Hi Martin. We tow with a 180BHP Kuga Titanium Powershift and love it. It manages the caravan really well, and no issues with the auto box. Would recommend to anyone looking for a tow car that is not silly money in the second hand market. Look forward to your vlogs,

Hi Martin, I went from a 54 plate Jeep Grand Cherokee (2.7td Auto) to a 65 plate Titanium Sport 180bhp auto. Not one regret, superb tow car, easy 32mpg on a run and goes like stink without the van on the back. If I'm towing round town I use the sport mode on the autobox, but out on the A roads normal drive mode plus cruise control. Brilliant, don't be put off by the scare mongers. All the best Black Country Dave

Hi Martin, so glad you said the Kuga is a good tow car as we have one on order. We will be towing our Elddis 576, so not as heavy as yours (1496 MTPLM). Can't wait for delivery. Great vlog, thanks for sharing. Mark

Hi Martin, A freind tows with a Kuga manual and he highly rates the car. My first year of driving was a manual then tried an auto and never looked back. I have been driving automatics nearly 32 years. When we bought our caravan in Feb 13, our first and, still going good today, I had an excuse to buy the car I was wanting for a while. It's auto of course and been towing regular for six & half years with no problems at all. It has high engine torque output, ideal for towing and I also enjoy driving during everyday use - no gears to change. Remember, hybrids and electric are coming and they are all auto so people will have to convert eventually. Best regards Rob

You beat me to it... I have been asked to vlog our Landie Freelander 2. We get about 25 - 28 towing. Interesting vlog as always Martin. Thanks for sharing. Ian....

Hi Martin. We had a Kuga for towing about 8 yrs ago and was good. Were using the Kodiaq now and it's really good in all areas, you can see review and pics on our channel its well worth considering. Thanks for sharing 👍cheers Rob 😁

Great video Martin. I tow with a Vauxhall Zafira 2ltr cdti and a Vauxhall Insignia 2ltr cdti. Yes we are lucky to have 2 cars capable of towing our Bailey Pageant Bretagne. I do prefer to have the better view in the Zafira. Always liked the look of the Kuga but never really had much luck with Fords in the past. Each to their own I suppose. We are a family of 5 so we have a lot of stuff!!! We do like our Vauxhall’s though. And yes looking back I think I’d prefer an automatic version. The old left leg can start aching with all the gear changes!!! Ps love the outtake!!! All the best. Dave

Having previously had a 2005 freelander with a kerbweight of 1650kg approx pulling a Elddis Aurora MTPLM of 1565kg we did enjoy the journey with not to bad a fuel consumption. The reason I write a comment is that you were saying about your consumption when towing which of course will be increased by 10-15% , we bought a plug in power box which connect very simply to the spark/glow plugs and found it amazing the increase in fuel consumption and not only that at roundabouts where before we had to have a huge gap before pulling out that was removed once this powerbox was installed. Just a suggestion as you clearly like the Kuga and who are anyone else to tell you any different. Happy towing

Hi Martin, we have a 2016 Titanium Auto 180 AWD. No issues pulling and after 4 trips away we are getting roughly the same MPG as you quote in your video. Our caravan as an MTPLM of 1526kg.

Thanks for the review. I watched it before buying a 2013 titanium back in Sept and I've just watched it again to see if it rings true. It does. We went to the Lakes back in October where they had 1ft of rain in two days. Most roads were flooded and whether we were towing or not, made no difference to the Kuga. I actually look forward to towing with this car because it's very easy and relaxed. We're now looking to replace our Swift Fairway with a heavier van as my son has outgrown the bunk. Your video and the comments have given the confidence and knowledge to tow a larger van.

😂🤣 effortlessly. Hi Martin we have a Ford Kuga and Swift Challenger caravan the same weight as your unicorn and we have had no problems over the last 4 years, tows no problem 🚙🚌

Hi Martin, great review of the “older” Kuga. I bought a 2013 titanium 2WD a month ago, swapped from a Honda CRV. I have found the Kuga to be much better when towing my Ace Award Morningstar (1577 MTLMP) and get far better MPG from it. I watched your first review before I bought the Kuga.

Hi Martin thanks for the video we went through the same thing to change the tow car we had a 2011 Landrover freelander 2 2.2 Litre Automatic it was a great car and good for towing we kept it for two years it had a very low mileage but its age and strange noises at times so i researched for another replacement we purchased a 2018 plate Nissan Xtrail 2.0 litre Auto has a max towing of 1650 kg and towball 100kg we have a Lunar quasar its 1350 kg it tows great and it good on the fuel etc have some minor issue with the choice of car but nothing is perfect best wishes when you go for a change Dave

People I know tow with the new shape Kuga and say it’s great, the best tow car they’ve ever had, with auto box and manual no problem. I tow with a 2015 Mondeo Titanium X Estate 180bhp diesel that also excellent.

