Talk to me about Ford Territories and similar.

So, today I may be starting the process of buying a car. Specifically, a citrus (greenish-yellow) 2004 Ford Territory. I pretty much know nothing about cars, especially this kind (given I pretty much hated them until the other day when I sat in one and realized it's probably the best kind of car for me!), so I need your help.

Tell me about yours. Your friend's. Whoever you know that owns one. Tell me everything you can think of. Is it easy to drive? How much would I be spending on petrol per week? Is it a safe car? Am I crazy for wanting this? And most importantly - IS THE CITRUS COLOUR PRETTY ENOUGH? ;)

And what if I decide I don't want it? What other kind of similar car might I like instead? Tell me about that.

ETA: I just looked at it again, and the licence plate is TAC***. Obviously, that stands for Teni's Awesome Car.

ETA2: The numbers after the TAC add up to my favourite/lucky number. It seems this car is destined to be mine :lol:

Friends of ours had a Territory and hated it they had a 2007 model and said it was gutless and lacked power. They sold it for a Lexsus 4wd LOL.

We have a Captiva 2010 and love it, it is a Diesel motor and gets much better millage than petrol equivelent. I love it because it is high and comfy and then off course all the cool extra features etc.

1 thing that was said to me about a non standard colour (eg silver, black, red, white) is that you get bored or put off by colour rather quickly but most likely wont happen for everyone if you like it go for it!

The space and versitlity of a 4wd is fantastic.!

we have the 2011 Territory and love it, though it is exxy on petrol.

DP is a ford man but even he said he wouldn't buy a territory, he's not a fan at all and I've only heard bad things.

We bought a Toyota kluger, not too bad on petrol but would be better in diesel which are hard to find.
On my phone but will try and give more info in the morning.


Sent from my iPhone, more than likely while I should be doing something else!

We would have 6 friends all with Territories and they all love them! We had DH' dads territory gia here for a couple of months and while it was the turbo and has all the bells and whistles I wouldn't buy one. I felt to big on the road compared to my Holden wagon and thee definatly wasn't nearly as much room as my wagon.
Each to their own though! We would all be boring if we only liked the same things!

We have a Toyota kluger just in case you wanted to look at something similar. BEST. CAR. EVER. Only bad thing is that the tow bar sticks out a bit and I've banged my shin a couple of times. It's such a great family car!

Good luck trying to pick one!!

when we were looking at a territory a few years back (2006) our friend, who is a mechanic, told me he'd kick my backside if i bought one, as the models released to that point had been somewhat problematic. after that, i'm not sure what they've been like

we compared (redbook) the stats on the territory and the santa fe (hyundai) we ended up buying - the santa fe was heaps cheaper, more powerful, more economical, a little more roomy, cheaper to service - and looks better (IMO!).

i'd suggest talking to a mechanic (a non-ford biased one) that will give you feedback on the specific year you're looking at. i know for the santa fe, anything before may 06 model is rather gutless - they changed the engine from may 06 and they've been fantastic, including adding a diesel version in september 06.

also, for any second hand car, don't go just on the km's it's driven as an indicator of how much a car has been used - city km's and country km's are very different. our care has done 120000 since we bought it five years ago, but they're all country km's - always getting up to operating temp cos all our trips are long. city km's don't necessarily reach operating temp so can be more detrimental to a car at lower km count kwim?

We have a Territory (2010), we looked at Kluger, Santa Fe, Captiva and the Kia that was similar Sorento I think? and the Kia Carnival.

We chose the Territory for the reasons:
Better view outside the side windows and back window
Good boot space
Liked the way it drived better than the others.
Cheaper than all of them but the Captiva

We didnt like Kluger at all as the middle seat is 1/2 the side of the other two seats, have a look at one, We just couldnt work out how to fit 3 kids across there in carseats as the middle was smaller and the back 3rd row doesnt have anchor points so that option was out for me.

I spend $90 on petrol and that lasts me 2 weeks, I used to have a mazda 3 which was cheaper on petrol so fortnightly I am up about $25.

I love driving it we went on a holiday and it was awesome to drive.

Same as BG, we went with the Santa Fe over the territory even though I really wanted one. It just didn't compare, the Santa Fe ticked all the boxes, although the newer model has improved. The biggest drawback was the third row didn't fold down in two sections which meant you couldnt fit the pram in too easily.

