Good for you. My wife and I are now empty nesters who need a van for our personal use and a large mini would be great for us these days. I still have my E150 but next time around we will likely downsize.

We don't have your needs, definitely do not have your gasoline budget, and our city ordinances prohibit using our yard as a parking lot for huge old trucks and trailers.

George

 

Whatever you end up choosing, I hope it is satisfying and pleasurable to own. I'm not going to beat you up about getting a Caravan like the others are doing trying to get you to not buy one. I'm sure you are going to research, drive, and compare options, value, comfort, and personal preference without any real bias. At least you sound like that. If you do go Dodge in the end, way to go! If not, of course, drive what you dig!

 

Thanks, Warren. I will buy what ends up being the best compromise. I'm in no big hurry to replace my van unless we decide to do road trips that involve bringing a lot of stuff... And being a Detroiter with lots of Big 3 family members and friends, I really try hard to buy American.

We will be driving the big Transit, the Connect, other minivans, and *maybe* some sport utes. Now I want that midsize "Transit Custom".... Seems like what I want is often unavailable.

Peace out,
George

 

The looks of the new Transit does take some getting used to. In it's lowest trim form in plain old appliance white it's kinda lame looking. In some of their good metallic colors with chrome trim it's more palatable.

If you really want to see ugly try the new Nissan NV200 mini van Its a whole new breed of ugly.

 

I think the Transits look the best out of any of the new vans. They don't look as good as the old 75-91 Econoline's. But they aren't bad looking. They fit with the rest of the Ford line up.

I think those new dodge vans got hit with the old ugly stick plenty too!! But you are right those nissan vans are horrible looking.

 

Yepper on that Nissan thing----it does define "odd" in a whole new way.

I've seen a few photos and/or artist's renderings of Transit's with privacy tinted full side windows in a silver metallic exterior color---not too bad looking IMHO.

None of our E-Series would take the Best In Show award for overall appearance though---they're trucks and not so much meant to be sexy.

 

The Ram Promaster big van thingy is cousin to the Citroen Jumper line. I like it better in the Citroen trim personally, but the Transit still has them all beat.

 

To me those promasters look like fiat with a giant chin guard. And all of them I've seen have had the gray front bumper. It makes it look like it was an after thought. "Oh damn we forgot to design a front bumper, Let's just slap this big old gray thing on there."

 

Promaster:



Jumper:



Transit, much better:

 

I'm not that sure that any of these are "much better".... We will be used to them in a few years, and I doubt that many who buy vans in this class give that much of a rip how they look. Reliability and operating cost are the big issue, and my gut says the Transit will do much better than a Fiat in reliability...

I thought the '08 Ford Econoline front end was gross and stupid looking but now I am completely acclimated and they look normal.

George

 

I was comparing like models, yes. I still prefer Bubba to any of those. However, like you said, in time these will be the norm and we'll all be, at the very least, acclimated to seeing them. I still say the Ford has a cleaner look, although I wish the snout was a little angrier. As it sits it almost looks like it's sorry, or nervous.

Funny, I was not only appalled by the big change on the new Econolines at the time, but I also thought that way in 93? when they redesigned the generation too! I remember thinking they looked really funny. Of course, I love them now.

 

I liked the '92 redo myself--the bulges over the wheel wells were kind of cool in my esthetic.

One of my visual problems with all big vans is the limitations as to tire and wheel size. It makes sense to use the smallest wheels and tires possible to keep the box as big as possible but the Sprinters with 225/75x15" tires looked really weird to me. Visually, I'd like to be able to use 33" tires on my van but no way would they fit nor is there any way to justify a lift or something. The new vans have small tires and wheels as well in higher load ratings.

The big Transit does have a slightly better looking front end, but the body side with windows looks strange and the proportions all look weird. Again, I'll be used to them soon enough, and it's unlikely that I'll ever own one unless things change; more likely I'll end up with a mini, but I've been driving my E150 for the last couple days and am content to keep that. My wife just found a tall wrought iron queen sized headboard at a garage sale today and called me to pick it up with my van. I don't think it would have fit in any of the minivans or SUV's but went in the E150 easily.

George

 

My daily driver is a 75 E150 with a single barrel carbed inline six, jams-if-you-shift-it-to-fast three on the tree manual, and bounce-your-***-all-over-the-seat suspension with no sway bars. Don't get me started on the steering.

This thing is a Ferrari by comparison.

Don't get me wrong, I love my van. It's stupid easy to maintain. You pop the hood and hey, there is an engine. Look to the left and hey, there is an alternator. To the right, a power steering pump. Not much else to see. A few weeks ago, I drove it up on ramps and had the flywheel off in under two hours with beer and smoke breaks. I didn't even need to pop the hood. Once the doghouse was off, I could get to the upper transmission bolts with ease. The maintenance of any old vehicle is high, but when there are so few parts, there is not much there that needs to be maintained.

 

Hi Guys,

Don't worry about the European, and here the German Transit.

We build that since decades.

The Transit doesn't have a V8 but is durable anyway.

For us a Transit is a common vehicle. But for you it might be scary.

We are different over here in the old world. I prefer the American V8 in my vehicles.

Anyways, the Transit takes higher speed and load without any problems.

Please, take care.

See you...

Ron

 

OK, so I actually saw one in person up close, next to me at the gas pump this morning. It wasn't the American Picker's tall version, but it was the full size Transit. Just confirmed what I figured; I like it! In 10 years I'll probably finally get around to getting one so when I do, at least I'll know I like it before I get it.