Ford Galaxy Automatic

SReeves

I am thinking of buying a Ford Galaxy automatic, I am wondering if anyone has one and how they have found it. I heard that automatic cars can be problematic to fix if they break down, is this true?

Mr Benevolent

Meh, so are manuals. Make sure the auto transmission fluid is ok, listen out for thumps when moving the lever or funny noises when driving. Finally, make sure the kickdown works, the lever's easy to move and it runs up though all four (or however many) gears.

sion40

Just wondering if any one has pro/cons for going with an automatic ford galaxy, am looking at one at the moment, it's a 03 TDI 130bhp. Are they heavier on fuel, how many miles to the gallon? don't see too many people with automatics... any reason for this?

richardsheil

We have one of these with 155,000 km on the clock.

An 05 Tdi Auto with 115bhp. I don't think they came with a 130bhp.

Not sure what the economy is but it is surely not as good as the manual. But a good car for the job and nice to drive around town.

Regarding the gearbox. it is a Jatco box as fitted to many other cars too. I have found that you can use Valovline Max life ATF for this which can be got in Southside Motor Factors Kylemore. I drop about 2.5 litres of this out each time I change the engine oil and hope that by doing this the gearbox oil is always fairly fresh. This only costs me 20 Euro so I think it is money well spent.

I am sure somebody else will come along with more detail or telling me I am mad to do this gearbox oil change, but each time I do this, the fluid that comes out is a nice pink colour and the car still runs great.

There is a more complex change procedure involving measuring the gearbox temp and refilling so the oil level comes out a particular orifice, but I just measure what came out and refill with the same amount. As the box is not leaking that is a good enough way.

In summary. A good reliable car, probably only around 30mpg, but nice to drive. Sometimes I take it so that I don't have to change gear:D

sion40

Tks for reply, ended up buying Seat Alhambra, too many people putting me off automatics in general

Max_Damage

sion40 wrote: »

Tks for reply, ended up buying Seat Alhambra, too many people putting me off automatics in general

Isn't the Alhambra pretty much the same as the Galaxy (and VW Sharan)?

Bodhan

I had a Galaxy auto on test (2010 reg) the powershift box was great but a little dumb at going from 1st to reverse. 7ltrs per 100kms real world but in town you could nearly double that.
A little French birdy tells me that there's a Grand Scenic coming out with a 2.0ltr automatic, not too sure when though.

Nissan doctor

sion40 wrote: »

Tks for reply, ended up buying Seat Alhambra, too many people putting me off automatics in general

So you bought a Galaxy anyway? The only difference between the Ford Galaxy, the Seat Alhambra and the VW sharan is the badges.