Ford S-MAX - Family Car Review!

I passed my driving test 2 year’s ago and it was the absolute best thing I could have done. It’s afforded me so much freedom and I’ve been so grateful that my Grandma gave us her car before she passed away as it meant that I’ve had some of that freedom thanks to her. We’ve had her little 3 door Corsa as a family ever since we had Florence and it’s served us well. Jonny drove it until I needed it and we literally have loved every second of having this beaut car of ours. The only problem we have with our little ‘Trigger’ (named by Jimmy but not sure why) is that she’s not really quite big enough for a family of four and we are about to become a family of five of course!

So… Having maxed her out with every space saving solution we can think of we have decided that now is the time to upgrade. We have finally become adult enough to need a BIG family car and because we often go out with my Mum as well it has to be a seven seater. I’ve been looking and looking and cars of this ilk do not come cheap so we needed to know we were making the best choice possible. And now… We think we have made that choice because after working with Ford again recently (we reviewed their KA+ – a smaller family car at Christmas time) and driving one of their bigger members of the fleet, the S-MAX seven seater, all singing, all dancing car extraordinaire – how could we make any other choice?! Especially when you look at the Ford 0% offers that are out there.

So this car is quite literally everything and all I want from a motor. I am by no way a car expert, I can’t tell you about the inner workings or anything technical but I can tell you, as a mum, that this is the car for us and I defy any family to drive it and say otherwise!

Take a look at the vlog I made when we had the Ford S-MAX for a week, driving it to Camp Bestival (a total snip with boot space in this motor) and all over Norfolk before reluctantly sending it back (why did they have to take it?!) and making plans to buy one of our own!

So as you can see… We love it. It’s economical, it has amazing features which suit us as a family, a little bit of luxury (oh those air con/heated seats) and most importantly it’s perfectly practical! The middle row of three seats each are proper seats and can have 3 child car seats side by side (THIS is what we need!) and then the back row, which fold down flat when not in use making one hell of a boot, are also proper seats with leg room and everything! As I said on the video, the S-MAX looks like a bus on the inside but a car on the out and even though I’ve never driven a big car before I didn’t find it hard to negotiate at all! Parking sensors and a reverse camera – oh the genius!

The kids in the very back row LOVED siting in the boot as they called it (of course this is not strictly true as there was lots of boot left when the ‘boot’ seats were up but you know what they mean)!

I think for all the amazing gadgetry and posh up to date-ness of this car the best bit is that I felt safe inside it. High up and not at all vulnerable. This is what I don’t feel when on the motorway in my current little Corsa and what I really need to feel. I was convinced of this when driving the Ford KA+ but am even more so now that we have been in the driving seat of an S-MAX! It’s a sturdy car with plenty of light (look at that panoramic roof) and naturally all the ‘extras’ like the built in sat nav and everything being at the push of a button helped – but, bottom line is it’s a safety thing for me and I want this car!

At the end of the day a brand new S-MAX is a pretty penny (nothing like the price of one of the BMW seven seaters or even a Volvo – are Volvos the least cool car ever I wonder? – in fact a considerable amount less but pricey it is all the same) and unfortunately we don’t have the finances to lay out on a new one at the moment. I could sob! I honestly think it could easily be more though when you look at what else is on the market… Around £25K makes it excellent value compared to other brands which I truly don’t think could be better…

Alas… Until our purse strings can become a little looser a brand new one of these shall not be mine no matter how much I want it but we are 100% trying to buy one second hand. Driving this gorgeous car has convinced me that we absolutely must!

The Ford S-MAX is such a great family car. I actually did almost shed a tear and couldn’t look when the man came to take it away… But fingers crossed peops… A car like this will be ours soon we hope!

Thanks to Ford for asking us to take their boot challenge and get all of our Camp Bestival packing in without any trouble! We did it with room to spare – the only thing is that we are really spoiled now! Do you ever think OH DAMN, I was better off before I knew what I was missing… Hmmm! Shouldn’t grumble but I do!