2015 Ford Kuga 2.0L Diesel · LD65 XMP

The defining mechanical story of this 2015 Ford Kuga centres on tyre wear, with the most recent pass on 24 February 2026 carrying advisories for the nearside front, nearside rear, and offside rear tyres all noted as worn close to the legal limit and on edge. This is not an isolated observation, as a nearside front tyre with exposed plies or cords was classified as dangerous at the October 2019 test, and the offside rear and offside front tyres were already flagged for edge wear at the same examination, with the offside rear additionally noted as worn out of shape at 3mm. The pattern suggests the geometry or suspension kinematics may not be holding the tyres squarely on the road, which is a concern that compounds with age on a vehicle now approaching 109,000 miles. Alongside the tyre issues, the 2026 test introduced a new advisory for slight play in the offside rear anti-roll bar linkage ball joint, an item that warrants close attention given its role in body control and handling precision. With eleven years on the road and 108,340 miles recorded, the Kuga has covered roughly 9,849 miles annually, a fairly typical accumulation rate for its age. The MOT history is complete from 2019 onwards with annual tests, indicating the vehicle has remained in regular use rather than being laid up for extended periods, although no tests appear before 2019 in the supplied records so any earlier mileage progression cannot be verified from the data provided. Between the clean 2025 pass and the advisory-laden 2026 pass, the vehicle has added another year's worth of mileage to components already showing wear, which means the consumables noted in the most recent test have been subjected to a further 12 months of service. A brake pad advisory was last recorded in 2019, so it is reasonable to expect the pads and discs to be approaching a service interval again given the mileage covered since. A prospective buyer should treat the anti-roll bar linkage as the priority inspection item. On a test drive, listen for clunks or rattles from the rear suspension over speed humps and uneven surfaces, and pay particular attention to any looseness or wandering behaviour during lane changes, as worn anti-roll bar components directly impair body roll control. Inspect the rear linkage physically by hand for any free play at the ball joint, and check both sides rather than just the offside, because if one joint is beginning to fail the opposite side is often not far behind. Tyre wear should also be examined in detail, with the inner and outer edges measured across all four corners and compared, because uneven or one-sided wear is the classic signature of misalignment, worn suspension bushes, or weakened coil springs on this generation of Kuga. Given the dangerous tyre fail in 2019 and the recurring edge wear advisories through to 2026, it is advisable to verify the wheel alignment is within tolerance and to budget for a full set of tyres along with a four-wheel geometry check. On the test drive, monitor steering behaviour for any pull to one side, vibration through the steering wheel at speed, or a tendency to tramline along road imperfections, all of which would indicate the suspension or alignment issues are still present. Listen for any front-end knocking over rough roads, particularly from the lower wishbones and anti-roll bar drop links, as these are common wear items on Kugas of this age and mileage and have not yet been flagged but would be expected to show signs soon. Finally, with brake components last formally noted as wearing thin in 2019, a physical inspection of pad material thickness and disc condition, including checking for lipping, scoring, or binding calipers, should form part of any pre-purchase evaluation.