When it comes to third-row access, the second-row seats are split 60:40 with the 40% behind the driver, on the road side (rather than the kerb side) of the Everest. So if you are planning to use the third-row seats, if you have an older child without a child seat or in a Infasecure Folding Booster seat this is the seat you are best to put them in, so you can gain access easily to the third-row seats.
Legroom is good in the new Ford Everest; we found with an Infasecure Aspire More in the third-row seats and a rear-facing Infasecure Attain More in the second row we could fit a 190cm front passenger.
On the driver's side of the car we could fit a 186cm driver in front of the same configuration of child seats. If you didn’t have a rear-facing child seat in the second row behind the driver then you could fit a taller driver.
The interior of the new Ford Everest is like the new Ford Ranger I reviewed recently. With a clutter-free and more minimal dash, featuring a huge portrait media screen.
The media system is nice and modern and easy to use and it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
There are some great features now like the sketch game, which is great for when you are waiting in the car with your kids and you can play naughts & crosses!
You can customise a lot of the settings for the car within the settings screen too, like volumes and driver assist preferences.
Storage is really good throughout all three rows of seats in the 2023 Ford Everest. In the third row, passengers have cup holders and device holders on both sides.
In the second row, passengers have ample storage with two cup holders in a fold-down armrest in the central seat back.
Door bins hold large refillable water bottles and there are map pockets in the back of both front seats.
I am really happy with the storage in the front of the 2023 Ford Everest; there are my favourite cup holders at each end of the dashboard that pop out, so nice and easy for accessing your drinks while driving! Being near the aircon vents mean you can cool that piping-hot drink as well (or keep a cold one chilled).
There is a glasses case in the ceiling which is great, most new cars have got rid of them and it makes storing your sunglasses safely really tricky.
There is even a hot chip holding slot in the central console!
There are cup holders in the central console too and a generous size central console box.
In front of the gear lever is a wireless phone charging pad and you have USB and USB-C sockets too.
The glove box is a generous size too and the front door bins will hold two water bottles and an iPad.
Storage in the boot of the new 2023 Ford Everest is good too. For those who only need to use the first two rows of seats then you have an enormous boot space, that will hold 18 shopping bags which is the same as the previous model Everest.
Or you can easily fit a twin or double pram in the boot with nine shopping bags.
For those using all three rows of seats, you can fit 7 shopping bags in the boot. This is the same as the previous model Everest and is comparable to the Land Rover Discovery and the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado which both hold three shopping bags and the Isuzu MU-X which fits six shopping bags when using all three rows of seats.
A twin pram will fit in the boot of the 2023 Ford Everest when using all seven seats with shopping bags which is pretty impressive and practical for those with twins or two young siblings.
If you have a fur baby as well as children you could fit a small dog in the boot when using all seven seats.
Or a very large dog in the boot when using the front two rows of seats.
Passengers in both rear rows of seats can be kept comfortable with air vents in the ceiling above both rows of seats.
You can easily control the rear aircon from the front media screen which is great for families with younger children in the back.
You can also lock the rear aircon so rear passengers can not fiddle with controls in the back of the central console box.
The new 2023 Ford Everest is a great drive, visibility is good and the turning circle is great for a large 4×4. This makes it easy to manoeuvre around town and even though it’s a large SUV it’s great for parking in school and supermarket car parks. The cameras are very good in the new 2023 Ford Everest, with good clear images and you can view from multiple angles.
You can easily turn the parking sensors off with a button in the central console too.
There is a great seatbelt visual in the driver's display so you know who in the back has their seatbelts on.
The 2023 Ford Everest has nine airbags as standard:
Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags for all three seating rows (Everest only), and driver and passenger knee airbags are standard. A centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes is also standard.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How big is the boot of the 2023 Ford Everest?
The boot of the 2023 Ford Everest is a really practical size for family use whether you are using all three rows of seats or just two rows; either way a twin pram will fit in the boot. When you are only using the first two rows of seats it will hold 18 shopping bags which is the same as the previous model Everest…
The twin side-by-side pram fits easily in the boot of the Everest when you only use two rows of seats with nine shopping bags beside it.