The Dodge Journey is another option. People rave when they get in our car. They say it feels so comfortable (And this is in the back seats too!). It drives so smoothly. We love it :) Never had a problem with it, and it feels slightly more luxurious than the other SUV's around.

I have a Ford Territory - and I dont like it. It feel really heavy to me. NOthing specific but I have to say I just dont enjoy driving it. sorry!

I have a 2004 model territory and I looove it!!! Easy to park, lovely to drive!! Two seats fit great in the back, easy to get the kids in and out- room for a third seat if needed- easy access to the rear for the pram and shopping. It feels like a smaller car to drive, but has all the extra room!! And our has grunt!! No problems there at all!! And it isn't terrible on fuel.. its not fantastic, but its not terrible :)

The problems that I think BG is referring to is that in some models they had a tiny issue with the entire engine falling out or something silly like that :P No seriously, pretty serious.... and very true. I think it was from the 2005-2008 models where they tried to improve things or something, but when we researched the 2004 models were ok :)

We love our car. It is in need of a bit of TLC at the moment though- so depending on the KM's on the car and the condition and what you are planning on paying for it, i would say go for it!! And if you have managed to find the one in the colour you want, I say it is meant to be!!!! :)

We’ve got a 2009 Ford Territory and I really like it. Plenty of room, easy to drive.

I have an 04 Territory and it's great. Plenty of room in the car, big boot (we have the 5 seater). It parks and drives like a car. It tows well and loves highway driving. If we were to get rid of it, it would only be to upgrade to the new diesel model. I doubt I'll ever have another style car.

We took ours to a Ford dealer when we were in the process of buying it to make sure it was mechanically sound. It was a rep's car so we were wary. The ball joints can go and that's expensive, so make sure they've already been done. Ford will also be able to tell you if the recall work has been done too - if it hasn't, they'll do it. Petrol is a bit rough, it's a 75 litre tank and we get about 500 ks of everyday driving out of it.

I can't fault it. There is a stack of them on the road and I know a few people that own one and they love it too. Last service cost me about $300 and tyres cost me $179 each. We've had two carseats in the back with plenty of room remaining and we've had our high chair and three wheeler pram together in the boot with room for more.

Just had a test drive. I'm in love!

Yay!!! So excited for you hun!!

We are looking at getting a new car shortly and I am very keen on a Territory!! Will keep following this thread :)

We had a 2007 Territory for two years and we're definitely not fans. The car felt "cheap". All the plastic seals seemed to shrink so there was noisy airflow in the car and it also just didn't have the "grunt" that you'd want from a big car. It felt quite heavy when driving it.

In comparison, we now have the 2011 Kia Grand Carnival, and despite it being much bigger than a Territory (just ask Feeb, she saw mine today, lol) it drives smoothly and effortlessly and that makes it feel like a smaller car.

I guess what it will come down to is what you want the car for? It doesn't look like you need it as a people mover just yet (unlike us. We have six of us to fit in already and one on the way). We needed something as big as the Grand Carnival because the three youngest will be in baby/booster seats, and the two older DSS's are getting big (11 and 14). The back two seats in the Territory are basically useless for anyone older than around 10 (and even 10 would be uncomfortable). The leg room is basically non-existent back there. But if you're not planning on putting anyone back there and just using it as boot space, then there's no problem.

Petrol wise, well it's definitely going to take a lot more than a little car, but I can't comment too much because our car was on a novated lease plan and petrol was covered with the plan so I never really took much notice of how economic it was.

The citrus colour is quite nice though :) Ours was a really dark (almost black) colour that was all metallic so it would shine different colours in the sun.

The Territory was in the mix when I was looking back in 2006. Also looked at the Captiva, Kluger, BMW X5 and Volvo XC90. I ended up with the Honda MDX - was my first choice. They don't import them here anymore but there are some secondhand ones around. Bigger internally than most of the other SUVs, great visibility, really nice to drive and really luxuriously fitted out. I went from driving a Mazda MX5 to the MDX so it was a bit of a difference size wise, but you don't feel like you're driving a truck and parking is easy once you adjust to the size. Economy wise its pretty good as far as these things go and the 7 seats are really handy even if you don't need them for your own family - its great to be able to have the kids and grandparents all in the car together so we don't have to go in convoy. Also has a 5 star safety rating which I value pretty highly.

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The citrus colour is quite nice though :) Ours was a really dark (almost black) colour that was all metallic so it would shine different colours in the sun.

