Ford Tourneo Courier Review 2025

While many families have decided that SUVs rather than MPVs are the way forward, several car manufacturers reckon that there’s still a market for something that’s more about space than presence — but is basing a car on a van a step too far? Find out with our full Ford Tourneo Courier review.

Ford is clearly setting its stall out with the introduction of the Tourneo Courier, which joins the mid-sized Tourneo Connect and larger Tourneo Custom in the ranks of van-based MPVs.

It’s important to note that while you can buy a very similar vehicle to this as a van, it’s not entirely accurate to describe the Tourneo version as a Ford Transit Courier with windows and seats.

Both the Tourneo and Transit Couriers share common underpinnings with the Ford Puma, one of our favourite compact SUVs largely because it’s a good deal of fun to drive. So to describe it in crude terms, this is a car-based platform with a van-shaped body on top, which has the potential to be the best of both worlds.

Rather than a car-derived-van-derived-car or even an MPV, Ford calls the Tourneo Courier a multi-activity vehicle, with the emphasis being that it is designed to carry the kind of equipment that outdoor pursuits might require as well as varying combinations of people. Its squared-off sides, roof and tailgate mean you have a big interior volume having a lifestyle, particular for a vehicle of this size.

Although the Puma’s wheelbase has been lengthened for the Ford Tourneo Courier, overall it’s still a little shorter than obvious rivals such as the Citroen e-Berlingo and Vauxhall Combo Life Electric. Those models, together with their Peugeot E-Rifter and Toyota Proace City Verso Electric clones are now solely battery powered.

Ford’s E-Tourneo Courier’s in the pipeline, but the version reviewed here is petrol-powered. Given the lack of other van-derived rivals of this size, alternatives to the Ford also include the Dacia Jogger — it's a car that's difficult to pigeonhole, given its boundary-blurring mixture of estate, MPV and SUV worlds.

The Ford Tourneo Courier also manages to look striking despite its alternate van-based persona. There’s a big, bold front grille, a strong stance thanks to the chunky wheelarches and the kick up of the window line towards the rear all help to give it a bit more personality than you might expect. You can also go for the more rugged Active trim, which gets you cladding around the wheelarches and the option of a contrast-colour roof.

Inside the Tourneo Courier there’s plenty of space to stretch out, not least because the roof is so high there’s all the headroom you could possibly want. It also gives you lots of scope to adjust your driving position, which is more car- than van-like, but with the option to ratchet up the steering wheel and seat if you want a higher-set view out. There’s plenty of glass for an airy feel, although your view backwards is slightly hampered by the rear pillars.

Engine options are limited to a 1.0-litre, 125PS three-cylinder petrol engine with a choice of six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmissions. With sufficient power and torque the Tourneo Courier gets along well, and although it sometimes needs to be worked relatively hard to make good progress, the manual gearchange is slick.

The Ford Tourneo Courier may be targeting a relatively small niche among family car buyers, but if you need something compact that also offers a lot of flexible space, it may just fit your bill very well.

Given that Ford’s vans — never mind its cars — still drive with a precision and engagement that is a cut above almost everything else, it would be disappointing to discover that the Tourneo Courier doesn’t live up to the family reputation. Thankfully it manages to steer and handle with a pleasing level of composure, without sacrificing ride comfort or driving like an overgrown roller skate.

The Ford Tourneo Courier might be tall in the body but it resists significant body roll well, but at the same time does a good job of keeping you isolated from the road surface imperfections, so it is capable both in town and on higher speed roads.

Should the mood take you and you want to press on a little on a country road, the Tourneo Courier is more than capable of playing along. The steering is well-weighted and accurate, offering a more than respectable amount of feel, plus there’s enough grip for it to be fun.

With just the single engine option available from launch the Ford Tourneo Courier doesn’t give buyers much choice, but the 1.0-litre three cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost petrol is a willing and capable unit. It produces 125PS and 170Nm of torque, so while the claimed 0-62mph time of 13 seconds is quite modest, in truth it feels more sprightly than that.

There is a useful amount of torque available at lower revs, and although it requires higher engine speeds to get moving with real purpose, the little 1.0-litre motor is always willing to rev and does so without intruding too much into the cabin in terms of noise.