A modular, tandem stroller fits in the boot of the 2023 Ford Everest with ten shopping bags around it.
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 Bub’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.
A single pram fits in the boot of the 2023 Ford Everest with eleven shopping bags beside it.
The compact stroller fits in the boot of the 2023 Ford Everest with fifteen shopping bags around it.
You can fit any size family dog in the boot of the 2023 Ford Everest when only using the first two rows of seats and there is plenty of room for an emergency nappy change.
If you need to use all three rows of seats you can still fit seven shopping bags in the boot, which is the same as the previous model Everest. It is comparable to the Land Rover Discovery and the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado which both hold three shopping bags and the Isuzu MU-X which fits six shopping bags when using all three rows of seats.
A twin pram fits in the boot of the Ford Everest with one shopping bag.
Or a tandem pram fits in the boot with no bags.
A single pram fits in the boot with one shopping bag.
A compact stroller fits in the boot of the Ford Everest when using all three rows of seats with four shopping bags.
Or you can fit your small fur baby in the boot or have space for an emergency nappy change.
How good is storage inside the 2023 Ford Everest?
The storage inside the new 2023 Ford Everest is really good for families. For the driver and front passenger, there are two cup holders in the central console that will hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup within easy reach…
…as well as cup holders at either end of the dashboard.
In front of the cup holders is a storage slot that has a symbol of fries in it. I tested it out and you can indeed get a medium Maccas fries in there!
In front of that are a wireless phone charging pad and USB and USB-C charging sockets.
Like the top-spec Ford Ranger, there are two glove boxes in the dash. Both are a practical size. The lower one will hold an iPad and wallet with the manual. Above this is a second glove box that will hold a phone or glasses case.
There is a lined glasses case in the ceiling, which I am sooooo glad to see is still in the Ford Everest because most new cars have removed them and it's a real shame.
The central console storage is a practical size with a shelf in the top and a 12V socket inside.
The front door bins will hold two large refillable water bottles with plenty of room for your iPad too.
Storage in the second row is good as well, with slightly smaller door bins that will hold a single large refillable water bottle and still room for a wallet.
There is a fold-down armrest in the central seatback of the Ford Everest with two cup holders that pop out of the front of the armrest. They will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup.
In the back of both front seats are map pockets that will hold and conceal an iPad and there is a USB and USB-C socket in the back of the central console box for second-row passengers to charge devices.
In the third row, passengers are well provided for as well. On the left there is a large slot that holds an iPad well and a cup holder for water bottles and coffee cups.
On the right side the passenger gets a cup holder and behind that a phone holding slot.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the 2023 Ford Everest? How good is the media system in the 2023 Ford Everest?
The 2023 Ford Everest has a new modern, portrait media system that is easy to navigate and includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Pressing the vehicle icon in the top right corner of the screen, you can control and customise a lot of the vehicle's settings. I found especially helpful in the driver assistance settings…
Like the Tesla Model S, the Ford Everest has a Sketch game which is great for keeping little ones entertained when you are waiting at school pick up etc.
The reversing camera image is very good quality in the new Ford Everest although it is a small size image at the top of the big screen. You can pick various angles of the camera view which is great and it has a tow-ball camera too.
You can turn the parking sensors off with a button down in the central console.
The digital driver's display in the Ford Everest tells you your distance to empty in the bottom right corner which is really useful, it has a digital speedometer and a seatbelt removal visual too.
The doors and windows of the 2023 Ford Everest close quite gently for a large 4×4, so they are not baby-waking.
The doors close quite easily with a gentle close, which was surprising for a car of this size. With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.
With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!Â
Road and wind noise are good in the Ford Everest and it does not have the lumbering large vehicle feel that some of its competitors do.
You can lock the doors and windows separately from the driver's door control panel.
Also, you will notice the door handles in the 2023 Ford Everest are now removed from the flat part of the door and hidden away in what is normally the handle wells. I really like this visually as it means the doors are less cluttered. However, you need to ensure you have the child lock on the rear doors as it is very tempting for little fingers to fiddle with them!
