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What’s it like?
Born in 1995 out of a joint project between Ford, Volkswagen and SEAT, the Galaxy has long been the company’s largest dedicated MPV – that is, a people carrier that isn’t derived from a van. Following the end of Ford and the Volkswagen Group’s collaboration on the original, which was also sold as the VW Sharan and SEAT Alhambra, Ford went it alone from 2006 onwards, basing the Galaxy on the underpinnings of the Mondeo. That meant that there was scope for a third-generation model of the big MPV in 2015, but by this time the shift to seven-seat SUVs was already well under way and Ford also sold a lower, more rakish-looking seven-seat MPV called the S-Max, so interest in the Galaxy waned. That said, it remained a capable, comfortable and practical large people mover right to the end, and it would make a great alternative to the likes of the Sharan and Alhambra, which themselves continued until well into the 2010s, as well as impressive MPVs like the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso/Spacetourer.
Which model to go for?
Ford kept things simple with this last-generation Galaxy and all models are powered by some form of the 2.0-litre TDCi turbodiesel engine. This comes in a variety of outputs, but in essence any of them do a decent job at shifting the Galaxy along. PowerShift automatics are rare but try and avoid them if you can, as Ford had plenty of well-documented issues with this transmission around this time (not necessarily in the Galaxy itself, but other models suffered with major malfunctions).
All Galaxy Mk3s were seven-seaters and came in familiar Ford specifications of Zetec, Titanium and Titanium X. While a Zetec will come with an acceptable level of standard kit, a Titanium is more luxurious inside and the Titanium X is a fully loaded, bells-and-whistles kind of car, so it holds higher values on the second-hand market.
Does anything go wrong?
Aside from any gremlins with the PowerShift, it’s electrics and the condition of the turbocharger you want to watch out for on used examples of the third-gen Galaxy – the latter will manifest as excessive white or blue smoke from the exhaust during cold start-up or periods of rapid acceleration. Also, as a people carrier, the Galaxy will likely have had a hard life, so check its interior for unusually notable wear and tear, while doing the same to the exterior (particularly noting any parking scuffs on the bumpers or badly kerbed alloy wheels). A Galaxy’s rear five seats should all fold flat reasonably easily too, so check these mechanisms are still working as they did when the MPV left the factory.
Ford issued eight recalls for the final Galaxy, which were for a blocked oil channel due to low cooling airflow; the ECU failing to detect overheating; a failure of the eCall emergency dialling system; corroded control-arm bolts on the rear suspension; a potential battery acid leak; a clutch pressure plate which could break; the air-conditioning clutch pulley plate coming loose; and a possible issue with any models fitted with Adaptive LED headlamps. You can check with a Ford dealer if all relevant recalls have been applied to any example you’re interested in.