FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2019 FORD EVEREST TITANIUM

How big is the boot of the Ford Everest Titanium?

From empty, I could fit eighteen shopping bags in the boot when using just five seats, which is the same as the Land Rover Discovery, one more than the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado and Isuzu MU-X both fitting seventeen.

The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fits with nine shopping bags.

The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fits with eleven shopping bags.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fitted with nine shopping bags beside it.

The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with fifteen shopping bags beside it.

Or you could fit a large dog in there!

The boot floor is almost flat so it's good for an emergency nappy change!

When using all seven seats the boot space is still remarkably practical. I could fit seven shopping bags in the boot.

The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fitted with a wheel removed and a shopping bag.

The Britax Flexx tandem stroller didn't fit, but the Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller did fit also with a wheel removed and a single shopping bag.

The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller also fitted with four shopping bags.

Underneath the boot floor in the Everest is a plastic storage area and there are also the buttons on the right side of the boot that bring the third-row seats up and down.

How good is storage in the Ford Everest Titanium?

Storage inside the cabin is so practical in all three rows, I think it is excellent! In the central console, there are two cup holders, they are both a really good size to hold a disposable coffee cup or my reusable Luxey Cup travel mug and my large refillable water bottle.

Behind the cup holders is a large central console storage box, with a lid that doubles as your arm rest.

There is a phone charging well in front of the gear lever that has USB and 12V sockets.

The glove box is a good size and would easily hold my wallet and iPad with spare room too.

There is a glasses case in the ceiling which is lined to protect your lenses and there are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors.

The door bins in the front are large enough for my large refillable water bottle and my wallet fits in them too.

In the second row, there are map pockets in the back of both front seats. They would hold but not fully conceal an iPad. In the back of the central console box is 12V and 150W sockets.

In a fold-down armrest in the central seatback are two cup holders. They would hold a disposable coffee cup and my reusable Luxey Cup travel mug as well as my large refillable water bottle fitted well too.

The door bins in the back will also hold a large refillable water bottle.

In the third row, there are cup holders on either side that will hold a large refillable water bottle, my reusable Luxey Cup travel mug or disposable coffee cup.

How noisy is the Ford Everest?

The media system in the Ford Everest is a basic touch screen, that is easy to use and navigate.

It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which is great for being able to easily listen to your own music, podcasts etc use your phone contacts for calls etc while driving and Google maps.

When reversing, the camera image fills the screen and is a little bit grainy.

I couldn't find a way to mute the parking sensor sound, only turning them off with the button down in the central console.

This is also where you can turn off the auto engine cut out which can be disturbing for some children when the engine cuts in and out.

On the steering wheel, the lower set of buttons on the right-hand side control the cruise control, they are really simple and easy to use and I found it accurate for motorway driving.

I felt there are a lot of buttons of the steering wheel, the set of buttons on the left controlled the left-hand side of the screen in front of the steering wheel like media system etc. The buttons on the right-hand side on the steering wheel control what is displayed on the right-hand side of the screen in front of the steering wheel.

The inbuilt Sat-Nav image was clear and the system nice and simple to use.

You can adjust the guidance prompts within the settings screen but it is not a one-touch mute.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

The indicators are quite loud in the Everest and could disturb a sleeping baby.

The doors and windows are both nice and quiet to open and close which is great for a big car like this.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!

So this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

The Everest feels like a large family dog! Lumbering and slow to get started but trusty and loyal with great stamina and I can see why people like it so much. The engine is louder than I was expecting but I am told this has been made much quieter than the previous model's engine which was louder.

There is a seatbelt removal image and alarm in the screen in front of the steering wheel, however, it is only for the first two rows, not the third-row seats.

How many child seats fit in the For Everest?

FIVE child seats fit in the Ford Everest!! WOOO HOOOO!!!!

There are three top tether anchorages across the second-row seatbacks, they are within plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to. There is a top tether anchorage on the back of both third-row seats also within plastic guides and easy to connect to.

When the seatbacks are up they are just hidden behind the boot floor flaps.

You can easily raise and lower the third-row seats using the buttons on the right-hand side of the boot.

There are ISOFix points in the two outer second-row seats, they are within plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to.

I could easily fit three child seats across the second-row seats, I tested three forward-facing child seats and two forward facing and a rear facing and both combinations fitted well.

In the third row seats, there was plenty of room for two forward facing child seats.

When accessing the third-row seats I found you had to uninstall a child seat in order to climb through which is a real shame. I also found with the child seats I had installed that to bring one second-row seat forward to climb through it knocks on the central child seat.

The second-row seats slide and adjust for legroom, with the second-row seats in their furthest back position and a rear-facing child seat installed in the second-row I found a 180cm driver could sit in front of it and I could sit in the third-row behind it with enough head and legroom and I'm 162cm, however, headroom and legroom would be tight for anyone much bigger than me.

Posting bub into their child seat from outside the car is really nice and easy in the Everest, the door openings are large and the interior is spacious. From inside the ceiling is high enough that posting Bub into their seats from inside is good.

Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

There is room to feed bub in the back if you have one or two child seats installed. In the top spec model I tested, the seats were black leather like fabric with perforated panels.

How comfortable is the Ford Everest? And how good is the Ford Everest to drive?

The front seats of the Ford Everest are heated, they are nice and comfortable too with electronic adjustment controls on the side of the base. They are upholstered with black leather-like fabric. I tested the top spec Titanium model which has small perforated central panels.

The seats throughout the Everest are not fussy so they would be quite easy to wipe clean.

The second and third-row seats are comfortable and the second-row slide back and forward so you can distribute the legroom.

For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are comfortable. If you are sitting in the central seat there is a hump in the footwell, which you'll need to straddle.

For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!

The steering wheel would only adjust up and down not in and out which I found made it harder to find a comfy seating position.

There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central ones and one at either end and in the rear there are ceiling vents above the second-row doors in the ceiling and in the third-row they are centrally located in the ceiling.

You can control all the aircon through the media screen which is fantastic.

You can also use buttons on the dash too.

In the second row there are climate controls on the back of the central console box as well as a 12V and 150W socket which is great for camping!

The rear interior lights are located above the second-row doors with the air vents, I could reach the light behind the driver's seat.

I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

There are no handles above either of the back doors because of the lights and vents so I could not hang a child's toy.

Visibility in the Everest was quite good, when fully loaded with child seats I couldn't really see out of the rear window but with forward-facing child seats installed it was still good out of the second-row windows.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking big cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Everest was relatively easy to park for a big seven-seater SUV.

Aesthetically the Ford Everest Titanium looks and feels like a modern SUV, the interior is very nice and doesn't feel frumpy which is great! I can see why the Ford Everest is so popular as a seven-seater family SUV, it really does cover everything well and has good towing and off-road ability, it's a very good all-rounder.

How safe is the Ford Everest Titanium?

The Ford Everest scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating in October 2015.

Scoring a total of 35.98 out of 37. This is broken down into 15.38 out of 16 for the frontal offset test. 16/16 for the side impact test, 2/2 for the pole test. Whiplash protection is rated good and pedestrian protection acceptable.

Seven airbags come as standard; there is a driver’s knee airbag as well as dual frontal airbags and front side airbags and side head curtain airbags for the front and both the rear rows of side passengers.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!