FORD C-MAX 1.6 Zetec 5dr (2010)

Ford C-Max - Not had it long but very rewarding so far

This is the first time we've been able to buy a brand new car, and we wanted one that would last. We favoured Ford having had a couple of second hand ones in the past and those lasting well.

The first thing we really liked about the Ford C-Max is just how quiet it is inside. We took it down a dual carriageway on the test drive and it was just so lovely and quiet, couldn't hear any blowing about from the doors, not much in the way of noise from the engine or other mechanics, and very little noise from other vehicles.

That has a down side, in that it makes it harder to judge the revs when starting up (which can cause you to stall) but overall it's a very nice and quiet experience.

The two displays, and all the other controls and dials and clever things did confuse me a bit to begin with. I don't feel I'm too behind the times with technology, but a word of warning, cars are full of quite complex stuff these days.

Personally I still find it a bit distracting having the two displays staring up at me, but it's ok. It is good to have them both relatively high up though. I've seen other cars where the satnav display is half way down the central panel, which must be a bit off putting if you're trying to look at it whilst driving.

The space inside the car is very good, you don't feel you're bumping into things at all. I'm not so keen on the glove box as it sort of opens downwards, which can cause things to drop out, but it's quite a good size really.

For me and my husband, as we're quite different shapes and sizes, it's really handy to be able to change the height of the steering wheel and also the driving seat as well.

Elsewhere in the car... the boot is really really big, we've found it never fills up! The fullest it's ever been was on a long weekend with four people, and all our luggage, easily stowed in the boot. Very capable.

My only caution with this review is that the car is quite new, so who knows what could go wrong in future. But we've had no problems at all so far.