Ford Kuga (2008 – 2013) Review

• September 2007: Kuga shown for first time
• December 2008
• July 2010
• January 0001: Technical Specifications

01-01-0001:

On early production, chafing of the air intake pipe to the engine caused it to run lean and damage the engine. Modified intake pipes were distributed for cars in dealer stock and those already sold were recalled back to the dealers for the pipes to be fitted.

23-09-2010:

The Maintenance section of the Owner's Handbook requires that the power steering fluid be checked monthly. But the reservoir is on the offside, under the headlight and it is necessary to remove the headlight to get at it. Apparently a modification may be forthcoming.

16-06-2011:

The Kuga has a coated DPF fitted and therefore does not require the use of Eolys Fluid as part of the regeneration process. The use of standard quality Diesel Fuel is all that is required. At current prices a replacement DPF costs £900 plus fitting. However Ford also offers a "reconditioned" replacement DPF at a cost of £300. These are previously used DPFs that have been reconditioned by Ford to an "as new" state and are sold with a full warranty.

25-01-2012:

DPFs failing in as little as 68k miles.

12-05-2012:

Two wheel drive versions can suffer 'stepping' of the rear tyres. 'Stepping' is caused by the fact that on a front wheel drive car the front wheels power the car, steer and brake, but all the rears do is brake. If the rear brake pressure sensor gives too much bias to the rear brakes then the phenomenon you have experienced occurs.A simple cure is to swap the tyres back to front.

05-07-2012:

Tip: If the battery goes flat, advice by Ford technical is to charge the battery for 1 hour either from another car or from the leisure battery from a caravan - then lock and unlock the car and that will tell the management system that all is alright and it will start. Attaching jump leads alone will get dash lights lit but the car will not start.

24-03-2013:

On early Kugas, some seem to have a serious problem with the steering angle sensor that can immobilise the car. This can be overridden, but the reason remains a puzzle:

03-05-2013:

AWD system is not tolerant of a significant difference in circumference of the tyres, so best to swap back to front about half way through the life of the fronts. Also helps prevent the effects of 'stepping' of the rear tyres.

08-08-2013:

Lacquer on polished sections of alloy wheels is fairly thin and vulnerable to chipping and aggressive, acidic wheel cleaning sprays, leading to oxidation under the lacquer.

16-09-2013:

DMF failed on 2010 Kuga 2.0TDCI at 49k miles. Quoted £1,500 to replace.

22-09-2013:

Another report of tyre rumbling due to a difference in circumference front to back on a 2009 Kuga.A swap back to front should cure. Also oil dashboard warning of contaminated oil 7,000 miles since an oil and filter change.

26-10-2013:

Intermittent DPF problems reported on 2010 2.0TDCI Powershift. On start up, the ESP (stability control) warning indicator lights up and an engine malfunction warning message appears. The transmission becomes very jerky, to the point where it is dangerous to drive. By turning off the ignition and completely locking the car, this on several occasions appears to clear the problem and the car drives as normal.

11-01-2014:

Powershift transmissions require a change of fluid and microfilter every 3 years or 3rd service whichever comes first. This is essential maintenance. To avoid excessive wear of the twin oil clutches it is also essential to avoid sitting in 'D' at a standstill. Change to 'N'. It's easy to shift between 'D' and 'N' and between 'N' and 'D' with a Powershift because, unlike a VAG DSG, you don't have to stamp on the footbrake to do this.

05-04-2014:

Report of 2011 200PS 5-cylinder Kuga 2.5 auto suddenly revving to 7,000rpm while stopped at traffic lights. Dealer updated engine management software. Then it happened again. Eventually accelerator and brake sensors were replaced, which cured it for a while. Then it happened again. (Seems to echo a problem with Volvos with this engine.)

21-09-2014:

Immobiliser problems reported on 9,500 mile 2012 Ford Kuga. Dealer not interested.

23-09-2014:

'Computer Data Error' reported on 2012 Ford Kuga. Dealer not interested in fixing under warranty.

20-02-2015:

Failure of original bonding of the windscreen of 2009/59 Kuga Titanium led to swamping of electrics and bill for £1,200 to dry out the car, fit new windcreen and replace the BCMI module.

15-08-2015:

EPAS ECU failed on 32k mile 4 year old Kuga. Initially a £780 bill, of which Ford paid 30%.

19-08-2015:

Report of failure of DMF and clutch of 2009 Ford Kuga 4x4 at 40,000 miles. Slave cylinder had failed, but needed new DMF and clutch as a result. Initially quoted £1,547, cut to £1,194. Also needed a new speedo head cluster that cost £636.

31-01-2016:

2010 Ford Kuga with 88,000 miles went into limp mode with a red triangle warning sign. Local Ford dealer fitted a new sensor to the DPF (which was ok) and this cured the problem. Bill was £505 - £116 for the sensor and £303 labour.

20-06-2016:

Report of ABS light on in 21k mile 2012 Ford Kuga. Ford dealer prescribed new ABS module at £1,120 fitted, but none in stock in Europe. Referred to ecutesting.com.

04-09-2016:

Report of front screens cracking across the screen on three consecutive Ford Kugas. No previois reports. This can happen if the edge of the glass sits proud and unprotected. A stone hitting that edge can set up a stress crack that eventually spreads across the screen.

15-09-2016:

Reader quoted £1,330 to replace the DPF on a 2010 Ford Kuga. Parts: Parts: Sensor, insulator, gasket, nuts and filter £493 + VAT and Labour £507 + VAT. Suggested alternative Ceramex process to clean ash from DPF for about £350. http://www.ceramex.com/

20-10-2016:

Report of 2009 Ford Kuga 2.0TDCI intermittently cutting out. Generally it happens when approaching a roundabout or coming off a bridge and this can be once it has just come to a stop or while still travelling. It happens so quickly that the driver didn't realise until he tried to continue on and could not. He had to put the clutch down and press the power button yo get it to start again, which it does straight away.

13-12-2016:

Report of 20k mile 2012 Ford Kuga 2.0TDCI AWD on original battery suffering a flat battery if left for 10-14 days or if only used a couple of times a week for short journeys. Has Bluetooth softwarte upgrade. Dealer checked no draindown. Probably normal, though Bluetooth might we wasting power searching for its paired phone.

16-04-2017:

Following faults reported on a 2011 Ford Kuga: electrical faults, power steering malfunction, engine malfunctiuon, 6 dashboard warning lights, crackling noises from radio speakers.

11-08-2017:

Report of blocked a/c evaporator drain pipe leaving interior of 2009 Ford Kuga saturated.

19-11-2017:

Report of problems over life of 2009 Ford Kuga: "went well for a number of years but when it went wrong just about everything on it went wrong. It had a new turbo, starter, countless other items at just under 100,000 miles which was done on long 2 - 300 mile journeys mostly. After all the work at huge expense it is actually running OK now although I have lost confidence in it. One of the worrying things was that it turned out that the car computer was situated under the left front wheel arch and the mechanic was critical of me - that I must have got water in this system to damage it. This seems a silly place to site a computer?"

11-05-2018:

Powershift transmission failure reported in Ford Kuga 2.0TDCI at 65,000 miles, 2 years after used purchase. Reason likely to be failure to change the transmission fluid and filter every 3 years.

17-08-2018:

Report of digital odometer display disappearing on a 2011 Ford Kuga at about 45,000 miles. Ford dealer quoted £1,000 to rectify with a new instrument cluster.

29 reports of problems from January 2011