Thank you Box. Class 3 sounds good to me. I've been busy accessorizing my TC to make it my vehicle; bug deflector, wind deflectors, dash mat, mud flaps, and seat belt extenders that I can plug in and drive around my village without the constant beep beep beep. I'm also working on window tint for the front windshield which is way big. And then there's the possibility of the thin, clear skin on the hood to deflect rock chips. Lots to do....

 

Fun stuff to do. Was really thinking about getting a tinted band for the top of that tall windshield. Test drove the TC in late afternoon and the sun was definitely an issue. There should be a small line on the windshield marked AS1. Some states use that mark as the lower limit that any tint on windshield can reach when applied. Maine (unfortunately) is one of those states. If the windshield doesn't have this marking, then the tint strip has to be a short 5 or so inches from the top edge of the windshield. On some of the steeply raked windshields on today's cars it's really too short to be of much use in shading.

I still don't have a TC, but plan on buying one as soon as I get rid of my old truck. Also planing on installing a receiver hitch when I do get it.

 

Box;


I purchased my TC through on-line facilitation. I started with the Consumer Reports Build and Buy program which allowed me to essentially design my ideal and gave me dealers inventory pricing for my build. That went out to all the Ford dealers in my area and then I started to get calls and emails.


I did not take the calls and let everyone know that I was only working through email. No one had exactly what I designed on the Build and Buy but two dealers came close. One dealer was very vague regarding my various questions and kept saying that I needed to "come on down and take a look." The other dealer was very exact and ended up giving me an itemized out-the-door price which I accepted.


If I had to do it over again, I think I would stick to my Build and Buy, and order what I wanted. I did not do that because of the various on-line reports about the slow and irregular deliveries. Also, I wanted it, now and, as things turned out, I got a better deal by buying what the dealer had on the lot.


Now should be a great time to purchase a TC. The 2016s are right around the corner and dealers need to be clearing their current inventories. Good luck in your search and buy.

 

Great info Evan. I've been looking at dealership inventory around the eastern half of the U.S. the last couple of weeks to see if I could spot a TC configured like I would order. Found a couple of close candidates with fair discounts so far, but I might order one since I'm not in a real hurry. Need to sell or donate my old truck first. Has been a really great vehicle, but this tall roofed van/wagon has a pickup beat for secure transport. Plus it drives like a good car.

Getting a good deal on a leftover 2015 would be a big plus, and don't really expect to see much change between 2015 and 2016 model years. If the weather holds, I might go drive TC that just arrived at one of the local dealerships. Don't need a long box and I especially like the short wheel base's option to completely remove the back seat so easily. Really hard to beat this little vehicle for versatility.

WV has a Golf based tall van/wagon, "Caddy" in one length in commercial cargo and passenger setups. Looks really good, but we'll never see it here in the States, especially now that they discovered that little "glitch" in their "clean" diesel emissions system. Gonna cost them big $$ in fines, plus their reputation is trashed for a while. Dumb move on their part, on so many levels.

 

Box;


There are a number of interesting European min-vans. We have 3 to chose from; the Nissan/Chevy, the Dodge/Fiat, and the Ford Transit Connect. Having shopped them all, I think the ford is at the point in America.


The cost of the TC is going to rise considerably. Ford has been caught in its evasion of import taxes by bringing in wagons that have cheaper import taxes than cargo vans and the extra will be showing up in price points. That is the primary reason for getting one now.


I was told that any order I made now would be assessed as a 2016 which will come at an automatic $1,000 more. That's one reason I made the move, now.


I moved before I sold my 1098 Explorer, which has been a wonderful vehicle. I'll be giving the Explorer to some friend at an incredibly good price.


In the meantime, I am enjoying the TC. It is a different animal for me. It lacks the ruggedness of my previous Bronco, Ford Truck, and Explorer, but it is also very comfortable, has great gas mileage, plenty of room, and is a pleasure to drive.


In ordering one, on the Consumer Reports Build and Buy, you can start with the lowest, cheapest vehicle, and design what you want. Fun stuff, if you have the time are willing to take on the 2016 price point.

 

Box;


While I'm at it, discussing the economics of the TC, you might be interested in where I am at with mine.


I ended up with an XLT cargo van. The XLTs have cruise, something not particularly needed for city deliveries but something I wanted for road trips. I also wanted tilt, back windows, CD/radio and some of the XLT trim. I did not get the mud flaps and tow package that I would have liked, but those are things I am working on now.


My price came out to $22,500, plus $2,500 in taxes and another $500 in license and registration fees. You should be able to do a little better because the delivery to area should be cheaper than to mine. Also, you might want to consider Baltimore dealers since Baltimore is where the ship comes I. I priced TC at Baltimore dealers and the price would have been better, but it would have been a long drive. And there's this--we are getting close to the end of 2015 market--now should be a good time to shop.


Lots of stuff to think about. Good luck.

 

I read something about that tax (Chicken Tax). More than one manufacturer imports vans in ways to circumvent the tax. In Ford's case they import them all as passenger vans and then deconstruct them into cargo vans as needed. Some manufacturers send their commercial vans to the U.S. in knocked down form, and are then assembled with some added American content here in the states. These are considered legal work arounds to keep from paying this archaic 25% tax.

