Ford Galaxy TDCi 140 - Family Test Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Ford Galaxy range
Prices: £22,190-£28,040 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 10-12
Emissions: 166-197g/km
Performance: [TDCi 140] Max Speed 121mph / 0-60mph 9.7s
Fuel Consumption: [TDCi 140] (combined) 43mpg
Safety: Twin front, side & side curtain airbags / ABS / EBA
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height, 4820/1884/1691mm

FIDLERS ON THE HOOF

Our Rating: 7.6 / 10

The Fidler family are a family tailor-made for MPV living, with four children, schools runs, holidays and all the day-to-day demands a spacious people carrier must be able to meet. Having checked the market, the Fidlers opted to try a Ford Galaxy TDCi 140. We tracked them down to find out how they got on with it.

Large MPVs like Ford’s Galaxy are faced with one of the most demanding tasks in the automotive world – providing everyday transport for a large family. There are some very clever motor vehicles out there, from 200mph supercars and all-terrain 4x4s to convertibles with folding metal roofs but in some ways, the multifaceted role taken on by big people carriers tops the lot. The Fidler family have been in the company of their Ford Galaxy TDCi 140 for a good few months now, using it day in and day out, but how has it stood up to this toughest of tests?

After weeks at the wheel, dad Terry Fidler is full of praise for Ford’s large MPV. He loves the punchy diesel engine which copes so well with the Galaxy’s hefty body while still managing to keep running costs down and he loves the interior space that’s made adaptable to all kinds of requirements by the clever seating system. Yes, the Galaxy seems to cover all the major bases so far as the Fidlers are concerned but are there devils in the detail.

The seating system is vital to any large MPV it’s through the contortionist chairs in the back that all that space can be put to the best use. The Galaxy’s seats don’t lift out in the manor favoured by many older MPVs and this has huge advantages in terms of on-the-fly versatility. The Fidlers have tried vehicles in which the only way to maximise the available loadspace is to leave some of the seats in the garage at home. Those things aren’t usually light or compact to shift about in the first place and then, what do you do when you’re out and about and you need that seating capacity back again?

On the Galaxy, the rearmost two rows simply drop down flush with the floor to present a vast flat load area that’s almost commercial vehicle in its dimensions. Of course, various combinations of seating and luggage space can be achieved by folding different seats but the one that Fidlers employ most regularly, that of both of the seats in the third row folded down to create a big boot behind the middle row, is very handy indeed. There’s very little luggage capacity with all the Galaxy’s seating occupied but the car can easily take five of the six Fidlers and a whole lot of luggage when configured in this five-seat manner. The rear seats fold down very simply but one complaint is that it’s quite complicated to execute the second stage and actually drop the seat flat to the floor. It took Terry a good few minutes to work out the series of movements needed to achieve the fully flat boot and he reports that it’s tricky enough to make him simply make do with the half-folded seats on occasions when he can get away with it.

The Fidler family are outdoorsy types and this has put a particular strain on the Galaxy’s interiors. With the best will in the world, when you’ve got four muddy kids on board some of that mud is going to be transferred onto carpets and upholstery. The Galaxy has impressed on this count, proving easy to clean with very few of those little crevices that seem to be magnates for dust, dirt and bits of crisp. The door sills and tailgate are flush with the vehicle’s floor too, so it’s easy to perform a cursory sweep out to keep everything shipshape. The materials used have obviously been chosen for their hard wearing qualities and although the Galaxy is still at the start of its life, it comes up as good as new after each encounter with the Dyson and duster.

When the prodigious space inside the Galaxy isn’t quite enough, the Fidlers have been known to hitch up the trailer to increase capacity but the Galaxy’s drivetrain remains unfazed. Pulling a large box