Is the Ford Galaxy reliable?

The Ford Galaxy scores 53/100 on Forecourt's MOT-based reliability measure, ahead of 9% of the cars we track. That score uses first-MOT pass rate and defect rate for cars registered 2018 onward (14,034 first tests), with cohort survival — high confidence.

How much does a used Ford Galaxy cost?

A 2023 Ford Galaxy with around 37,275 miles is worth roughly £19,250 today (typical range £17,250–£21,300). Dealer forecourt prices sit higher and part-exchange offers lower; newer or lower-mileage examples cost more.

How quickly does the Ford Galaxy depreciate?

A new Ford Galaxy typically loses about 48% of its value over the first three years, then depreciates more slowly. Buying at three to five years old avoids the steepest part of the curve.

What insurance group is the Ford Galaxy?

The Ford Galaxy sits in insurance group 18 of 50 — the middle of the scale. Exact premiums depend on the trim (some versions sit a few groups higher or lower), your age, postcode and no-claims history.

What goes wrong on a used Ford Galaxy?

The parts most often recorded at MOT on the Ford Galaxy are: suspension (typically around over 100k miles, £150-£450 to put right); tyres & wheels (typically around over 100k miles, £80-£500 to put right); lighting & signalling (typically around over 100k miles, £15-£120 to put right). A full service history and a recent MOT with no advisories are the best protection.

What does the Ford Galaxy cost to run?

Expect around 48 mpg combined on the 2.0 TDCi 180 Titanium, £200 a year in road tax, about £185 for a standard annual service. The full cost-of-ownership table above breaks this down per year and per mile for the exact year and mileage you choose.

Is the Ford Galaxy ULEZ compliant?

Whether a Ford Galaxy is ULEZ compliant depends on its engine and registration date: petrol from 2006 and diesel from September 2015 generally qualify, and electric versions are always exempt.

How many Ford Galaxys are on UK roads?

About 50,053 Ford Galaxys are currently taxed and on the road in the UK, from DfT vehicle-licensing data.

Ranked #252 car in the UK · MPV · 56 units sold last year

Ford Galaxy

The Ford Galaxy (here the 2015-2023 model) is the spacious, full-size seven-seat MPV - the more conservative, limousine-like sibling to the sportier S-Max, and a minicab and large-family staple before being discontinued. Diesel and a late hybrid power a genuinely seven-adult cabin. It's comfortable and hugely practical rather than exciting, and as a used buy it's one of the roomiest, most sensible people carriers around.

How these figures are sourced — the valuation is anchored to a researched used-market price for this model (AutoTrader median, 2023 at 30k miles). Reliability, mileage and variant data are real DVSA MOT records. Dimensions, tyre sizes and costs, servicing figures and the insurance group are segment-level estimates rather than sourced per car, and are being replaced model by model.

Body: MPV
Years: 2018–2023
Fuel: Diesel / Hybrid
Economy: 48 mpg
Insurance: Group 18

The short version

13/100

Forecourt score

Value 18 · Reliability 7 · catalogue percentiles

The Ford Galaxy loses value faster than most cars and is cheaper to run than most. Its MOT-based reliability is below average — an MOT score of 53/100, ahead of 9% of the cars we track. On three-year value retention it ranks better than 18% of models.

The Forecourt score blends how this car ranks against the catalogue on value retention, reliability and insurance cost (weighted 40/40/20) — the from-new ownership picture. Higher is better; running cost is not yet folded in.

Pick your version

Estimates are tuned to the version you choose.

Fuel

Diesel · 1997cc

Power

180 ps

Drivetrain

FWD

Quoted MPG

48 mpg

The volume Galaxy (2015-2018, used). 2.0 TDCi diesel 180 PS - the long-haul seven-seat MPV. Pre-EcoBlue Duratorq diesel; cam-drive arrangement mixed across builds, not flagged.

