General Ulysee or Galaxy?

[tboneman]

Hi everyone, been lurking on here for a while as I am in the process of choosing a new car. My choice has come down to either a Ulysee or a Ford Galaxy. After reading through all the posts here it sounds as though I may be better off with the Galaxy at the moment. It's a bit dissapointing as I really had quite liked the Ulysee, but I can't afford for the vehicle to be 'unpredictably unreliable' as it will be used for business travel a fair bit.
Any comments appreciated.

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi tbomeman,

Personally, I would go with the Ulysse. I have had no major problems with mine. Obviously not every owner of the car posts to this Forum; maybe they are happy, or not - hard to tell.

Things are getting ironed out gradually, especially with the initial teething problems. The Car is great to drive, and not common like the Galaxy. Plus it has so many toys to play with!

No doubt the other guys on here will have their say.

Stuart

 

[felix]

Oh, the Galaxy definitely.
I can't have Henry in Milan wasting his time speaking to other drivers when I want him, can I?

felix

 

[Stu DemonD]

Personally, I prefer Daniella in Milan!!!! Or that South African girl. I am not fussed......

 

[Lou]

As I have mentioned before (Touch Wood) I have not had any major problems with my car as of yet and from what I have heard in the past the Galaxy is not exactly free of electrical problems either. My advice is if you are interested in an Ulysse is to try and check out your dealer first as having a good dealer is important in ironing out any possible teething problems you may have. If you are in the Northampton area my dealer is Rockingham Cars (Corby) and I have never had any problems with them at all. If you are in London then I would advise finding a dealer who is not as I live in london and I would rather travel to Corby then entrust my car to a dealer here.

Lou

 

[poggy]

Hi,

What you need to remember is that a lot of people look for forums because they have problems, so it may appear that there are a lot of problems.

Although I have had my fair share of problems, it hasn't stopped the car working. I am a bit fussy that everything works 100% though. The big advantage of the Ulysse is that it is new technology and has many active and passive safety systems which is very important to me with a young family. Also it is full of gadgets, which is good of course. The Galaxy is an older design and when I looked at them, it felt like an older design too.

Also the Fiat is very price competitive, I bought mine from Melbury Motor Company at www.melburymotorcompany.co.uk. All the cars are sourced from UK Fiat dealers and are delivered direct to your door at about 20% saving. All the paperwork etc is in the name of the Fiat dealer, so nobody will know you used a broker.

In the end it comes down to personal preference. The Peugeot 807, Citroen C8 and Fiat Ulysse are all basically the same but I found spec for spec that the Fiat was cheaper and offered the bigger discount. The Fiat is the only one with Connect though and also the only one who renewed their contract with Navtech for the navigation software.

Let us know though how you get on.

Poggy

 

[tboneman]

Thanks for the replies so far! I am of course aware that people only tend to post to these forums when they've got a problem and that it may not be a true representation of the real world.
As regards cost, I am leasing my car through my companies private lease scheme and they get a hefty discount from Ford and it seems a good deal from Fiat as well. This works out that the Galaxy 1.9TDi 130PS Ghia comes out at almost exactly the same cost as the Ulysee 2.0JTD Eleganza. In fact if I add on the DVD systems for each one (which is a must so my offspring are telling me!) then the Ulysee comes out very slightly cheaper, although with a slightly less powerful engine.
SatNav was not one of my 'must haves' although it would be a welcome extra if it works okay!
I live near Swindon in Wiltshire, so my local dealer would be the Fish Brothers group, has anyone had experience of them.
Another thing I need to look at is lead time to get the car. A colleague has ordered the Ford and has now been waiting 4 months for delivery. Anyone know how long the Fiat takes at the moment?
Thanks everyone!!

 

[poggy]

Hi,

It depends on spec, if it is a standard eleganza then it shouldn't be very long. The DVD system is a dealer fit so that won't delat things. Ours took just under 4 months, but we ordered it just before the 4 week summer shut down and we added lots of options. I think a factory order is 12 weeks or less and a standard car from stock is about 7 days.

It is well worth adding the electric seat pack option at about £350.00 as you get both electric seats with memory plus they rotate as well. If you have the budget the electric doors are a real laugh and actually quite useful.

My vote is with the Fiat, even if I was in the position of making the decision again.

Poggy

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi,

Personally, I would go for the 2.2JTD engine [he says biasedly, actually having one]. This is about 128bhp.

As far as the DVD system, £1410 is a hefty option - you are able to buy these aftermarket for a lot less i.e. a full system, with two 7" widescreens for back of chairs, headphones, DVD player, etc, is well under £700. Plus it means you can take it anywhere for security. This is something I will be buying this year for our two. It all depends on the list price overall, and the relevant BIK you will get thereon.

Lead time - mine took just under 11 weeks, but I then waited another 2 after dealer delivery to ensure new plate. Sometimes they have cars already built, but options added tend to mean they are built from scratch! [not very well, maybe!!!].

Never had experience of that dealer - look at other threads on this forum to see if that name comes up.

OK!

Stuart

PS looks like myself and Poggy were typing at similar times!!! Great minds, ay!

