Don't Buy a Transit
 

I'm in the expediting business and we put on easily 80K per year mostly highway miles. The E series which I still run with 368K miles on it with zero out of the ordinary repairs is still superior to the piece of junk the Transit is. My previous E 350 was at 517K before I retired it. No unusual repair problems or failures. I was at a truck stop and talked to a '17 Transit owner. At 4000 mi his engine blew. Ford said not to worry, that's rare. While he was idling his battery light was on. Another driver told me the brakes and the tires last half as long as E series. He had driveshaft failure, rear failure, transmission problems, and there's a problem with the frame cracking. Both of these owners were considering getting a lawyer (good luck). The responses on this thread are from people who put on few miles in a year. The true test of this vehicle is with us expediters, and the Transit is a piece of junk compared to true tested E series. Ford was insane to stop making it. When my current E series van needs replacing I'm getting a GMC van, which I never owned, but its gotta be better than the nightmare of owning a Transit.

There comes a vehicle with a "love it or hate it" vibe, the full-sized Transit seeming to be heading that way. I've acquired another E-Series, this time a '05 extended body Club Wagon variant which began life as a wheelchair transport. Besides the extremely low mileage (140K) having another raised roof with extended height doors with the trusted chassis/drive train combo I like made this on irresistible. Price doesn't figure into a lot of my buying choices but at $5500 I did well, even IMHO. :)

What's probably frustrating to most of us E-Series owners who've moved to a Transit is the issue of DIY maintenance. With some of the hassles described so far my trust of dealerships hasn't increased one bit---again the possibility of being held captive by a manufacturer or a dealer is NOT something I'd look forward to experiencing.

There are thousands upon thousands of Transit's running without issues---I can't help but envy the rear cargo areas for my needs. Those with a trouble-free Transit are most likely happy with the change, those detailing constant or numerous issues with the same vehicle not so much.

So for now I'm set vehicle-wise until death or retirement comes a callin'. Given the nature of the current girlfriend death would be more easily afforded! :-X04 (I do joke about her---she's hardworking, fairly frugal and knows where our respective funds come from.)

Hey JWA....long time no see and I hope all is well with you! As for Transits, I see no reason why they would not be possible to service although I admit I have not looked at what it takes to get at the engine.

The usual brakes, oil/filter, coolant, etc should not be a problem. As for your mistrust of dealers, my contention is that you have not found the right dealer and taken the time to bond with the svc manager. My routine is to buy vehicles new or off-lease used but under warranty, and take them in for oil changes (which are usually a loss leader) and use that time to build a rapport with the service writers and service manager. When I have had larger problems, they respect that I understand my vehicle and its issues, and in a number of cases they have gone to bat for me for warranty work or discounted work for me as a courtesy.

Of course, this works best with established dealers who have service folks who stay in their jobs for years (meaning the dealer treats them well also).

Take care,
George

YoGeorge I'm well and fine, to the limits that's possible anyway. :)

Hope you and yours are good or better as well! :-X22

All is well, got no Fords but thinking about an Edge, maybe a Sport, for a daily driver...but more likely waiting for the new Bronco. :) Happy New Year!

Transit catalyst problems
 

Are you ready ???? $3600 cost to replace the cats on my 2015 transit. It has only 90,000 miles on it. The 3.5L ecoboosts have misses that dump the fuel into the exhaust and ruin the cats. The cylinder miss happens up around 50 to 70 mph when trying to pass someone, then it dumps the raw fuel into the exhaust and ruins the cats. You would think you could run a little on a cylinder miss without effecting the cats for a few days, NOPE !!!! Ford has decided to put the bare minimum pollution grabbing metals in the cats. THEY ARE JUNK. To top it off, they have to rip the sub-frame apart to get to them and the control arms on the steering. And guess what broke in this process ???? Both control arms were destroyed in ripping the sub-frame apart. The original estimate of $2300 quickly ramped up to $3600 with the control arms being difficult. The dealer has done these cat replacements about every other week. The mechanic whom I trust and is very knowledgeable says the design sucks. STAY AWAY FROM THE TRANSIT