We have the Kuga 2.0 Ecoboost and it goes like the clappers. We had the Ford Territory 4.0 and that was an awesome SUV. We changed down to save on gas.

We have the kuga titanium x sport 180 break awd and it tows our twin axle Bailey Pegasus 624 with a mtplm of 1661 kg a treat.

Hi Mark. I've bought the new 2021 kuga, it's the 2 ltr mild highbrid ST line X and tow's our Bailey Pegasus Verona 2011. I manage to get up to 54 MPG on a run and with the van on the back I get 35 MPG. It's very steady on the road and I love it. All the very best, Malc

Hi Martin good honest review. You say next car you would like a automatic. I bought a car with auto gear box very very good for towing don’t think I would go back to a manual car now. Thanks for the information on the draught stopper works really we’ll Thanks

Agreed with your last commenter and yourself most of the vehicles tested seam to fall into said bracket , we are at the same point as yourself , found your review and update of the kuga great information surprised at your comment about the boot space against my yeti it’s generous which is the only downside of the yeti space ! DSG box is great for towing , at present no intention of swapping Think there could be a gap in the reviewing for tow cars less than £15000? Nice one Gav

We have an automatic 67 plate AWD Kuga ST Line 180bhp and it tows our 2018 Bailey Unicorn Valencia with ease. We have surprisingly very little road noise and have Continental tyres.

Thanks Martin great vlog. I actual tow with an Antara and I thought my 27mpg was down to the vehicle. It’s reassuring to know there are other vehicles out there with a similar fuel consumption.

Thank you, we will let you know about Automatic transmission as we have just bought a ford kuga automatic to tow a caravan - first timers we are, and we have gone for a 2 birth, which we only purchased yesterday and not picking up till October so excited

Hi Martin, I have seen reviews of second hand cars or lower priced new ones in caravan magazines, other options are to visit their website online where there are reviews of pretty much all tow cars. I currently have a BMW X 3 which tows my coachman very well, it is a 3 litre so a little thirsty when towing but very good when not towing. I bought it second hand so not terribly expensive. However plenty of choice out there when it comes to picking your next car.

Good review Martin and I can recommend an automatic. Although I have a Range Rover (2005 L322) which I need to tow our Buccaneer, I've had euro's before when towing. It makes it so much easier especially when queing. Anyway, I enjoyed your review and interestingly, I was given a Kuga to use when someone hit my RR. Enjoyed it.

I towed with a 65 plate 2.0 diesel Kuga. It was a titanium model also with 150hp. Towed really well I though. Plenty of power for towing our 1300kg caravan. Now we have a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Max towing weight is only 1500kg but still averages 30mpg. Our Kuga was around the same mpg wise. The reason we bought the Outlander was because it does my daily commute on all electric power and saves me around £60 per month in fuel costs. Plus there’s no road tax 😁👍

We bought the mondeo titanium x on a 12 plate, the automatic powershift version, sold it the first time I towed with it 2 months after purchasing as the auto box was shocking! Vibrations, hesitations, didn't want to risk it on Scottish hills this summer so got a Pathfinder instead.

The Kuga is a great towcar I’ve just changed mine to another Kuga after 3 years of towing all over the UK from the Isles of Scotland to The Cotswolds and various places in between lol I had the 2.0 auto (180bhp) AWD Diesel but have now changed to Petrol 1.5 Ecoboost AWD which still gives 180 bhp

Great video. We have a 2010 Titanium AWD 163bhp tdci. Lovely and stable towing our 1450 mtplm Lunar Cosmos. The only problem we now find, like you said is the boot is so small. We used to put awning and most stuff in the boot but since our dog is now the size of a horse...lol he takes all the boot space. Have 2 kids also so looking at new shape Smax Titanium next with the 150bhp diesel engine. Just hope it will tow as good as the Kuga

when the 4 wheel drive engages, you will see a icon light up on the instrument display, looks like a slippery road ahead sign

hi martin as i,ve said before we have the same caravan as you and the same car a ford kuga its our second kuga the first being a 2009 manual titinium that towed our bailey unicorn valencia 2013 with ease ,just recently we changed the kuga to a newer model a 2013 auto titanium ,now on sunday we plan to go down to the west country and on to the new forest having a week in the west country and a week in the new forest so i can let you know how the car performs it being automatic it will be roughly 600 mile round trip all the best colin

I tow with a vw tiguan 140 bhp and only get 28/29 mpg. On a motorway about 33 mpg. Definitely reccomend the car for towing its a 2010 sport 4wd.

