REVIEW | Ford Tourneo Custom a clever solution for family and business

Three-row ladder-frame SUV models are popular go-to options for growing South African families.

They make compelling choices for their decently-sized interiors, tough characters and tall ground clearances for off-roading.

But if you are the kind of family who is less inclined to trek into the great outdoors, then the often-overlooked genre of the minibus ought to be reconsidered.

The benefits are undeniable, and it might be difficult to go back to a smaller body format once experienced. Aside from multiple seats, a minibus offers the kind of side-to-side room that would keep bickering siblings’ shoulders from touching.

Products like the Volkswagen Kombi, Mercedes-Benz Vito, Hyundai Staria and Ford Tourneo have come a long way in recent years. We recently tested the latter. Last year, we attended the launch of its commercial-oriented sibling, the Transit van, which impressed with its car-like cabin and specifications sheet that was uncharacteristically generous for a workhorse.

The Tourneo Custom takes all those attributes and refines them further for passenger applications.

It is sold locally in long-wheelbase (LWB) form as standard, with two model grades on offer: the standard Active (R1,063,000) and the Trend (R1,104,500). Our test unit was the latter version.

Even in a bland appliance-appropriate shade of white, the Tourneo Custom has a unique character viewed face-on. Its gaping grille, slim-design headlamps and taut frontal proportions make for an aerodynamic appearance. Of course, styling-wise, everything from the B-pillar onwards is minibus business as usual.

You might underestimate the LWB part of its handle until you find yourself in a confined parking area. The Tourneo Custom is properly long, stretching 5,450mm nose-to-tail. It had me exiting our office basement (with its large pillars, dim lighting and narrow bays) extremely cautiously.

The vehicle is 1,961mm high – you enter it upright as you would the doorway of a house — and 2,275mm wide, its non-retractable side mirrors sticking out like jug ears. Those dimensions make for a passenger compartment large enough to warrant different area codes for the front and rear sections.

Inside, you will find three rows, with seating for eight. Even better, is that the rear seats can be swivelled and reconfigured in a variety of ways. You could shuffle things around weekly, as you might do with your sofas at home. Or remove the two rear rows entirely and free up a whopping 6.8m³ of space for any manner of load-lugging requirements.

With clearly identifiable levers and pull-straps, you do not need a degree in mechanical engineering to suss out those seat configurations either.

The Tourneo Custom is expectedly capacious and offers seating arrangements that are as “flexible” as advertised. But how does it fare from the driver’s perspective?

Minibus options like the Ford Tourneo are based on panel vans. So there are compromises. But these seem to have been disguised quite nicely in the Tourneo. For starters, it does not rattle and flex as noticeably as some peers in the category.

Its steering is direct, and the suspension damping and plump 215/65 tyres wrapping 16-inch alloys make for a comfortable ride, while there is no skimping on insulation materials.

There is a lot to write home about from a specifications point of view, too. Buyers in 2025 expect a high level of digitisation from a new car, and the Ford minibus delivers, with a 13-inch central infotainment screen, complemented by a 12-inch instrument cluster.

A reverse camera makes life easier, as does a wireless charger and front heated seats. Via the FordPass app, owners can control certain aspects of the vehicle using their smartphones, such as initiating pre-journey climate control programmes.

On the safety front, it packs six airbags, in addition to various driver assistance functions such as lane-keep assist (which is felt but does not intrude too severely). It also features adaptive cruise control and a driver attention monitor, among others. But there is one feature we noticed lacking — electrically-folding side mirrors.

Power comes from a 2.0-litre, single-turbocharged-diesel unit with four cylinders, good for 100kW/360Nm. It is linked to an eight-speed automatic transmission, driving the front wheels. The pairing is smooth and surprisingly punchy, considering the size of the vehicle. Economy is reasonable too, with our tester indicating 10.1l/100km. 

Minibus ownership opens up a realm of possibilities for family travel and business that would not be possible with other vehicle formats.

The Ford Tourneo Custom makes a good case for itself among segment peers. And it is worth remembering that the ingredients of the model will also be repurposed by Volkswagen for the imminent T7.