So much to love about the Ford Everest and unfortunately for us, so much to cry over. We purchased our first FORD in 2020 and got a lovely 2019 Titanium model for a good price with low kms (21,000) on it. Previously, we owned a Nissan Pathfinder and really enjoyed the size, the features and only upgraded because we wanted a 4×4 for towing and off road adventures. We are a family of 6 and regularly have extra children coming and going so the need for a good sized 7 seater was important.
To note, we had owned x2 Nissan Elgrands prior to our Pathfinder and we LOVED those vehicles. The offered awesome flexibility, a huge amount of space and luxury. They drive beautifully and are well priced for what you get. Obviously, the only challenge is that they are an import and most mechanics weren’t keen on dealing with cars that weren’t the stock standard.
Back to our experience thus far with our Ford Everest, our decision to purchase the Ford Everest came down to value for money. We were keen on purchasing a diesel-powered vehicle. Had the Nissan Patrols been diesel we would have stuck with Nissan; they are roomier inside and we were pleased with Nissan reliability and service from our 10 or so years owning one. What put us off was the added cost associated with the vehicle and then the additional cost of petrol given the consumption seemed greater. This led us to consider the Ford Everest as a better value proposition.
Ford Everest has lots to love. We love the look, the drive and the comforts of owning one. We have bottom warmers (heated seats), apple car play/android auto, lots of options for the dash display, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist (which I hate), blind spot monitoring, automatic windscreen wipers, self parking capability (never used), keyless entry/start and a collision detector that scares the heck out of me from time to time. Oh, the book is meant to open with your foot, but I tend to look like an idiot in the car park trying to find where the sensor is to open it. So, I just don’t use it because it isn’t very practical.
Our Titanium model came with leather seats and an awesome sunroof. The space inside for a family of 6 is pretty reasonable. The third row has comfortable seats. The third row seats fold down with the push on a button. The seats don’t recline like the Nissan Pathfinder’s third row which we loved and used.
The Everyday FORD Everest Drive:
We are pretty happy with how the car drives. Compared to our previous petrol SUV experience, it sometimes has a tad bit of a lag upon take off, but apparently this is typical of a diesel vehicle. Being only 5’2″, I find that the right handed side mirror obstructs my view as I make right turns and I need to be carefully in avoiding traffic islands. I also find that parking in between the lines is also a challenge in this car. I think it’s because I am seated up higher, and again because of the side mirror obstruction. In comparison, the Pathfinder had a much better around view monitor to assist with parking beautifully and I have missed that.
The Off Road Experience:
We upgraded our tyres to all terrain tyres for off road opportunities. We haven’t really done a lot of off road, just an occasional beach trek and a couple more rugged terrains. From our limited 4×4 experience and from other reviews, the Ford Everest is a very capable off road vehicle. The Ford Facebook forums are great for seeing what 4×4 tasks are achievable and for hooking up with others for fun off-roading events.
The FORD Everest Towing Experience:
We purchased a Jayco Expanda outback model which weighs about the 2 tonne mark loaded. We added ‘airbag man’ airbags to assist with the added weight to the rear. The Everest does a great job of towing and the airbags made the towing better. We had the opportunity to travel across the country and back, and the towing aspect was good. We travelled across some very dodgy roads, especially cutting across the back of NSW to get to QLD. Lots of potholes and damaged roads.
The FORD Everest Outback travel:
We had some reservations with travelling across Aus with our Everest. We purchased our Everest especially for a trip like this; however, with all our AdBlue issues we were worried on this front. Shouldn’t need to be with well serviced and fairly newish vehicle, but that’s what AdBlue has been to us.
The list of FORD Everest unfortunate experiences:
- Loss of motive power: On two seperate occasions, the transmission didn’t cut in as expected. This occurred once at a set of traffic lights and on another occasion at a T-Section. It was different to the typical lag in that the car moved forward, into the intersection, without engaging acceleration for a number of seconds. On both these occasions we were fortunate we didn’t have vehicles up our rear or a collision. In taking the car in to get the car looked at, nothing could be detected. Not great!
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- UPDATE: I was looking into our transmission error and came across a list of recalls for the possibility of transmission fluid pump gear failure. I found our Vin on the list. I will need to investigate this further as we did not get a call from FORD. Maybe it was sorted prior to our purchase, but that wouldn’t make sense given we experienced a very similar fault. I will include the link to the recall information below.
- UPDATED UPDATE: Apparently this had been remedied prior to us purchasing the car which doesn’t explain the ‘loss of motive’ issue we experienced twice.