 

[Stu DemonD]

As an afterthought, the SAT Nav system is pretty excellent - especially with the voices [yes, plural!!!].

Another option is the upgrade to Nav+ [albeit £1100 + £280 for CD changer] - this was money well spent, but I did not go for electric door option [V]. At this stage, you are into the realms of the Prestigio, which comes with a lot of stuff as standard [but only 6 seats, which was not ideal for our circumstances].

All food for thought!

Stuart

 

[tboneman]

mmm. Interesting about the DVD option, did seem rather pricey and didn't realise it was dealer fit, so I suppose any aftermarket unit if properly installed would do the job and cost less. Must look into that.
If I saved money on that then I could add some of the other goodies!!

Back to reality - I would have liked the 2.2 but it is quite a bit extra on the lease for some reason. Am still unsure how I will proceed but will at least try and find out how good the local dealer is. I'm hopefully going there for a test drive this weekend so might get some idea, but probably not much as I'll only see a salesman.

I have found a similar forum for the Galaxy and there seems to be a fair bit of chat on there about failing Aircon, not much else though...

 

[poggy]

Hi,

Just think, do you want a car named after a chocolate or a car which stands for power and strength

Also check out the crash tests

http://www.safecarguide.com/mak/ford_euro/idx.htm

The Galaxy doesn't come out well unless they have changed the more recent models.

Poggy

 

[mad_colm]

if you're thinking galaxy, you should try the Seat alhambra, same car. more spec, lower price. personally i think the ulysee/806 looks miles better

Met Cognac 99 Brava 100 HSX, wish it'd clean itself!

 

[Paul Short]

well my views are based on the following:

I have had 2 ford galaxys, Each one for 3 years both of them were 2.0 16V petrol Zetec.

Both of them gave me no problems at all & only went back to the dealer for servicing every 12,000 miles.

I have had a ulysse since november last year, it`s been back to the delaers about 10 times & been in for repairs (Though these should have been done before the car was given at the showroom) for a total of 26 days! On one such time I got told it was going in for "2days" when I called to say when will it be ready i was told "the dashboard is all out" in the end it was there for 2 weeks!

So all in all I would say go for the galaxy, true the ulysse does dome in at a much higher spec & cheaper price but going on my dealings with FIAT I can only say that both the cars & service from Fords is much much better than fiat!

Go for the galaxy!!!

Paul

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi,

I also currently own a Ford Mondeo [2litre petrol], and believe me, I will not be using a Ford Main dealer again for some time - have used two in the past for servicing.....now use independent garages.

The current level of service at my local Fiat dealer is fine [but I question lack of knowledge from the sales team], but obviously not had car long enough to see what a major yearly service is like. Minor warranty issues all been dealt with!

Good call about the Alhambra - I was tempted before I saw the Ulysse review, but still feel the look is now too dated.

Basically, whatever one of us says is good, another one will say is bad!

Go for a test drive, at least, tboneman! Arm yourself with knowledge from this Forum.

Stu

 

[jamesant]

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I too was in a choice between the ford or the fiat but after test driving both, the fiat seemed much more modern and the ford dealer did himself no favours by saying that it was due to be replaced so would have looked dated even faster. Also it has come under some bad press about its reliability. I have had my fiat Ulysses since December and have had no problems with it up till now and as it is an eleganza the sat nav was standard trim. It is the first MPV that I have enjoyed driving and it is great at turning people’s heads as it is still rare to see one on the roads

 

[tboneman]

Oh how I wish our old car policy was still in force, then I wouldn't have so much choice!
As Stuart says, for every good comment someone posts the opposite and I guess the only way is to take the tribe and do the test drive. Also need to check that we all fit in with enough legroom etc. as the children (x4) are now all over 10years old. The Galaxy seemed to be fine once the seats were adjusted to comfortable positions, even for long legs in the back two. The only concern was a slight problem with headroom when I sat back there, but then I am over 6 foot! (however my son is catching me up!)
Having been in a friends Peugeot 807 recently, I am a little concerned about the legroom in the back two seats.
Interested in that comment about the Galaxy due to be replaced, I wonder how soon that will happen, I haven't seen anything in the press?
Because of the discounts our lease company gets, the Alhambra works out more expensive by the way...

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi,

Tboneman, do you need to have the seven seats on the Eleganza? Can you company budget stretch to the Prestigio, which comes with 6 full size captains' chairs?

Plus you get oddles of stuff as standard on that model; the price of the Eleganza is pumped up somewhat if you go option mad!!!

One reason I didn't go down Galaxy route was that I heard also the whole range was due to be replaced!

Stuart

 

[tboneman]

Unfortunately with a family of 6, we often need that extra seat.
Can you buy an extra seat to put in if needed? will one fit?

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi,

On the Prestigio, no! The seats are a lot bigger!

That is why most people end up with Eleganza - I took the seven seat option because that back bench seat not really versatile [i.e. 8 seats or 5 seats]. At least with 5 seats in the back, the variations are endless. Plus I find they are really quick to put in and out!

Stuart