Need purchase advice on Transit Connect
 

If you can afford it, buy new with a warranty. Research pricing, and negotiate.

If you're buying used.......all bets are off. That's with any car. Who knows what the last owner broke. You will have to trust the dealer selling you the car.

You might want to take a look at Enterprise rental options. I don't know if they still do, but for a while they were renting Connects and then selling them with fairly low mileage.

A lot companies have been using Transit Connect as a fleet vehicle. Some of them will probably be selling them off as they are 3 - 5 years old, and over 100,000 miles. Those should be a really good deal, as Transit Connects aren't known for high resale value, and commercial vans much more difficult to unload to private owners.

When I was looking I found some 3 year old rental Connects with around 50,000 miles. I ended up buying new through the Consumer Reports program, toward the end of the model year, and got a very good deal. The decision to buy new was, in part, based on the big changes between the 2010 introductory model and the revised 2014 models--different trans, roof line, and so forth. There was not much difference between buying a one-year-old and a new one.

I suppose there are a lot of ways to buy cars now. I'm not familiar with the Consumer Reports program. I see that a lot of people are now buying cars at Costco. And there are online websites which supposedly find you the best price on cars. Car sales are a grey market. Pricing can vary from one dealership to the next, depending on how they motivated they are to make the deal, to manufacturers incentives and rebates, to how well you can negotiate. I am a bit surprised that you found it more cost effective to buy new. I thought that pricing would drop quite a bit after 3 years of depreciation, and 50,000 miles. At that point, you no longer have a warranty, a lot of service work would be needed, and most wear items would be worn. Brakes, tires, coolant exchange, spark plugs, transmission flush, et cetera.

If it were me, I would just keep it, drive it, and see how long I can get my money's worth out of it. But that's just me. My XL trim level F-150 did not come with power windows, power door locks, cruise control, air conditioning, or transmission cooler. It had an AM only radio, vinyl seats, and plastic interior. More than a decade later, I'm still getting my money's worth out of it. I added a transmission cooler. I added a radio. I cut a patch of scrap carpet for a floor mat. I drive with the windows down on hot days. With the vinyl bench seat, I just make sure that I'm not wearing leather pants. Not that I wear leather pants.

It all depends on what you're doing with your Transit Connect, and if you can live without those things. Otherwise, you could go into the business of flipping cars. Make an extra $1,000 off each car. Then flip 40 of them until you get into something nice.

It sounds like you know what you want.

Forscan can read ABS codes.

Forscan appears to be a good option.