Tell us about the one you're looking at

Year of registration2023

20182023

Mileage on the clock37,275 mi

0Expected: 37,275180k

Conditiongood

PoorFairGoodExcellent

Tidy and well looked-after for its age — the typical car.

Region

Remembered as you browse other cars.

Know the registration?

Optional — fills in the exact year and ULEZ status for your specific car. The registration isn’t stored.

Estimated market value

£19,250

Range £16,100 – £22,700

medium confidence

When new (2023)circa £38,000Age-based value£19,699Mileage adjustment+£0Condition & region+£5Market calibration+£846Forecourt price£20,550Private sale£18,000Part-exchange£15,850

Holdthis 3-year-old

Fair value — depreciation is moderating.

At 37,275 miles it’s below the ~49,513 typical for a 3-year-old — a well-kept reading.

Seen one for sale?

A data-led guide from the depreciation curve, UK parc trend and reliability — not financial advice.

The depreciation curve

How a 2023-registration Ford Galaxy loses value over time.

Marker = your selection
Dashed = mileage either side

What it costs to own

Over

Based on the 2023 car with 37,275 miles you entered above — worth about £19,250 today — here is the cost of owning it for the next 5 years, at roughly 12,425 miles a year.

5-year total

£25,943

Per year

£5,189

All-in per mile

£0.42

Fuel per mile

18.7p

Depreciation£8,288

Fuel / energy£11,625

Servicing£1,765

Road tax£1,000

Insurance£3,265

Best age to buy — around 4 years

A 4-year-old example loses roughly £2,650 a year — 64% less than the £7,400 a one-year-old sheds. The steepest drop is behind it.

Uses current UK pump and home-charging prices (DESNZ weekly), typical-driver insurance and manufacturer service intervals. "Fuel per mile" is just the energy input — so an EV at ~9p and a diesel at ~22p make running-cost comparison direct. A guide; your own costs will vary.

How it compares

Where this car ranks against the 340 vehicles in our index — higher is better.

Holds its valuebetter than 18%

Reliabilitybetter than 7%

Fuel economybetter than 63%

Percentile rank across our full index. A measure is shown only where the data spreads meaningfully across the index.

Estimated insurance

Group 18 of 50 (mid — around the UK average) · Comprehensive · 3 years NCB

Indicative annual comprehensive premiums for this car, by driver age band and risk profile. Pick the combination closest to your circumstances.

No-claims bonus3 years

0 yearsBaseline: 3 years15+

Risk profile:

Estimated annual premium · typical, age 33-39

£653/ year

Roughly £54 per month

Typical

Average UK driver — 3 years NCB, average postcode, no recent claims.

Age band	Lower risk	Typical	Higher risk
Age 17-25	£1,488	£1,860	£2,418
Age 26-32	£776	£913	£1,114
Age 33-39Selected	£574	£653	£770
Age 40-49	£487	£542	£628
Age 50+	£435	£483	£570

How we estimate this

Indicative annual comprehensive premium estimates. The 'Typical' figure represents an average UK driver in each age band; Lower and Higher risk show the realistic spread driven by factors UK insurers legitimately price on (postcode, occupation, claims history, NCB, voluntary excess, modifications). Based on 10,000 miles/yr, £250 voluntary excess, and the no-claims bonus selected above. Always get individual quotes before buying.

Expected annual costs

Adjust the annual mileage to match how you'll actually use the car. Insurance is what you selected above (age 33-39, typical risk, 3 yrs NCB).

Annual mileage12,425 mi/yr

2,000UK avg for this model: 12,42530,000

Routine service

£185

Annual main-dealer service

Major service

£210

Every 2 years, annualised

Road tax

£200

Standard rate, post year-one

Fuel

£2,041

48 mpg, £1.73/L

Insurance

£653

Age 33-39, group 18

Clean-air zones

⚠ Depends on variant

Based on London ULEZ standards — Birmingham, Bath, Bristol, Sheffield, Glasgow and other UK clean-air zones generally follow the same rules.