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the 2023 Ford Everest?
The new 2023 Ford Everest has ISOFIX points in the two outer second-row seats…
…and top tether anchorages in the back of all three second-row seats, within plastic guides that are clearly marked…
…and top tether anchorages in the back of both third-row seats, also within plastic guides and clearly marked but these are hidden behind flaps at the back of the seats.
It is spacious in the back of the new 2023 Ford Everest and I can very comfortably install five Infasecure child seats in the back. I installed two Infasecure Attain More, one forward-facing and one rear-facing and a versatile folding booster in the second row.
To learn more about the Infasecure child seats used in this video just click on the link here.
When it comes to third-row access, the second-row seats are split 60:40 with the 40% behind the driver, on the road side (rather than the kerb side) of the new 2023 Ford Everest. So I put the Infasecure Versatile Folding Booster seat there so it can be easily removed to give third-row access.
If you are planning to use the third-row seats, if you have an older child without a child seat or in the easily removable Infasecure Folding Booster seat this is the seat you are best to put them in. Then you can gain access easily to the third-row seats.
Legroom in the new Ford Everest is good, we found with an Infasecure Aspire More in the third-row seats and a rear-facing Infasecure Attain More in the second row we could fit a 190cm front passenger.
On the driver's side of the car we could fit a 186cm driver in front of the same configuration of Infasecure child seats. If you didn’t have a rear-facing child seat in the second row behind the driver then you could fit a taller driver.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the 2023 Ford Everest? And How good is the 2023 Ford Everest to drive?
The interior of the 2023 Ford Everest is much more modern with the minimal dash and the new portrait media screen.
The seats are comfortable and there is plenty of good storage like a glasses case and dashboard cup holders to make it pleasant for the passengers.
The headrests are not adjustable so I could not wear a ponytail while driving.
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
For a mum travelling in the back with Bub, the seats are comfortable too. The central seat has a firm backrest where the fold-down armrest is. Legroom is good in the back and I had plenty of legroom behind a 182cm driver and I'm 162cm. There is plenty of space for an adult to sit between or beside two child seats.
For the first year of my Bub's life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Bub 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 is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
Across the front dashboard, there are four air conditioning vents, one on either side of the media screen and one at each end of the dashboard.
There are round aircon vents in the ceiling for both rear rows of seats, which is great for keeping passengers in the back comfortable.
You can control the rear aircon from a dial in the back of the central console box.
There are also controls within the front media screen for all the air-conditioning.
You can also lock the rear aircon so kids can't fiddle with it.
Visibility in the Ford Everest is great and even with five child seats in the back I still had good visibility.
The Ford Everest is a nice easy car to drive. It is a large 4×4 SUV, it doesn't feel lumbering and slow like some seven-seater off-roaders do. The turning circle is small which makes it easy to manoeuvre and park in school and supermarket car parks.
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
How safe is the 2023 Ford Everest?
The new 2023 Ford Everest has been given a five-star ANCAP rating. Scoring 93% for child occupant protection, broken down into full points for both the frontal offset crash and for the side impact test. For child restraint installation the Ford Everest scored 11.66 out of 12 and 10 out of 13 for onboard safety features. For now, this makes the 2023 Ford Everest the safest large SUV for kids on sale in Australia.
Nine airbags come as standard in the Ford Everest; Driver and passenger frontal, driver and passenger front-side airbags, driver and front passenger knee, front centre airbag and side curtain airbags in all three rows of seats.
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 Bub’s asleep!
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3 Comments
Does the Everest have full airbag coverage for third row occupants? I know there is a concern with the Kluger only offering limited airbag coverage for kids back there. Wondering if the Everest is better in that regard?
Does the Everest have full airbag coverage for third row occupants? I know there is a concern with the Kluger only offering limited airbag coverage for kids back there. Wondering if the Everest is better in that regard?
Not heard of the Kluger concern (yes to Santa Fe and Sorento). As far as we know the Everest has full length curtain airbags
How wide is the internal 2nd row measurements?