It helps that the six-speed manual gearbox shifts quickly and smoothly, so changing up and down the ratios is no chore. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic alternative also works well, with effortless changes and a barely detectable pause in power delivery when accelerating.

It can feel like the automatic is slower because there is no shifting for the driver to do but the speed of the changes mean it is actually quicker than the manual from a standstill to 62mph by almost two seconds.

Euro NCAP safety assessed and crash-tested the Ford Tourneo Courier in 2024 and awarded it a somewhat disappointing three stars. It scored 62% for adult occupant protection, a much better 80% for child occupant protection and 81% for pedestrian mitigation, plus a relatively lowly 54% for safety assist.

The low overall score is due in part to the amount of safety systems that are optional, such as blind-spot information system and evasive steering assist.

The Ford Tourneo Courier with manual transmission offers 1000kg of braked towing capacity, while the automatic version increases this to 1100 kg. Both are respectable figures given the size of the engine.

Anyone considering a car of this type will be looking for a spacious, flexible interior and the Ford Tourneo Courier does not disappoint. Up front the sense of space is considerable, dominated by the high roof which gives exceptional headroom as well as some extra storage thanks to an overhead cubby.

Leg and elbow room is also generous, with a similar situation in the rear. Ford says that the rear bench has more head and shoulder room than the original Tourneo Courier and there’s certainly enough space for three adults to sit comfortably alongside one another.

The boot is also bigger than before too — there’s now 570 litres of space with the rear seats in place, up from 395 litres, plus you can fold and flip the rear bench to give up to 2162 litres when loaded to the roof. It’s disappointing that the rear seats can’t be removed entirely to liberate even more volume.

The large tailgate makes access easy although you need to open it with care in tight spaces, and the sliding side doors are a big plus.

The Ford Tourneo Courier’s cabin is relatively low-key in its appearance, although going for the Active trim does add some splashes of colour and different seat fabric which is designed to be easy to clean.

Interior materials overall are mixed in quality levels. There are some soft-touch areas, but also many harder plastics, although they do feel like they are sufficiently sturdy to stand up to a busy lifestyle. There is also a general sense that the Tourneo Courier is reassuringly well put together.

As standard the Ford Tourneo Courier gets an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which includes Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with six speakers.

The screen itself is modestly sized compared to some rivals, although the way in which the menus are laid out prevents this from being too much of an issue. There’s also an 8.0-inch digital instrument display which allows the driver to change the information on show depending on their preferences.

One downside is that many of the climate functions are only controllable via the touchscreen. Although there are some physical buttons beneath the screen, a full set of conventional heating and ventilation controls would be preferable.

Navigation is also an optional feature, although smartphone screen mirroring does allow the driver to use navigation apps such as Google Maps and Waze.

The cheapest Ford Tourneo Courier in Titanium trim with the six-speed manual gearbox is £25,900, with the seven-speed automatic costing £27,100. In more rugged-looking Active specification the manual is £27,220, while £28,420 gets you the automatic.

That compares with £31,135 for the most basic electric Citroen e-Berlingo and £18,400 for the Dacia Jogger, although the latter has much less standard equipment.

Ford claims the Tourneo Courier offers up to 42.2mpg for the manual version and 40.9mpg for the automatic, which means that real world figures are likely to drop into the 30s. The lack of a diesel option means fuel economy is not its strongest attribute, although the forthcoming electric version should be significantly cheaper to run.

On the upside, insurance groups are low, ranging from 10 for the manual Titanium to 13 for the automatic version regardless of trim. Servicing costs should also be low.

Two trim levels are available for the Ford Tourneo Courier using the brand’s familiar Titanium and Active grades.

Although the Ford Tourneo Courier Titanium is the least-costly option, it’s not an entry-grade specification, which explains why its kit roster could hardly be described as basic. It comes with automatic main beam headlights, automatic wipers, an electrically heated windscreen, climate control, heated front seats, an 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with DAB, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, cruise control, wireless smartphone charging, and 16-inch alloy wheels.

Upgrade to the Ford Tourneo Courier Active to add SUV-style bumper skid plates, wheelarch extensions, an integrated navigation system, a Driver Assistance Pack including lane-change warning and aid, blind-spot information system and adaptive cruise control, plus 17-inch alloy wheels.