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When I saw it in person to begin with, I kinda went "urgghhhh..." but as I looked at it more, it really grew on me. It stands out so brightly, I'd never lose it in a carpark!

Just waiting on Manny the Finance Man to call me back... Cross your fingers and toes for me!

Non-standard colours can affect your resale value and make it harder to sell.

goodluck! we looked at mazda cx9 too that looked awesome! but out of our pricerange

That I'm not fussed with, I'm the type to drive a car until it's completely unusable. My current car (*sob*) will probably just be given up for parts :( She's still in good nick on the outside, but no matter how many mechanics look at her, they can't fix whatever's wrong.

How exciting for you Teni :) hope you've recieved a good call from Manny ;) My mum is waiting for their new Territory to be delivered they look like a nice car :D

Still nothing... Starting to think he's not going to call me back and I'll have to call him again... :hide:

:wall: :cry:

No news or bad news ?


Sent from my iPhone, more than likely while I should be doing something else!

Bad. Apparently Scott hasn't paid off his old laptop (which is almost at the point of breaking down completely) and once that's paid completely we still won't be allowed any type of loan at all for FIVE YEARS. Words can't describe how furious I am.

So sorry hun, we had to get all finance in my name up until recently due to DP's teenage non paying habits :( all clear now but it can suck :(


Sent from my iPhone, more than likely while I should be doing something else!

Oh no he defaulted on the laptop?? Grr!!!

Was he the only signatory on the laptop? Was it before you and he were married? I really don't know about this too much, but surely if it was under just scott's name, you could take out loans still? Or does it not work like that if you're married? :dunno:

If they are both applying for the loan for the car then they have to take into account his history, if they don't want to take into account his history then Teni would have to apply alone but it would only go off any 'income' she is receiving not what they get as a family :(

Ah okay. Bummer :(

If it's listed as an unpaid debt, then no, no chance. But if it's listed as a paid debt, then you'll probably find you won't have to wait the five years. We got one from a phone company and we got our mortgage three years after it was listed. (default wasn't our fault either which made it especially annoying - company kept sending bill to an address we'd moved from even though we'd remained customers of theirs and they ended up removing it).

ok I know this was a little while back but if you have ended paying off the debt of the laptop some finances company's/ banks are happy to still finance/ lend on a paid default. I used to work for a fiance company.

I also own a ford territory and love it.... I got myself a 7 seater one knowing I would end up having a 4th child. The only. Prob I have is it's a fuel guzzler... I spend about $100 a week on petrol.

Oh wow Zee! How much driving do you do?
We bought one in December and it costs $100 to fill the tank from pretty much empty. I haven't been driving too far since we have got it, usually only up and back to the shops a few times a week. Now kinder is starting and we have swimming lessons twice a week also we will be doing a bit more running around. I'm just glad DH's work pays for it!

Not all that much to tell you the truth, just to shops, pre school twice a week and now the daily school drop off/ pick up. We are waiting for ford to get back to us with app time cause we think something might be wrong with fuel injectors. Long trips is ok but around town it's horrible. I thought my vx went through fuel.... Ford did try and tell us that was normal for a AWD territory but we ain't convinced.

That sounds like a lot for that kind of driving. I know short trips take up more fuel as you're stop/starting all the time but still :o

Let me know how you go with Ford. I'm interested to hear how you go.

Will do :)

Wow! That seems like a lot. Maybe clock the kms? I get roughly 500kms from a tank for day to day driving. Highway driving, well the best we got was we made it all the way to Mildura on one tank (just under a 7hr trip on 110kms/hr).

That sounds like a lot- even for running around.. Have you tried changing your trip metre thing to a different setting to just see what your using.. it wont help stop the car from using the fuel.. but at least you might have some figures to show ford. Maybe keep a bit of a record to compare to other Territories.

We usually have our fuel thing set to how many KMs of fuel is left (and the go a fair way on 0 km's too ;) lol) but you can set them to show how many litres you use per km and stuff like that. We have an AWL and we generally go through about $50 to $70 worth of fuel a week, but we live 10kms out of town.. and only have one car that we share to both go to work and run around and sometimes thats two or three trips into town and back per day (so say 60km's a day five days a week give or take) is 300 kms which is roughly a bit over half a tank- similar to everyone else (cost about $100 to fill from empty to full depending on fuel prices) I agree they are much better on long trips.. but $100 a week for a bit of running around sounds like alot!!