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- FORD Everest Towed: Car would not start. Had stopped to drop my son at school. Had turned the car off and when attempting to start the car, it would not. RAC were called, they checked the codes, tried to jump start the car and nothing. It had to be towed to Challenger Ford. When they received the car and they looked at it, the car started and no code found for the error. Battery tested fine but we had the battery replaced.
- Ad blue dramas: Many ad blue sagas. I am not the only one to have Ford ad blue issues. Google that one!
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- Our specific issue with the ad blue system occurs when we tow. At some point in the trip, we get an ‘ad blue’ warning telling us we have ‘0’ ad blue and that we need to top up. Each time we go to top up, the tank only takes approximately 4L of ad blue (18l tank). On the odd occasion we will get a range for how much until empty, but only occasionally.
- The Ford dealership we service our car at has replaced the pcm which did not sort the problem, and the next time the issue occurred we were told they needed to replace the pcm (until I reminded them that they had already done this). Then apparently the engineers advised an update was required. Still had the same issue! Next service we were told it was the battery, so we had that replaced. Still had the same issue! After that, we provided the Ford Technicians with our spreadsheet of ad blue events and again had the car in to have it looked at. The final outcome and response from Ford is that the system calculations for towing throw out the error and it’s not something that is considered in the warning system. Basically, the AdBlue warnings are just something that will continue to occur.
- Finding AdBlue in rural towns can be a challenge as not every petrol station has it. It was also challenging to locate information on where it can be found. When we were in Broken Hill as an example, we pretty much drove to every petrol station to find the only one. These situations are on the stressful side. It is advisable to travel with extra AdBlue. And while we are on the AdBlue topic, it’s MUCH cheaper to buy AdBlue at the pump. Not all service stations have AdBlue so you need to locate that first. Usually, the service stations that have big trucks come through will have it.
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- The BIG drama- Towed AGAIN: Transmission overheating warning – the warning of doom. So, our FORD Everest is now a four year old vehicle so fortunately for us it’s still under warranty. I was driving locally when the car started to sound wrong, it was loud and rough. After about 10min, the transmission overheating warning came on and as the car was not operating smoothly, I pulled over and called our roadside assist people. We had the car towed.
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- FORD customer care response: we called to check the vehicle was received and it had been received. Mechanic commented at this time that the car sounded terrible. As FORD had our car for the remainder of that week without any feedback, I called that following Monday (the fourth day along) and was told that a technician needs to ‘drop the pan’ and look at it properly. This wasn’t going to happen until that Wednesday/Thursday. We again, had no communication from Ford all that week, so I again followed them up (8th business day along), they hadn’t been able to look at the vehicle and would not until Monday. Apparently, other transmissions were in – not a good sign. I expressed my disappointment and they said they’d try to look at it that day. We followed them up late that afternoon and they told us that they had only bought the car in so wouldn’t look at it properly until Monday.
- The VERDICT: the gear box was stuffed. Apparently there were fine shavings in the torque convertor and a big oil leak. They would need to order parts and told us it would take 6 – 8 weeks to order parts and fit.
- FIXED but not quite: Fortunately, the repair took less time than they anticipated and we had our car back with a new transmission. However; the transmission issues weren’t over. The transmission was not fitted correctly. Initially, I couldn’t engage the sports mode and selecting drive had some kind of misalignment. We booked it in again for them to correct. What dramas!
- DREADFUL customer service communication and long wait times: It took Challenger FORD Rockingham, WA two weeks to diagnose our car and we had to follow up to find out what was happening with the car. There was no apology for the situation or things taking some long. Good customer service take some care and time AND makes all the difference to the experience.
- EMAIL to FORD Australia: twice I emailed Ford Australia to express my disappointment with their product and customer service. I am yet to receive a response.
- COURTESY CAR: We were offered a courtesy car with Euro car; however the type of vehicle offered is limited. We are a family of 6 and have holidays away with our van. The only options we had were a Kia Carnival which only can tow 750kg (not enough towing capacity) or a five seater Ford Ranger. We decided to go with the Ranger and work with that.
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Unfortunately for us, my husband on the last evening we had the car reversed into our eldest son’s vehicle which was parked just off the driveway this particular evening. So both the Ranger and his car had some rear end damage. Well, the excess for this collision was $2750! If we didn’t have a transmission fault, we wouldn’t have had a $2750 excess! AND to add more insult to injury the insurance company wouldn’t cover our son’s car because he is family! If the car had an accident with the other car visiting then we could have had that covered but not because it’s family. So, now we are up for those repairs as well:-(
https://www.carsguide.com.au/adventure/ford-everest-titanium-bi-turbo-71207
https://www.vehiclerecalls.gov.au/recalls/rec-000320
For fun –
