know about the difficulties it has caused supplying a faulty vehicle, its fixed is their attitude. I now have no faith or delight in driving the vehicle, costs soared and practicality ruined, does not suit the lifestyle or purpose it was purchased for. Ford will certainly not be my next choice of vehicle and wish I had carried on driving past the dealers and stuck with my original choice, we live and learn (sometimes the hard way).

A change of circumstances meant that an estate or SUV was needed. My preferred Merc or BMW estates are both hopeless in snow and ice so I went for an SUV. I test drove several but found that by far the best mix of practicality, costs and sheer driver appeal was found in the Kuga. The Titanium model gave a much better spec and interior than the Zetec . I also preferred the 4WD option over the 2WD model for the small amount of money I would have saved. Having now owned it for 7 months I still love the car and look forward to driving it every day. The good points are that it's brilliant and very car like to drive with little body roll. It's roomy and comfortable with a lot of storage including under the rear seat footwells and bins underneath the rear seats. It's very quiet and refined except when accelerating hard, is light and easy around town and cruises brilliantly on the motorway. The CD player is of great quality and all switches and dials feel really well screwed together. I'm getting 35mpg around town and over 40 cruising. I have also found that I get better mpg with a quality fuel ie Shell or Esso rather than supermarket stuff. The boot and interior space is great for my needs but those with dogs and kids and the kit that goes with them may need something that offers more. I also stayed well away from the 18 inch diamond cut alloys which scuff far too easily, water gets into the damage and ruins the wheels in no time - be warned! There are a few design gaffs by Ford though. No footrest for your left foot, wipers that will scrape paint off the rear edge of your bonnet if you lift the wipers off the screen to wash it and a stupid arrangement which means that you can only open the bonnet with a key. Check out the appearance pack too - this is the tinted rear windows. They are very dark and although they are great to protect your valuables and keep the sun off passengers they make reversing difficult even on a bright day and a serious challenge at night. I had reversing lights retro fitted and feel safer now. So far it's been totally reliable, tax is reasonable as is my insurance. Overall it's a brilliant car to drive and to use and the fact that it's such a good looking machine makes it a pleasure to own.

had this car (suv) 3 weeks bought brand new jan 12th 2013 wanted this shape and not the new shape due out end of jan cos this looks like a 4x4 not like all the other ford cars now a days,plus cos it was the last one in the showroom i got at a great deal with plenty of extras.review remember only had 3 weeks mpg is coming in at 37mpg not seen a motorway as yet just A roads handling is great and in the snow its great as long as its not that deep,i am 6ft 2ins and my kids 1&3yrs old have plenty of room in the back seats even plenty of leg space to say there in car seats,up to now i can not fault it.but only had 3 weeks

I wanted a 4x4 that was suitable for business meetings, not too flash. Customers can be lost if it looks like your making too much money. The Kuga has proved to be the perfect choice. People see the Ford badge and dismiss is as run of the mill. Its anything but.

I eventually went for a 1yr old ex-manager car, Titanium X-Pack, with Appearance & Convenience Pack, Panorama roof, full leather and 7"Sat Nav. But only 18' wheels which I preferred. All the extras really elevate the driving experience, if your budget can cope it makes all the difference. Very easy to drive, excellent sound system and comfortable ride. I've owned it for 3 years / 60,000 miles now so regrettably time to change.

As with other owners, the diamond cut alloys began to corrode after 18months but Ford didn't want to know. I had a big fright when the Sat nav head unit (which also controls the heater and radio) packed up 3 months out of warranty. Initially Ford wanted £3000 for replacement but after kicking up a fuss they came back with £1000 and eventually we settled on £300. I took out a Warranty Direct insurance after that for £25 per month. Typically nothing has gone wrong since. But I'm not complaining.

I use the car for commuting so the small boot is not an issue, its not big enough for 5 passengers luggage though. On the flip side the short length (and reasonably narrow width) makes it easy to park. The relaxed driving style (and an engine that offers little above 2,500 rpm) encourages good mpg, 46 is my average on mixed roads. The Continental tyres last 30,000 miles and give fantastic performance in all conditions. Only an idiot could get this thing stuck in the snow, even in the worst winters it just ploughs on.

I was dubious about buying a Ford, but by common consent they have upped their game, which according to some now surpasses VW. I have been so impressed I've have also bought an S-max to be the family runabout, and I keep the kids out of my Kuga.

Having looked at numerous 4x4s we finally looked at the KUGA and didnt look back. It provided all the spec we were looking for and more, although only owning it for approx 2 months we couldnt be happier.

Switch off the auto air con and the fuel consumption is pretty reasonable for an AWD, main mileage is done during busy motorway driving but we are achieving a reasonably healthy 50-53MPG. If an eco drive mode was available I think this could be further improved which is the only downfall we find at the moment. We dont find it noisy and early days with regards to additional running costs although a service scheme was purchased to cover thiese to a large extent.

My drive to work has become comfortable, enjoyable and as far as motorway driving can go, pleasurable, the size of the vehicle also assists with the motorway bully drivers!!

The boot space suits our requirements & the dogs are quite happy there too.

So far really good and really happy, pure enjoyment.....

Bought a titanium fully loaded and it is fantastic. Lots of toys and gadgets to play with. The Sony DAB radio is brilliant. Getting approx. 42mpg from a measured fill, the computer is a bit more optimistic saying it is closer to 45mpg. So for a big car with a light foot 42-45 is very good. The engine is really responsive and very quiet, how did I live without cruise control! Voice command is also very good when you can remember all the commands!