Total expected£3,289 / year

Excludes depreciation and unscheduled repairs (see next section).

Unexpected costs

What out-of-warranty repairs typically run, by mileage band. Your selected mileage is highlighted.

0-30k miles

£80

per year · low risk

30-60k miles

£240

per year · low risk

60-100k miles

£520

per year · medium risk

100k+ miles

£900

per year · high risk

Tyres

205/60 R16 · 215/55 R17

What a full set of four will cost you (including fit and balance), and which brand each tier of buyer should pick. A typical set lasts about 24,000 miles.

Budget

£300

set of 4, fitted · £60 per tyre

Mid-range

£440

set of 4, fitted · £95 per tyre

Premium

£620

set of 4, fitted · £140 per tyre

What to fit

Optional extras worth paying for

Factory options ranked by how much of their original cost they recover at resale. Anything above 70% return tends to make money back; below 40% is paying for your own enjoyment.

Option	New cost	Added used value	Return
Tow bar (factory-fit) Niche, but the buyers who want one will pay for it.	£650	£450	69%
Parking sensors & reversing camera Near-expected now — its absence costs more than its presence returns.	£500	£300	60%
Heated seats / cold-weather pack	£450	£200	44%
Metallic or premium paint Almost universal — an unusual colour is the bigger resale risk.	£600	£200	33%
Panoramic / opening roof	£1,100	£350	32%
Larger alloy wheels	£700	£200	29%

What fails at MOT

Recorded in DVSA MOT test data for this model, not owner reports. Ordered against 37,275 miles.

Watch now

Failure typically happens around your current mileage.

Upcoming

Typically happens at a higher mileage than yours.

Already due

Past its usual failure mileage. Either already fixed, or about to.

SuspensionUpcoming

Typical at over 100k milesCost £150-£450medium severityParts high

Recorded in 13.0% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 2,706,985 DVSA MOT tests analysed.

Tyres & wheelsUpcoming

Typical at over 100k milesCost £80-£500medium severityParts high

Recorded in 7.3% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 2,706,985 DVSA MOT tests analysed.

Lighting & signallingUpcoming

Typical at over 100k milesCost £15-£120medium severityParts high

Recorded in 10.6% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 2,706,985 DVSA MOT tests analysed.

BrakesUpcoming

Typical at over 100k milesCost £150-£500medium severityParts high

Recorded in 10.2% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 2,706,985 DVSA MOT tests analysed.

EmissionsUpcoming

Typical at over 100k milesCost £150-£800medium severityParts high

Recorded in 5.9% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 2,706,985 DVSA MOT tests analysed.

Driver's viewUpcoming

Typical at over 100k milesCost £60-£300low severityParts high

Recorded in 4.0% of MOT tests over 100k miles — from 2,706,985 DVSA MOT tests analysed.

"Parts low/medium/high" indicates how easy the replacement part is to source — discontinued or specialist parts mean longer workshop time and bigger bills.

MOT outlook

How this model fares at its MOT as it ages — from 2,701,255 real DVSA test records.

MOT pass rate by age

81.2% at 3yr → 67.3% at 25yr

A 3-year-old Galaxy passes its MOT 81.2% of the time; by 25 years that has slipped to 67.3%. The y-axis is zoomed to this model’s range so the trend is readable.

Longevity

87%of 8-year-old examples are still taxed and on the road — a useful read on how well the model lasts.

From 3,590 vehicles registered in 2018.

Survival by registration year

87% of 2018 cars still on the road

Each point is one registration cohort. Older cars on the left, newer on the right. A flatter line means the model holds up over time; a steep drop means cohorts disappear from UK roads faster.

What’s on the road

The fuel-type split of every Galaxy with MOT history in the DVSA record. From 207,410 vehicles tested at least once - not the number on the road today, which is lower.

