Ford team up with Mumsnet

Ford has teamed up with Mumsnet to try and introduce more families to the new seven-seater Ford S-MAX and Ford Galaxy range.

Eight families got to test drive petrol and diesel models, featuring Ford’s new economical six-speed PowerShift automatic transmission.

Parents reviewed the simple and secure operation of approved child seats located using Ford’s integral ISOFIX fitting points. They also became familiar with the steering wheel-mounted controls for the air conditioning and audio and bonded phones.

Parents aired thier views on mumsnet.com:

“I’ve driven a fair few people carriers in my time and have tried several of the newer ones on the market and frankly none of them compare to this. The Galaxy is the people carrier to beat now.

We took out the 2.0 TDCi Titanium, with 163 PS option. It was an auto with the new Powershift transmission. It coped well with everything I threw at it, I could really appreciate the dual clutch – the changes were pretty much seamless. Engine was very responsive, with plenty of oomph when overtaking. As for the cabin, the kids were in heaven! They loved the space and the array of hatches on the central roof console. I remembered my iPod so the kids could bop away to their playlist thanks to the connector in the glove box.”

Mark Simpson, Ford Britain marketing director, said: “In a year when the new S-MAX and Galaxy will be joined by new five and seven-seat family-friendly C-MAX models in the autumn, there could not be a better time for Ford to partner a high-profile and influential site like Mumsnet.”

Co-founder of Mumsnet, Carrie Longton said: “Ford is to be congratulated for realising that, more often than not, it’s mums who are driving the decision-making process on what family car to buy. Mumsnetters have been queuing up to take part in the test drives and are loving the opportunity to road test and offer feedback on these top-of-the-range Ford cars.”

Why Choose Ford

I've always been a fan of Ford cars. When I first passed my driving test I actually bought a Ford Escort from my Sister and it was the best car ever! She had it for about 6 years and I had it for 5 years and it still ran like a dream.

Not only are they reliable, they are very durable... as a girl (I know ladies, I'm sorry for letting the side down) I've had a few knocks and scrapes during my time behind the wheel and my poor Escort bore the brunt of more than the odd mishap.

Day 1 (as in the day I passed my test) I drove straight into a post in the pub car park (before you ask I was pulling in, not leaving - so not drunk!). Well actually, I didn't drive into it really, I scraped it, lifting the entire front wing on the driver side. I ended up getting it fixed but didn't bother with a paint job so I had a nice black front wing on my shiny (ish) red car.

Day 32 - I got shunted from behind (so not at all my fault!). Being a girl I was happy enough for it to pass its MOT so never got that fixed (you could see the floor through the bumper :-S)

Day 67 - I crashed into a little Ford Fiesta and ended up ruining my other front wing. Again, got this fixed but no paint job so had a black and yellow wing on the passenger side :-S

A few dings later and my car looked unrecognisable from the one i'd bought no more than 6 months previous. I loved it though! No one else had a car that looked like mine and it still ran like a dream!

After the Escort I bought a second hand Fiesta. I never crashed this car and I remember I once left the lights on for about 3 hours when I went shopping one day, came back to the car and it started first time!! Can you believe it? I've had other cars since and the battery always runs down when I leave the lights on for more than an hour! Tsk


Anyway my point is, Fords are reliable, durable and these days especially, look really cool! They are also cheap to get fixed if there ever is a problem, I currently have a Japanese car and it's really hard to find parts that don't cost a months wages! My next car I think I will go back to Ford :-)