Now the bad bit.....the road or is it tyre noise is horrendous, I cannot believe Ford released this vehicle like this. I'm now choosing lanes on the motorway with the smoothest road surface. I will not be keeping this vehicle very long, it will have to go, it's really disappointing. I tried a Qashqai and in comparison it was ultra quiet and refined. The Kuga absorbs all the potholes etc but the dreaded road noise is awful. In fairness the Kuga is fantastic and well put together, but I cannot and will not live with it. Not many other readers reviews have commented on this but for me it is a major issue for an expensive car. I'm off to buy a nice quiet Qashqai.

After a couple of BMW 320 diesels, I decided it was time for a change. After trying out the Honda CRV, VW Passat, Audi A4, I went for a Kuga Titanium 163 AWD. I negotiated a good deal on a new one in white, although I wasn't happy that I had to have that ghastly blacked out rear glass - it came with a free appearance pack.

The car seemed much smaller on the inside than from the outside - a tardis in reverse - and the half leather interior looked a bit tacky. However, the ride quality was excellent and the diesel engine, although a little gruff on acceleration, quite responsive and smooth. Fuel consumption around our country lanes was around 38-40 mpg, which I thought reasonable for such a big bodied car.

The hated privacy glass was only partly responsible for me failing to see a car passing behind me in a supermarket car park at dusk and a slight graze on the rear bumper cost me my policy excess. Then a 300 mile round trip on dual carriageways and motorways saw the fuel consumption drop to 34 mpg, with a steady 70 mph stretch over 30 miles showing just 31 mpg. Not good!

The list of niggles began to grow. The automatic wipers had a mind of their own, I could never find the cruise control buttons at night, the doors "bounced", rather than shut firmly, having to use a key to open the bonnet was a pain, the capless fuel filler system (non-lockable!) sometimes refused to release the fuel nozzle, and the boot was too small for a family of four.

The best thing about the car was when I came to trade it in after just 4 months and 5000 miles. I only lost just over 10% of its price from new.

Also, it was brilliant on the one day of the winter that we had snow.

Sadly we've just sold our Kuga after three and a bit years.

As most of the other reviews have said on here, its a great car.... it's handling is fantastic for such a tall car, it feels like you driving a normal hatchback, and the 2.0 tdci has plenty of power.

It's been reliable and cheap enough to service and run.

I think they still look fantastic, I'd say they've got to be one of the best looking 4x4s on the road, sadly those looks do come at the expense of boot space...for a big car, you'd expect its boot to be bigger than the focus' and that is the main reason we've had to part company....

...which brings me nicely to a major plus point, the Kuga's residual value is amazing! We traded ours in and still retained 65% of what we paid from brand new, not many cars give you that return!

Overall, this is the the best car I've owned to date, and would have bought another one, except for our growing needs for space.

As a side note, the only thing I would say to look out for if you're buying one is the 18" Alloys finish....they have the 'diamond' cut finish, as so many do these days. The problem comes when the lacquer gets a tiny chip or crack in it, then water gets behind and bubbles it, which looks horrible.

After many weeks of shopping up and down the country at different dealerships comparing used against new i managed to finally track down a good deal on a brand new Kuga. I found that prices used (1-2yrs old) were not much different than new which gave me confidence that used values were good. The only thing which put me off buying used was the first generation Kuga had a really wacky interior colour scheme, bight orange or bright blue. The latest newer shapes had more neutral grey colours (2009 onwards). I chose to go for a brand new (2010) and chose the 2.0 TDCi 140 Titanium 5dr 2WD, as recommended by all dealers. I checked out the Zetec and it didnt have much kit and apprently no one buys the 4WD so gave that a miss too. First impressions were good, it came with heaps of kit , including the blacked out windows, roof rails and sony DAB bluetooth radio at no extra cost. I also was lucky enough to get the upgraded alloys 18inch at no extra cost The wife was quite reserved on the KUGA, as she had been used to driving a focus and Astra over the years and didnt like the sound of change. After sitting with my wife on her first drive within minutes she loved it. She is very protective over the KUGA and very rarely lets me near it. I on the other hand am a little niggled with the KUGA and disappointed with the aftersale care. The KUGA has been back in to the dealership about 8 times with a number of problems, wing mirror whistling, door rubber not fitted properly and an ongoing vibration with hitting speeds on the motorway. The first two problems were solved but the vibration problem lives on. The vibration is only a minor problem, but annoying problem. I really like the car and would recommend it. I have a 14yr old and 7 yr old and i can fit them both with their clobba plus my wife and all her junk in it with no problems whatsoever. The boot is massive. The high up sitting position is good too, makes you feel higher than everyone else and visability is good. Before buying the KUGA I test drove the Nissan Qashqai, VW Tiguan and the BMW X3 and the Ford KUGA beat them all hands down.

The kuga is very spacious inside comfortably carrying 5 passengers and luggage on holiday, but we also have a roof box. Mpg on long journeys is about 35 daily use drops down to 32 mpg. I have owned it for nearly 2 years it's on a 09 plate and had 7k on at purchase it has now 15k and has cost me nothing apart from the interim services & a set of wipers. The road tax is cheap £125 for year insurance with 12 years NCD £400 with 2 named drivers, I lowered the suspension though and pay £500 a year. The car is a real pleasure to drive we find putting the steering onto sports in the driver control panel plus lowering it has given the car a solid feel as standard we felt it was a little light and too high. Overall we are very happy with the kuga and would recommend to anyone in the market for one, they appear to be holding good value aswell we paid £18k and they only look to have dropped a grand or so. ENJOY!!!