Diesel 70.7%
Petrol 28.4%

What fails at the first MOT

The defect categories a Galaxy registered 2018–2023 fails on at its first MOT, from 14,034 first tests. Every car here is the same age and the same generation, so these are the faults that show up first - not the wear a high-mileage older example collects.

Tyres & wheels3.9%
Lighting & signalling2.6%
Brakes2.2%
Driver's view1.8%
Seat belts & restraints1.5%
Identification & other0.3%

Share of first MOT tests recording at least one defect in that category. DVSA test-item categories, not parts: “Driver’s view” covers mirrors, wipers and glass.

Typical mileage by age

The average odometer reading for a Galaxy at MOT, by age — measured from the same DVSA records, not assumed. A useful yardstick for whether a given car has done more or fewer miles than its age suggests.

3 yr49,513
4 yr63,214
5 yr75,009
6 yr85,776
7 yr94,559
8 yr101,818
9 yr108,310
10 yr113,753
11 yr119,001
12 yr124,244
13 yr129,104
14 yr133,221

Mean recorded mileage at MOT by vehicle age, from DVSA test records. Ages below three are not shown: the first MOT is due at three years, so the few cars tested earlier are a self-selected minority rather than a representative sample. Ages with at least 10 tests shown.

Reliability

53/ 100

Below average

First-MOT pass rate and defect rate for cars registered 2018 onward (14,034 first tests), with cohort survival — high confidence.

MOT outlook · age 5 years

76%first-time pass rate

9th percentile — Among the worst — investigate carefully

Based on 195,478 MOT tests · ranked against 248 catalogue models with comparable data

Where this car sits in the catalogue

Pass-rate distribution across 248 catalogue models

Things owners say

01All three rows take adults - a true seven-seater, unlike many seven-seat SUVs.
02The diesels are the high-mileage and minicab choice; check DPF and the PowerShift/auto health.
03Comfortable and vast rather than fun; discontinued in 2023, so used examples are the only way in now.

Safety recalls

Manufacturers occasionally issue safety recalls to fix a fault free of charge. You can check whether the Ford Galaxy, or your exact vehicle, has any outstanding recalls on the official DVSA service.

Check on GOV.UK

Opens the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency recall checker. Choose the make, model and year of manufacture — no registration needed.

Theft risk

A general indicator from UK 2025 theft data and this car’s characteristics — not a prediction for any one vehicle.

Whole-car theft

Around average

Theft risk is around the UK average. Like most modern cars it has keyless entry, so relay theft is the method to guard against.

Parts theft

Higher

Hybrid versions are a catalytic-converter target — a hybrid cat is rich in precious metals and can be cut out in about a minute.

Worth doing

Keep keys in a Faraday pouch and away from the front door to block relay attacks.
A catalytic-converter guard or forensic marking makes a hybrid far less appealing to cut.

Clean-air zones

Whether driving a Ford Galaxy into a UK clean-air zone will cost you anything. Rules use the same Euro standard across most zones — petrol from 2006 and diesel from 2015 onwards are exempt; pure electric is always exempt.

Charging zones for cars

City	Area	Daily charge	Likely outcome
London	All of Greater London (within the M25)	£12.50	Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6.
Birmingham	Inside the A4540 Middleway	£8.00	Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6.
Bristol	City centre and part of the Portway	£9.00	Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6.
Glasgow	City centre	—	Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6.
Edinburgh	City centre	—	Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6.
Aberdeen	City centre	—	Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6.
Dundee	City centre	—	Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6.

Zones that don't charge private cars

Bath — City centre (Private cars and motorbikes are not charged).
Bradford — Outer ring road and the Aire Valley (Private cars are not charged).
Sheffield — Inside the A61 inner ring road (Private cars are not charged).
Newcastle & Gateshead — City centres and the Tyne, Swing, High Level and Redheugh bridges (Private cars are not charged).
Portsmouth — Part of the city centre (Applies to taxis, PHVs, buses, coaches and HGVs only).