Read earlier on. We have had nothing but problems with our EcoBoost transits. They are junk. Have the 8 year 150k mile extended warranty from ford (not aftermarket) and everything that has broke hasn't been covered by the warranty. It's a huge disappointment. We have between 120k-140k on our EcoBoost transits now. Ford finally came out with a fix for the air filters ingesting water while driving in the rain but go figure it's not covered by the warranty. It's a $687 fix. Throttle bodys go out every 30k miles (not covered by warranty). We've had the turbos changed out multiple times due to the air filters disinigrating from getting wet and getting sucked into the turbo(not covered under warranty). They like to call that lack of maintenance. All of our transits have factory tow packages but we cant tow trailers legally. If you plug the lights from any trailer into the factory connector then it frys the trailer lighting module and blows the brake light fuses(not covered under warranty). Driveshaft center support bearing goes out every 20k-30k miles(this is one of the few things that is covered). And last but not least good luck changing the battery, it's under the passengers front seat beneath the floor. We have to change them quite often. When the transits gas pedal wont respond when you start the van that means the battery needs to be replaced. Even though it starts perfect, a 6-8 month old battery needs to be replaced or else you cant drive the van.

Our 3.7 naturally aspirated transits have been nearly flawless. But they are 250's without trailer hitches. They still have the center support bearing issue.

With all the bad luck we have had with EcoBoost we will not be purchasing these engines again. This is the same scenario we were in with the 22 ford 6.0 diesel trucks we had. We pre ordered 5 transit 350 LWB AWD Van's with the 3.5 PFDI naturally aspirated. For new vehicles we recently purchased we have (3) 2016 ram hemi 1500 trucks with around 130k miles zero issues, (2) 2017 f250 6.7 diesels with a few electrical issues, (3) 2019 f350 6.7 diesels zero issues and (6) 2015-2017 f650/f750's with Cummins 6.7 and ford 6.7 very few issues.

I'm a forum newbie that owns a '97 Econoline Club Wagon, but seeing this 'Any disappointed Transit owners?' thread I was curious.

I'm aware that the discussion above concerns models from 2014 onwards, but prior to that, and for several decades, the Ford Transit name was synonymous with the UK.

In 2007 I bought a 1997 Ford Transit for annual tour use in the UK, and despite the many problems that emanated out of the Ford UK factory, there is a cult following for the Transit . . . and for a while I bought into that.

However, it took the UK Ford Transit forum, and lots of maintenance to keep the thing running and legal [*MOT testing over there is pretty stringent!]. It was fun while it lasted in that I took the van on multiple trips to Italy, France, the European Alps, Ireland and all over the UK for 9 years while riding atop the much sought after 2.5L diesel turbo engine. *Roadworthiness

I gave it up in 2016, and in 2017 rented a full-size Transit passenger van akin to the models you see running around the US today.

And here's my point, the newer Transits that ye drive are far superior to the ye olde noisy [badly soundproofed] Transits that rusted as one drove on UK roads across the decades.

Sure, some of the newer Transits have have issues, but I'm here to tell you that you never had it so good!

All that said, I LOVE my Econoline and ain't gonna change any time soon!

Interesting perspective Econo-Flyer, to my knowledge there isn't much in common with the midsize Transit you previously had and the RWD version we see over here. But the nameplate has been around for a long time overseas, and seems to have a similar following to the Econoline name here in the US.

On Tuesday I got into an airport parking shuttle for a ride back to my car, and was surprised when the driver mentioned it was a brand-new Econoline with under 1000 miles on it. I asked why they did not opt for a Transit, and he replied they had three PSDTransits in their fleet they were nothing but trouble for them. From what I understood, the issues all centered around the PSD not tolerating the extended idling that they do. He didnt mention any other trouble spots, just that that engine didn't work well for them at all. He said the Transit was much nicer to drive, though.

