There’s a lot going on here. It’s a bus after all and practicality is the order of the day. Ingress into the rear cabin is through 2 side doors that don’t offer electric movement as offered on some other premium MPV’s but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. From its pricing, the Ford Tourneo is positioned as something built to be more of a long-standing and harder working vehicle and to be frank, the slow pace of a motorised door can be a little time-consuming. Careful though, particularly when parking on an incline – you really need to ensure the doors are held in their latch as they’re heavy and can cause a nasty hit if you’re in the way of gravity. Ask me, I know.

There are 6 seats in the rear cabin and you can pretty much arrange them in any configuration you choose. You can drop them, fold them, recline them and if you have a very particular space need, you can remove them too, one by one. It’s a fairly easy job but it does require some muscle. 2 is better than 1 here. You can also configure them what is known as a ‘lounge’ setting in which the two rows face each other. This is equally fine and frees up space for more ‘stuff’ in the centre of the cabin but it does tangle up your legs into what can be a slightly awkward arrangement especially if the passengers are all adults.  

That said, the rear is also kitted with a number of cupholders and USB ports. Fold the centre seats down and you’ll have a flat table in between the side seats with 2 cupholders as well as a cupholder on each side. USB ports alike will be found in pairs on either side of the rear cabin with another 2 right behind the driver’s seat and then two right up front for the front passengers. Nice work Ford. These came in really handy for multi-device charging.

The rear also comes with manual air-conditioning and I have to give credit to a simple yet effective set up right above the first row.

The rear seats are comfy and they look like they’ll stand the test of time and trial. They’re well padded, each with its own seatbelt and 3 ISOFIX catches in the rear.

To say the rear is spacious is an expected statement but what I liked best was its uncomplicated nature. Some competitors, whilst you can still achieve the same results, are more complex in their operation and especially when it comes to practicality of use, loading and unloading, opening and closing, getting in and out etc, simplicity is the key and the Ford Tourneo Custom has user friendliness sorted here.

Up front, the high-riding front seats are equally comfy and with arm rests, they make sense particularly in this automatic guise. Fitted with a number of functional features including Ford’s excellent SYNC3 infotainment system, the Tourneo Custom is a well appointed MPV. Some options include niceties such as Blind Spot monitoring, lane keeping assistance and adaptive cruise control but in truth, for a large car BLIS is something that really should be standard.  

Beyond that, there are litres and more of storage space available for all the little bits and bobs that will inevitably find a home in here. From cupholders and bottle bins to little cubbyholes for keys and phones and wallets and such, the Tourneo won’t disappoint here either