Model-level guidance only. To check a specific registration, use the official gov.uk clean-air zone checker. Zone charges and boundaries are set by local councils and change over time.

Servicing & the dealer network

How well-supported Ford is across the UK — a practical read on how easy servicing, parts and warranty work will be to find.

Franchised UK dealers

~290

Large network

Mass-market

Network size relative to the UK's largest (Ford is 6.4% of all franchised outlets)

Servicing, parts and warranty work are easy to find UK-wide, and most independent garages know the brand well — which keeps maintenance competitive.

For context, the UK has roughly 4,500 franchised car-dealer outlets in total, plus about 15,500 independent garages.

Approximate figures, curated from public UK industry sources (NFDA, Car Dealer Magazine). Franchised networks shrink year on year — these indicate network size, not an exact count.

Dimensions & weight

These are segment estimates, not manufacturer figures. 296 of 325 catalogued cars share one of 14 identical dimension sets, so they describe a class rather than this particular car. Sourced figures replace them model by model.

Length

4,600 mm

Width

1,850 mm

Height

1,700 mm

Kerb weight

1,650 kg

Boot

550–2,000 L

Fuel tank

48 L

How many are still out there

How the UK Ford Galaxy fleet splits: taxed and on the road, parked off the road on a SORN, and gone from the register where that figure is available.

Total ever registered

117,797

Currently taxed & on road

50,053

42% of all registered

SORN (off road)

13,079

11% of all registered

Scrapped or exported

54,665

UK fleet trend — 2014 to 2025

-9.8% vs 2024

113,38250,053

Source: DfT VEH0124 vehicle licensing statistics (year-end 2025) · Updated 1 Oct 2026

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Common questions

Ford Galaxy, answered from the data

Is the Ford Galaxy reliable?: The Ford Galaxy scores 53/100 on Forecourt's MOT-based reliability measure, ahead of 9% of the cars we track. That score uses first-MOT pass rate and defect rate for cars registered 2018 onward (14,034 first tests), with cohort survival — high confidence.
How much does a used Ford Galaxy cost?: A 2023 Ford Galaxy with around 37,275 miles is worth roughly £19,250 today (typical range £17,250–£21,300). Dealer forecourt prices sit higher and part-exchange offers lower; newer or lower-mileage examples cost more.
How quickly does the Ford Galaxy depreciate?: A new Ford Galaxy typically loses about 48% of its value over the first three years, then depreciates more slowly. Buying at three to five years old avoids the steepest part of the curve.
What insurance group is the Ford Galaxy?: The Ford Galaxy sits in insurance group 18 of 50 — the middle of the scale. Exact premiums depend on the trim (some versions sit a few groups higher or lower), your age, postcode and no-claims history.
What goes wrong on a used Ford Galaxy?: The parts most often recorded at MOT on the Ford Galaxy are: suspension (typically around over 100k miles, £150-£450 to put right); tyres & wheels (typically around over 100k miles, £80-£500 to put right); lighting & signalling (typically around over 100k miles, £15-£120 to put right). A full service history and a recent MOT with no advisories are the best protection.
What does the Ford Galaxy cost to run?: Expect around 48 mpg combined on the 2.0 TDCi 180 Titanium, £200 a year in road tax, about £185 for a standard annual service. The full cost-of-ownership table above breaks this down per year and per mile for the exact year and mileage you choose.
Is the Ford Galaxy ULEZ compliant?: Whether a Ford Galaxy is ULEZ compliant depends on its engine and registration date: petrol from 2006 and diesel from September 2015 generally qualify, and electric versions are always exempt.
How many Ford Galaxys are on UK roads?: About 50,053 Ford Galaxys are currently taxed and on the road in the UK, from DfT vehicle-licensing data.

Answers are generated from this car's Forecourt data — DVSA MOT records, DfT licensing statistics and our valuation model — and update with the weekly data refresh.