Ford S-MAX - Buying S Max - now or wait? Petrol 1.6 or diesel?

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Tue 9 Sep 2014 02:25
Ford S-MAX - Buying S Max - now or wait? Petrol 1.6 or diesel? - upsydaisy005

We are in the market for a new or nearly new Ford S Max and hoping to get a good price for the older model as the new one is supposedly coming out soon this year.

I am not sure however when is a good time to get the discounts - would the dealers be discounting it already now (the formal announcement is not made yet) or after it's formally released? Drive the deal site offers a nearly £5K discount off the £25K Titanium list price. Also looked at a nearly new one with the 13 reg, price is £18K with the 5K mileage.

We are in central London, plan to hold the car and use it mainly in the city driving mode, so a bit worried about getting a diesel due to the particle filter etc issues of diesels in such environment. Petrol 2L engine is not very economical at 34 mpg, thinking of 1.6 one with 43 mpg. We have a pretty placid driving style so don't really need a superpower, hopefully the 1.6 engine would be ok for that.

Any opinions on either one?

Many thanks in advance

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Tue 9 Sep 2014 07:43
Ford S-MAX - Buying S Max - now or wait? Petrol 1.6 or diesel? - Happy Blue!

I have had an Smax for four years. Its a diesel automatic. However the technology has changed since I bought mine so what I say may not be accurate.

The car is big and heavy and whilst my 2.0l diesel has plenty of poke that is due to the turbo. A plain petrol will be ok but no more. The 1.6 Tdci (I assume) should be fine but you need to drive it to check. Some of these engine options are there to make the average corporate economy better than it really is.

Look at the overall costs not just fuel. You may save thousands on buying a petrol engine (they are rare) so much so that any fuel saving, even over thousands of miles is not worth buying the diesel.

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Tue 9 Sep 2014 10:42
Ford S-MAX - Buying S Max - now or wait? Petrol 1.6 or diesel? - daveyjp

Latest S max will probably have turbo petrols - 1.6 or 2.0. There are a far more C max petrols available if this is a viable alternative.

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Tue 9 Sep 2014 22:13
Ford S-MAX - Buying S Max - now or wait? Petrol 1.6 or diesel? - upsydaisy005

Thank you for the responses - Happy Blue! good to speak about S Max again :)

I think we are pretty set on petrol and it's true these are not often on sale second hand. Saw C Max before and it was a bit small for us, maybe will give it another shot.

Anyone knows re the price drops? Even googling I can't find any definitive tips!

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Wed 10 Sep 2014 11:33
Ford S-MAX - Buying S Max - now or wait? Petrol 1.6 or diesel? - skidpan

We had a 1.6 TDCi C Max for 5 years and believe me it was no road rocket. But compared to the 1.6 petrol we also tried it was positively fast.

Put either engine into the much bigger and heavier S Max and I dread to think what the performance (and real world economy) would be like.

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