Just read an article about the Transit in a service Ezine. It has a few interesting quirks.

1. It's not new -- apparently FoMoCo has been making them in Turkey for a while.

2. The ignition key is some odd ball type. It's a normal key, but the blanks are not normally found in the US.

3. A little worse is that you use the key to open the hood. You move the front emblem aside and insert the key. This does not sound Minnesota friendly to me.

4. Finally, the coolant is some odd stuff that was used in some mid 90's Mercs. The article suggested that DexCool (shudder) could be used as well.

Just thought I'd pass the info along.

 

Sounds like a PITA.

 

Every point a deal killer. I'm cancelling my fleet order.

 

> This does not sound Minnesota friendly to me

Think the weather is worse in Turkey?

 

Neat info. You may want to drop down to the Transit Connect section and post it there. Not sure how many owners there are at this point but I'm sure there are folks looking to buy one. The Transit Connect forum:

Transit Connect - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

 

I rented a Focus in the UK in 2000, before they were available here. You had to open the hood the same way with a key.

 

I'm sure that anyone who is buying...or has bought...a Transit...is fully aware of these facts. The locking hood has not presented a problem in the Massachusetts winter.

 

I looked at one at Bob Turner Ford in ABQ in October..
The key looks like a metal tube with prongs sticking out along it. It looked flimsy, as if sitting on it would bend it.
They did not even have a way to duplicate the key! Only 2 keys are provided with the purchase of new one. Should you lose one of the keys, just how can you get a 2nd one made, especially if the dealer himself can't duplicate it?

 

If you go into a dealership with a title and license, they will get a key shipped from the factory that fits your vehicle.

The key is designed in such a way to prevent theft.

 

Ford could scarcely have designed a situation more likely to alienate its customers than what you have just described. Ford already uses the PATS system, why should FMC impose yet another incompatible standard? The PATS key system is bad enough, but at least the average owner was able to get USA-standard key blanks cut to allow access to the cab and to open the tailgate, and FMC dealers were able to duplicate PATS keys on the spot. It is ridiculous to compel owners to order keys this way. It is strange that the salesman in ABQ did not tell me that.

 

Click here for discussion on the TC replacement key situation & the cost to dealers of getting the machinery to do it on the spot.

 

Photo of the TC hood latch (Euro model, but looks like USA model).

 

Interesting discussion at this web site, from the UK, started by a poster who could not open the 'bonnet' (hood) on his 2003 TC with the only key that he had. One commenter paid £120 to have an additional key made at his Ford dealer. The original poster eventually paid £10.3 to have a key cut without a transponder, just to open the hood. The transponder is only necessary to start the engine. Apparently in the UK it is possible to do this on the spot, or at a local locksmith's.

 

Do you still have a hood latch in the cab that needs to be pulled in addition to the key? If not I think I could get used to that pretty quickly. If it was both the key AND a handle in the cab that would stink.

 

No - it is just the key, there is no handle in the cab.

It is a system that has been used on Fords in Europe for some time, with success.