Great car

Personally think all the caravan mags miss a big trick in not reviewing the older car. My old supervisor had a kuga automatic and said the box isn't that great. The boot is brill. Personally have a skoda octavia 2litre tdi automatic 2005. Fantastic car and get 35 to 40mpg when towing. Last year from chesterfield to Newquay I did 42mpg. Admittingly dropping to nutural going down hill. Look forward to the next one. 👍

Thanks Martin for the vlog The lack of a proper auto excludes fords for me that powershit is terrible at slow manuvers and is fragile

I've had 2 kuga A lunar clubman 2002 1150kg And now A Valencia 2016 1495kg Both kugas have pulled both caravans A 2015 titanium 150 bhp fwd And now an ST line X 4x4 180 bhp AWD Yes the second Kuga is more stable.. Wider tyres Stiffer suspension More powerful engine Constant 4x4 I keep most of my weight in the boot. Second Kuga 88 % of MTPTLM Both cars were better than my previous vehicles My X type 2.2 Jag was great from the lights but drifted around corners.. I believe the bigger and more powerful the tow car, the faster the owner tends to drive which defeats the object. As the van has no idea what's towing it until it's probably to late.. I'm looking ahead to the new Kugas the hybrid ones..more powerful bigger but may be too light. Yes I love the Kuga good vision. I tell you what I have done martin. I made a template and then had a nice piece of carpet edge bound and cut to fit from the back to the front behind the driver's seat an L shape as I keep one back seat up..the carpet fits through to the rear boot lid. . Makes a lovely soft flat loading bay..very neat and tidy.. Finally the ATC came on the other day going round a corner down in to a sharp dip..Could feel the left caravan brake come on for about 2 seconds as I was turning left.. absolutely brilliant felt the unit slow down and pull straight.. Plus the Valencia has suspension and that makes for a smoother ride. There's a lot to consider isn't there..

Random, this came on is an automatic next vid having watched a Skoda Yeti vid. BTW the AWD there isn’t anything to say the rear wheels are in use, it just happens. The Haldex system can sense any slip from front wheels and sends power to the rear wheels, but there’s nothing to tell you that’s going on.

Great review mate, the Kuga seems like a great all round tow car if you ask me. Nice looking too..........the car that is 🤣👍🏻

You’ve never had the AWD on? Ever noticed that you’ve never spun the front wheels when pulling away? Ever noticed that you have never suffered torque steer, no matter how hard you drive? It’s intelligent - it’s there when you need it, no fuss! I have a 2011 Titanium AWD and It’s been pretty trouble free. My problem will be what do I eventually replace it with? The new Kuga does not have a split tailgate, which won’t suit the dog, and there is nothing out there I like better, which is why I still have it 8yrs later... Nice vid, thanks.

Good review Martin, doing a little home work on Tow cars, were seriously thinking of moving from MH to caravan, last couple of trips out we have felt restricted where we can go (may just be the circumstances were in at the moment ) we were thinking of tow car but that's more expense with 3 vehicle running costs, we need the bigger car for running round with Grankids (once things get back to some kind of normality) so changing to a caravan with one vehicle would save us money, we always stop on sites so to me this is the best option, who knows what 2121 will bring

Nice video Martin. I have a kia sorento 2.5 xs auto diesel. Wouldn't change it ;))

Thanks Martin. We may change our car next year and the Kuga is one I’m considering as the don’t make the Skoda Yeti anymore. ☹️☹️☹️.

hi martin as promised hear is my opinion of our new to us 2013 ford kuga titainium automatic as i said before this is our second kuga our last one being a 2009 manual which towed great , now we have just come back of holliday to brixham in devon and burley in the new forest and the car performed great we covered about 320 mile of towing and using the cruise control wear possable set at 57 mph the car returned 32 mpg on average , the gearbox is a six speed which coped well, on the odd occasion i had to use sport mode to hold onto a gear longer but this was not an issue in my opinion the auto box done the job well and would definitely get another ,hope this helps martin all the best colin

Have you tried Volvo I have had 10 over the years towing caravans and no trouble.My current car is a Volvo V60 D4 it has zero road tax fuel on average 40 to 50 mpg.I use it for my job as a car valeter and mobile disco.My last service cost £300 including MOT 2 tyres

I mate i have a kia 2lt sportage 15 reg and it pulls my swit carvan with f/bed like a dream my van is 25ft and the sportage is automatic i would not swap it for anything apart from a brand new one and i have still got 4 years warranty still on the kia because its got 7 years from new so just take a look at them so time all the best dave

Hi Martin “it tows very well” 😂🤣

Got nissan xtrail 1.6 dci 2015 model. with two tonne tow limit.. its got 4wd function but mainly keep it in 2wd, towing our sterling eccles sport 584 i get over 30mpg and normal driving can easliy get 55+ extra urban * not towing* all i will say is use decent diesel not supermarket stuff... does make a difference.

