Ford Tourneo Courier Review & Prices

The Ford Tourneo Courier is a five-seat people-carrier with the shape of a van but the footprint of a hatchback. It shares its foundations with the Ford Puma rather than a working vehicle, though you’d struggle to spot the connection without taking a look beneath the bodywork.

It’s as if that short guy you knew in school went and bulked up at the gym, and then bought a job-lot of Snickers workwear. Then came round and fixed your plumbing. That's what you'd expect from a vehicle based on the hardworking Transit Courier.

The Tourneo Courier is a great alternative to the (larger) Citroen Berlingo and Volkswagen Caddy Life, as well as Ford’s own Tourneo Connect. You could also consider the Dacia Jogger, which offers seven seats for less money. The Courier makes a lot of sense if you want a practical car that doesn’t take up much space, though.

Where the Ford Puma’s body is all curves, the Tourneo Courier has a tall roof, near-vertical sides and an upright nose. That makes it rather more garden shed than stylish SUV, though Active models get a bit of chunky wheelarch trim and a two-tone paint job for more personality. Nobody’s ever going to mistake the Courier for something other than a van with windows, though.

Further reminders of the Tourneo Courier’s commercial leanings come on the inside, where the plastics are cheap and wipe-clean rather than plush and soft-touch. However, you do get somewhere to stash almost everything - there’s a shelf overhead, a big glovebox, sizeable door bins that can take a big bottle of water, and smaller cubbies in the centre console that can accumulate all the odds and ends from your pockets.

In the centre of the car there’s an 8.0-inch touchscreen that sits within easy reach and has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto - both useful features. However, while the main menus are easy enough to navigate, things like the climate controls should really have been left to proper buttons and knobs. The screen is too small to make changing the temperature easy or convenient at anything but a standstill.

The rear seats are spacious, and big windows keep things bright and airy back there. The sliding doors are particularly useful for family life as they stop kids from potentially dinging cars in car parks. The rear windows even wind down properly, which is nice.

Behind that, there’s a huge 570-litre boot that’ll eat up pushchairs or suitcases better than anything else with this footprint. Fold the rear seats down and tumble them forward and you liberate even more room - it’s almost like it’s back to being a van again. The huge tailgate is a bit of a pain to open in tight spaces, though.

There’s just one engine option available, a 1.0-litre petrol with 125hp and either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed automatic gearbox. It’s not great, to be honest - while it feels reasonably peppy in the Puma, the big, bluff Tourneo Courier feels a bit beyond its ability. The engine sounds strained and requires a lot of revs to make progress. Official fuel economy of 42mpg isn’t great either, and in the real world you’ll see around 35mpg. It’s a shame the 1.5-litre diesel engine that’s available in the Transit Courier isn’t offered here, as it’s a much better fit.

The connection with the Ford Puma becomes more obvious once you start driving, though. The steering is light and accurate, and it’s really easy to place the car where you want it on the road. The manual gearbox has a really satisfying action, too, though the automatic isn’t anything to write home about.

The Tourneo Courier is surprisingly agile for such a tall car, but it’s not as comfortable as a Citroen Berlingo - over uneven roads it shuffles about a bit, and there’s a lot of wind noise too especially on the motorway.

Verdict

The Tourneo Courier’s square body delivers the space and easy access families need, while its tidy handling makes it more appealing than you might expect. The cheap cabin and touchscreen controls are harder to forgive, particularly when a larger Berlingo costs less. Choose it for practicality in a manageable package.

Check out our latest Ford Tourneo Courier deals, or get a great Ford Tourneo Courier lease deal. You can browse used Fords for sale, too, or when it’s time to move your current car on you can even sell it through Carwow.

The Ford Tourneo Courier starts at around £28,500 for Titanium or £29,700 for Active. Both use the same 125hp petrol engine, with an automatic gearbox adding £1,200.

Titanium is well equipped, with 16-inch alloys, an 8.0-inch touchscreen, climate control, heated front seats, steering wheel and windscreen, plus parking sensors and a reversing camera. Active adds 17-inch wheels, roof rails, chunkier styling, navigation, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring. Titanium has everything most families need, though Active’s extras make the upgrade tempting.

Neither is a bargain: a petrol Citroen Berlingo costs around £25,300, while the seven-seat Dacia Jogger starts at about £19,000. Or, you can opt for a larger SUV, such as the Chery Tiggo 7, for around the same price.