Ford Kuga review - Reliability & safety
"The Kuga has a full five-star safety score, but Ford’s overall customer satisfaction rating is poor"
The old Kuga was pretty durable, although it always seemed to lack the reputation for reliability held by its Japanese rivals. The third-generation Kuga placed in 37th out of 50 models in our 2024 Driver Power survey, with owners praising its engines, infotainment and value for money the most, though it didn’t really excel particularly in any area. Ford itself came a disappointing 30th out of 32 brands in our manufacturer list – that’s two places down on its already-lacklustre result in 2023.
Owners slated the brand’s car’s build quality, practicality and interiors, but said that the brand’s touchscreen systems felt easy to see and sensitive to inputs. Reliability was better than many other manufacturers, despite 21% of Ford owners reporting an issue with their car in the first year.
Safety
Independent testers Euro NCAP put the Kuga through its paces before it even went on sale, and it passed with flying colours. Receiving a five-star score, the Kuga scored 92% for adult safety, 86% for child safety, 82% for pedestrian protection and 73% for the array of safety kit on board.
Standard safety features include lane-keeping assist, hill-start assist, autonomous emergency braking and an automatic speed limiter. A Driver's Assistance pack costs £1,000 and adds kit such as blind-spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition and front and rear cameras.