That extra $1,000 is gonna hurt, if they go through with this silliness. Might have to rethink my shopping pace!

Will look at Baltimore area dealerships to see what I can find. Thanks again.

 

I noted earlier that my dealer wanted close to $700 for installation of a trailer hitch while U Haul would do the job for 1/2 the price. Unfortunately when I checked the reviews for my U Haul dealer they were deplorable.


I have found a reputable hitch expert that will be supplying and installing a class 3 hitch, complete with wiring, receiver, ball, and pin for right around $400.


If I was ordering a TC I would definitely have the hitch come with the vehicle.

 

That's not too bad a price including the wiring. U haul dealerships can be pretty hit of miss outfit. We have a good one close by. Had them do a hitch for one of the Chevy Express work vans we used. They ended up doing quality work and a good professional wiring job that actually worked.

 

So, I set up an appointment, for 8 this morning. Got up at 6, left here at 7, takes me a hour to get to the hitch shop.


And then, POW! The hitch sent was for a Transit, not the Transit Connect. So now I have to wait until next week. That's OK. My first desire was to explode in protest. And then I thought about falling to floor, beating my feet against the floor, and screaming at the top of my voice. But I controlled myself, it's all good. I could be in Russia waiting in line for a turnip.

 

Or maybe answering Putin why guidance or propulsion was not working properly on those cruise missiles earlier today!

But you got a nice drive to the hitch shop and now you know where it is! Pain that Ford decided to keep the same partial name for two completely different vehicles. Easy mistake to make.

 

To me the real pain is that Ford should be encouraging my business instead of attempting to gouge me. I find it really disappointing that my dealership, where I've just dropped a bunch of money, wants me to pay double the money other shops charge for the same material and the same work. that's just not right.


I've found the same thing with all of my accessories. The mud flaps from Ford were more than twice the price offered by other vendors.


My suspicion is that we Ford owners have more loyalty to Ford than Ford has for us.

 

Dealerships generally don't like accessories (at least I don't). They cause more headaches than they are worth. So generally we make them so we are making money on them at least to compensate for future problems. If you have an issue with mud flaps you buy somewhere then you generally chalk it up to "oh well". When we install mudflaps and they get torn off when someone goes over some rocks, they come back to us and expect it covered under warranty. The dealer/customer relationship is strained, but we don't make as much as people generally think, and getting things done cost more than you expect. My labor rate for getting mud flaps on is $40 (one hour of reconditioning). Does it really cost $40? Perhaps not to put flaps on, but that's an hour of labor they can't be doing something that is more profitable. The specialty shops build their business in these gaps, and that's a good thing for small business. I don't think it's realistic to expect dealerships to have someone working at the lowest rate possible for every job. We tend to try hard to make things possible for customers, but we end up farming a bit of it out ourselves. Then we have our time driving the vehicle to an from. It all does cost a good deal of money for the convenience of a one stop shop to have your problems handled by someone who really does want you to be happy with everything. Lets say a customer wants me to add a hitch. The price above listed was $200. Generally labor rates are around $100 an hour. They'd probably bill it for 2 hours. Then for the hassle of doing everything, someone said, heck, lets make $100 off this thing. Fewer and fewer people want to do things themselves and there is more and more demand for shop time, just bringing a unit into the shop is expensive for a dealership. Nothing in the vehicle industry is cheap.

 

Frantz;


Thank you for setting me straight--you are right. When I look at the overhead that needs to be covered by my Ford dealership I can see why the diddly stuff is not worth dealing with. It would be nice if my dealer had a list of preferred subs who would like to have the trickle down of accessories.


You are also right in noting that fewer people want to do things themselves. Of course part of that is that it is getting more and more difficult for people to do things themselves due to the complexity of contemporary vehicles. I've gotten as far as opening the hood on my TC, took one look at the serpentine belt and closed the hood.


Also, when you are here next, I have a question. In looking through my manual I do not find a clear line-up of service scheduling. My impression is that the vehicle tells me when it's time for certain service work--am I correct in my impression?

 

That's the correct corporate impression. The cars are getting much better at extending oil life and folks on this forum have reported sending oil out for lab results. I think one guy kept extending it 1000 miles longer until he got bad results and he was good up to 12000, which is pretty darn impressive. Honestly, for my car I still do it every 5k. It is excessive from all test I have seen, but I'd rather spend the extra money and get it done for a car I plan to keep for 10+ years. If you are keeping it for less than that, just stick with the computer.

And I should say I don't support all dealer markup, and some are excessive. I just wanted to show the perspective I have. I deal with the headaches because the more interaction I have with a customer after the sale, the more I'll see them again for the next sale. Commercial customers tend to be more loyal than retail customers though too. Commercial customers have dealt with unhelpful folks and they know their time is worth more than running around for hours or days even to save a hundred bucks when I've given proven results. That being said, some of my customers prefer to do their own up-fitting. I just help them match up to get the rebates if they are eligible.