Just bought my 1st caravan. Just found your channel. Similar to your tow car video, I have Citroën c4 grand Picasso. Kerb weight and tow limit similar to the Renault Scenic you had. So I find myself probably needing another tow car. Thanks for these very informative videos. May now add Kuga to my list. Really just looking for something similar value to mine.

hi martin sorry my mistake our caravan is 2012 and not 2013 all the best colin

A very helpful review thanks.

We have a 2017 St line awd 180,cracking thing, pulls like a train and mpg isn't unreasonable compared to the performance.

Sorry Martin, forgot to mention it's a 2012 Titanium 2.5 litre, 5 cylinder, automatic petrol

Hi Martin, you are not going to believe this mate, but 2 weeks ago I bought a 2012 Kuga titanium automatic with 60,000miles on the clock, here in Perth, Australia. I googled Kuga towing ability it came up 1500kg & 2100kg, I rang 2 different ford dealers here 1 in Bunbury where the car was purchased the other in Perth who told me 1500kg, I asked the dealer (Nuford) if they could fit a genuine ford tow ball plus the cost, he came back to me saying ford did not manufacture a tow bar for the Kuga I asked him why, and he had no answer, I then rang a local tow bar company who said yes it would cost $710 OZ, but the Kuga in Australia is only permitted to tow a maximum weight of 750KGS !!!! bloody crazy eh ? so the Kuga has to go and it's back to towing the van (1050kgs) with our 2007 Nissan X Trail.

Unless there are differences in the automatic box for the UK it is strange that reports of problems exist as almost every Ford in the USA including the Escape is automatic and when I lived there I heard of no major issues with them.

If it’s anything like the MK 2 Kuga, the 4 wheel drive is always cutting in and out, when you pull off from a stand, when you accelerate etc, the more 2 has a display you can show on the little screen by the Speedo, if you don’t have that screen on you are completely unaware which wheels are being powered, it’s not very interesting although the four wheel drive kicks in more than you imagine. Ended up getting rid of my Kuga though as the power shift seemed to be developing a problem changing between 2nd and 3rd

Hi Martin. Like the Kuga a lot but the Mpg is a little low. Is the new version any better. My old man has has had several and has just changed from the Edge back to the Kuga. Thanks Phil 👍

Have heard of lots of alternators needing to be replaced after they have been connected to a caravan battery.

Ive just brought my first caravan a swift challenge 500, haven’t got a clue what I’m doing lol, have you got a video on how to turn the water heater on , and the fridge? Cheers

Brilliant video and very helpful

You did that ethesfortlee 😂 It’s a Ford. Everyone loves a Ford. Everyone’s had a Ford. You can’t go wrong with a Ford. Are you there yet ? 😂 Trev

The biggest downside of the kuga aside from those auto gearboxes is it's very low kerb weight. From memory I think they're around 1700kgs which is low for a big car. If you were to follow the 85% rule (which I don't) it wouldnt be a big van you would be towing at all.

Would a 2 ltr kuga be any good for towing 1 1/2 ton in and out fields I have been using a mondeo but to low to ground not good when wet but really good on road. All cars on KZfaq tow caravans which are quite lightweight. Cheers

I have a automatic kurgan don’t pull a caravan but think it would pull fine.great in traffic jams I wouldn’t go back to manual.

I have auto in our 2016 Ford cmax pretty much similar car auto is ok but it does keep going from 6th to 5th a lot mpg fully laden pretty much similar to yours but my caravan is 1759 total weight twin axle baily Carolina series 6 6 berth the car is a 2 litre 140 hp diesal power shift titanium nav model we trading in ours we just ordered a brand new vw tiguan all space 4 motion 2 litre tdi dsg auto wont be here till november so wont no what it is like till then

Hello Martin great review we are getting a 2012 kuga titanium with a view to towing our first van. I noticed ours is the 140 bhp diesel version would this still be okay to tow

You wouldn't know that the AWD system is operating as it's fully automatic. As it's got a Haldex system, make sure this has been serviced properly because many are not and they are very expensive to fix.

Hi Martin, hope you’re well. I’m currently looking for a tow car 3k or under any suggestions. Newish to towing only 2 years experience and have the same caravan as yourselves. Looking at the sorento but I’m struggling to find a good example at the moment

I love my kuga ....however I dont like the new 2020 model kuga as it looks more like a car and they have lowered it !!

Swapped mine for a BMW520d touring. 181bhp, 1750kg kerb wt. 30 - 35mpg towing a Unicorn Cadiz. I wouldn't go back to a Kuga now.

Do not buy the Kuga with auto box, they are rubbish!!!!. You have been warned.....