I remember when purchasing our Transit in 2016 how much I was looking for a diesel passenger wagon, and ended up giving in and getting a 3.7l instead. Sounds like I dodged a bullet. It's good to see them going to a different PSD option for 2020!

Disappointed
 

I am very disappointed in my transit.
I drove e series for ever Better Built vehicle all the way around from work to play 2016 Transit new. very disappointed in. the only Pro I can buy is it rides better other than that everything else is a con. I don't get as good of gas mileage 16 miles per gallon on the highway is non-existent where my older E-Series would get that minimum. it doesn't handle off highway as good. Does not tow as good. Finding tires a joke. Interior cockpit design is a bit of a mystery of wtf. And I could go on and on. I use it for work can sometimes play I could be more disappointed my purchase

sounds very disappointing. I was expecting a less robust vehicle than the uncomfortable email series, but not what is being described here.
I'd be surprised if much of this was fixed during the 2020 face-lift.
looks like an Expedition is the top contender
$12k for a Quigley conversion on a Chevy is a bit much....but it would have better resale.

2015 Transit T 250 cant keep rear brakes pads on it
 

Bought this van new in 2015...T 250 148 wheelbase 3.7 engine...mid roof....rear brakes pads got out in aprox 30,000 miles....got apro 74,000 on it and three sets of rear pads...and two sets of rear rotors...never pulls a trailer....low weight load.....unreal...had the service bulitin to fix rear brake position bracket done early on...so it not that....I have owned 4 Econoline vans..in past....and never had any rear or front for that matter escessive brake wear issues...carry infact more load and one pulled a trailer...they each go over 60,000 before brake jobs...been disapointed having to spend big on this....if it was pulling a trailer...i understand...

I feel yalls pain with the transits. 3 of ours are out and not going to fix them. Our 3.7 transit that went underwater 5 years ago and was salvaged finally bit the dust. Suffers from electrical problem . Got 190k out of it. It was the most reliable out of all our company transits. Early in this thread I posted about our problematic EcoBoost transits. 2 more just bit the dust and just outside fords extended 8 year 150k mile warranty that we have. Both have blown transmissions one at 164k miles the other 152k miles. Ford will not work with us and we still still owe alot on them. We haven't bought anymore Van's. Just been sticking with f250-f550 truck .

I;m sooooooooooo far away or against owning a full-sized Transit and have a 2005 E-350 that's serving my needs pretty much perfectly. I own two more E-Series, one's about to be sold or scrapped as the body is pretty much shot---its a 2003 FWIW. That one has a few issues I'll never fix (air bag warning light, failed ABS control module) as well as a few original broken exhaust studs. The left front spring perch has the shock absorber mount broken so there's that to deal with too---all at a robust 295+ miles. :)

The major reason I've avoided Transit's is that damned Eco-Boost engine---I absolutely HATE turbocharged gasoline engines, know they're just NOT suited for daily driving duties.

Could be here in 2021 most of the more disabling and/or expensive non-warranty issues have been ironed out but it doesn't appear to be so according to a few posts here. As of late I've replaced windshields in a few customer's vehicles and very much LOVE the cargo areas its the other aspects and what I call somewhat unreliable nature of the beast keeps me away even now.

Respectfully, I just don’t see it. This thought has been around for ages, but this point the EcoBoost V-6 has been around for over 10 years. And it’s been a high-volume engine that seemed plenty of hard service, and I think it’s vindicated itself well. There are countless examples with high miles, several over 200,000 with nothing but oil changes and spark plugs in their maintenance history.

The majority of people find forums like FTE because they have a problem; we rarely hear from the millions of satisfied pickup and van owners that are going about the business without issues. So for reliability, I look for a long time users experience rather than those who show up complaining of an issue. I never had any issues from my EcoBoost F150s, and there are plenty others who have daily driven and run them hard for hundreds of thousands of miles without issue.

https://jalopnik.com/heres-how-a-for...0-m-1790602670

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1618969-100-000-mile-report.html

https://www.f150ecoboost.net/threads...5/#post-600793