So I have an '05 Dodge minivan with all the seats dropped into the floor and a big sheet of exercize mat covering the surface. The van is functional, but this Connect looks ideal for what we do. We have eleven rescued dogs, and transport others to shelters etc. I like the better miliage idea, AND the rubber flooring..MUCH easier to clean up than the carpeted Grand Caravan..but at 70K is it getting long in the tooth? For around the same payment I can get into a new 2010 vehicle..
Pros: The Connect has a large flat area, and no useless amenities for dogs like rear DVD players etc. It is NEW, and thus (may be) more reliable. The one dealer that has one wants it sold, and is willing to give me a good price..but that's kinda scary in itself.
Cons: It is a Turkish truck..with Turkish parts, and might be in the shop for weeks on end while Ford tracks down the parts and pieces. I can go to NAPA and virtually rebuild that Caravan. We are in the mountains on NC and the dealer doesn't want to let me try driving it up our mountain..something that the Dodge does well...and finally the 4 cyl engine is the same as in the Focus? Isn't that grossly underpowered for a vehicle of this size?
I am not married to the Caravan..and I'd LIKE to buy the Transit Connect..I really like it, but the unsure future is sort of bugging me.
So I have an '05 Dodge minivan with all the seats dropped into the floor and a big sheet of exercize mat covering the surface. The van is functional, but this Connect looks ideal for what we do. We have eleven rescued dogs, and transport others to shelters etc. I like the better miliage idea, AND the rubber flooring..MUCH easier to clean up than the carpeted Grand Caravan..but at 70K is it getting long in the tooth? For around the same payment I can get into a new 2010 vehicle..
Pros: The Connect has a large flat area, and no useless amenities for dogs like rear DVD players etc. It is NEW, and thus (may be) more reliable. The one dealer that has one wants it sold, and is willing to give me a good price..but that's kinda scary in itself.
Cons: It is a Turkish truck..with Turkish parts, and might be in the shop for weeks on end while Ford tracks down the parts and pieces. I can go to NAPA and virtually rebuild that Caravan. We are in the mountains on NC and the dealer doesn't want to let me try driving it up our mountain..something that the Dodge does well...and finally the 4 cyl engine is the same as in the Focus? Isn't that grossly underpowered for a vehicle of this size?
I am not married to the Caravan..and I'd LIKE to buy the Transit Connect..I really like it, but the unsure future is sort of bugging me.
Well, yes and no..
It is a European truck built in Turkey with an engine from Spain and a trans from Mexico - or at least that's what I was told.
I didn't want a Caravan, and this was a vehicle I looked at when it was first made public that it would be sold here. I waited, and now I am driving one. I like it.
The dealer that has one (only one?) might not be a good choice, as it seems they may not be interested in after sale follow ups. I find that odd, as I watched the inventories of most of the stores here for well over two months before the inevitable happened.
For the dogs. Absolutely! Lots of room, and the rubber mat is relatively easy to keep clean. Mine is an XLT Van with windows and has the 255* rear doors (not something I really wanted, but they were on it.) I have 3500 miles on it and find it to be more fun to drive than the previous car.. an '02 Crown Vic LX Sport. Doesn't have the getup and getgone the CV did, but it doesn't stop at the gas stations nearly as often, and doesn't cost $48 to $50 each trip either!
I bought mine for use with my hobby more than anything else, but it is also my daily driver. Loads of room for the old bicycles to be carted here and there.
That's an excellent post! The moral of the story, buy what you need. The Duratech 2.0L is a fantastic engine and very reliable for years and miles to come. I think the TC is a little big for that small of an engine.
Tim
__________________ SCPO United States Coast Guard Retired '04 Expedition XLT 4x2 '99 Taurus Wagon SE 24V '88 F-150 4x4 XLT Lariat 5.8L 5Spd
Rights of Passage: CPO Initiation, Submarine Qualified (SS), Golden Shellback, Blue Nose, Order of the Ditch
So I have an '05 Dodge minivan with all the seats dropped into the floor and a big sheet of exercize mat covering the surface. The van is functional, but this Connect looks ideal for what we do. We have eleven rescued dogs, and transport others to shelters etc. I like the better miliage idea, AND the rubber flooring..MUCH easier to clean up than the carpeted Grand Caravan..but at 70K is it getting long in the tooth? For around the same payment I can get into a new 2010 vehicle..
Pros: The Connect has a large flat area, and no useless amenities for dogs like rear DVD players etc. It is NEW, and thus (may be) more reliable. The one dealer that has one wants it sold, and is willing to give me a good price..but that's kinda scary in itself.
Cons: It is a Turkish truck..with Turkish parts, and might be in the shop for weeks on end while Ford tracks down the parts and pieces. I can go to NAPA and virtually rebuild that Caravan. We are in the mountains on NC and the dealer doesn't want to let me try driving it up our mountain..something that the Dodge does well...and finally the 4 cyl engine is the same as in the Focus? Isn't that grossly underpowered for a vehicle of this size?
I am not married to the Caravan..and I'd LIKE to buy the Transit Connect..I really like it, but the unsure future is sort of bugging me.
Oddly enough, I had someone who works with me ride today for an intiation into his new function. He has a Caravan SXT his wife drives. At the end of the day, he had some interesting comparisons. He felt the TC was more comfortable (seating wise), and thought the ride quality was considerably better than the Caravan. (I don't know that it's so different..)
He likes the sliding doors on both sides, the overhead room and the storage shelf/bin, and of course - the air coinditioning.
We talked about the gas mileage, his gets roughly the same around town, I have an edge on the road (when I behave!). Power wise, the engine is recalibrated for this application and put out more horsepower than in the Focus. While I'm not gonna win a drag race with it, I think it gets up and goes pretty well for a hall closet.
The issue with mechanical parts shouldn't be an issue. The body parts are pretty readily available based on what I've seen so far, and they have been sold and in use in Europe since '02 ('03 models). That would make some parts available in short order I'd think.
I won't go further and say this is what YOU should do, but it Is what I did, and I have many of the same concerns. Call me optomistic, but I bought it based on what I know of Ford over the last 60 years (no, I'm not 60, but I've had a bunch of Fords that were built in that tie period), and that is a pretty reliable vehicle in most every case. Beyond that, the fleet sales manager I got mine from has been checking in with me regularly, and had a good look over the changes I've made yesterday when I stopped by there for a (body) shop visit. I'd probably be a bit uneasy too if the dealer only had one unit, and seemed disinterested in it.
Naturally, it's your dime. I do have a question though... did you drive it at all? I'd wonder about mountains too... (We're a little short on those here..)
That was the final decision maker for me. I had read everything I could get my hands on about these for about a year before I ever saw one on a lot. I think that had me "swung" to begin with.
You definitely have some good input here. I have owned more than a few orphan vehicles that were sold in limited numbers in the US, and they can be a problem getting parts for down the road. The advantage is that there are lots of TC's in Europe.
I thought about buying a Sprinter back in 2003 but bought an E150 instead because I was unsure of the Sprinter's future (this was when it was still badged Freightliner, not Dodge) in terms of parts and service. In retrospect, I'm assuming Sprinter parts are available.
But Ford's imports have not always gone well. Remember Merkur? Even though there were many German Fords in Germany, parts in the US were not always easy to get.
I would also wonder how much of a redesign the TC will get in 2011 or 2012, when production comes to the US (or Mexico, or wherever)....
Still I like the TC and if a tree fell on my E150, the TC would probably be on my short list of vehicles to look at.
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