[Grizzly]

The Kuga owners club web sight is excellant, however, it make's it very clear that theKugaain't a brillantcar. Accept that every car will have problems, espically Ford.Coming from BMW's (3 series) toFord took some 'bottle'but in the mainswaged by the misses!! Weaccept its a great looking car, butI believe this is where it stops.

Taking into account price comparison between the Kuga titaniumand BMW 3 series (318/320d) there ain't much difference but compare carsqualityand customer care backuptheycould not be further apart. From my experience the Kugarattles and shakeswhen go over a worms poo, carpets and matswearing out, fuel leaks when filling up, washer bottles empties magically, noises from the power steeringand it seizes up randomally the list goes on.



I have had new and nearly BMW's and had a few problems but the dealerships clean, bright spotless and eager to understandyour problemsand actuallybelieve you have a problem andif neededprovide a loan car or loan of the salesmans car for the period. Ford dealership at Muller Road Bristolisgrubbyand appear not keen to help, if they need to keep the car..... the bus stop is over there. Coffee sir....drink machine's over there but you will need 50p.



Fortunately the Kuga used prices areunrelistically high by restricting circulation which helps my cause.............any body what to buy a Sea Grey AWD Titanium?

 

[rich_y2]

Crikey you're not a happy bunny... but thankfully I don't feel the same about mine and hopefully you've just got a duff dealer and unlucky with your motor, I'd also question how you can compare a Kuga to a 3 series, pehaps an X3 and then match the specs and check the prices (and more importantly the discounts off list available...), mind you my mate had an X3 and the ride was so harsh and interior plastics made the Kuga look like a Rolls (although the 2.0d motor, as always from BMW, was lovely). Seems like all round it just ain't worked well for you, on the positive side I have nothing but praise for my supplying dealer, Greyhound Ford, the sales and service team seem really good (although not needed to do much with the service side yet, just the brake valve recall) so they are not all bad.


You off back to beemer land?

 

[Slimus]

I am not one to normally stick up for Ford (after dumping Jaguar - my employer

) but I am trading in my Ford Cougar 2.5 V6 X pack which I bought new 9 years ago and have done 160,000 trouble free miles and it has never let me down. I pick up my Kuga in a couple of weeks and can only hope for a similar service. I have to agree about the dealerships though because I went to price up an Audi A4 before deciding on the Kuga and the quality of respect, surroundings and attitude was leagues ahead of Brooklyn (now Bristol Steet).
I might also add that my Cougar is still on the original battery, exhaust and clutch and I think thats pretty good for 160,000 miles.

Slimus.

 

[Digger]

I can sympathise with Grizzly and others who have had troubles with the Kuga. Some of his comments ring very true re: many dealerships just want your money (coffee? bustop?) in that they are happy helpful smiling people till you drive off the forecourt having paid up. Then when you have a complaint, you become a lesser person. I cannot compare with Beemer , Audi etc. I have never "been in that financial position".
I think if Grizzly's kuga was "average" asis most of the clubs other members, he would be ok.

You will never get a car with thousands of parts to be perfect, we used to say you can't get rolls royce quality when buying a mini. But you should expect and get a reasonable car.

I worked for twenty years as a supervisor at British Leyland ( it only became Austin Rover in the latter years before I left over twenty years ago). We bought our new cars from there because we got the employers discount - and we got used to the idea that we would inevitably have a MONDAY MORNINGor a FRIDAY AFTERNOON car. This feeling of gloom increased towards the inevitable end. Trouble is the blokes who used to build them were also fed up of the rogue cars they purchased.

I've had several new cars since, the last two being Fords, so far, touch wood they have been far superior to my past experiences.

Grizzly's comments re: the Kuga club I fully endorse. I just hope things get better for him and he returns to his usual grizzly self.

 

[Pilotlight]

I kind of sympathise with grizzly, but I think the problem is more wide spread than just Ford. I hope that our Kuga is long lasting, we keep our cars for about 6-8 years and it will need to put up with a lot of family wear and tear.

However our dealer was good and honest as they can be, and I am hoping the servicing will be also. I have experienced our local Mercedes dealers whom I thought were arrogant and snobby. Just because we had a people carrier, I was made to feel unimportant. VW dealers are the same, with can't be bothered attitude. It's an arrogance that they know people will come back to them.

Many of the dealers do not have to try hard for your custom or do not want to. I think you will find these will be going out of business soon.

I find german cars expensive but the quality of the materials, not so much the build, to be far better than the Asian cars. Take the kerplunk test to the roof to see how thick the gauge of the steel is. Asian cars normally deform when pushed down.

I took a leap of faith with the Kuga, knowing fine well the niggles people have experienced from the forum. Time will tell, but I like the idea that owners are honest about their cars and are willing to share, roll on the FKOC.

FKOC , it's got an unpleasant ring about it?