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Started today modifying my 2015 XL LWB Wagon to have some camping usefulness. Will try to share the agony and progress. My individual goals: Not interfere with the "wagon" part of Wagon, keeping full functionality of 2nd row of seats. Minimal reduction, if any, of cargo carrying room, particularly being able to roll in 1 or 2 bikes upright without removing any wheels. Lightweight modifications to not tax the Focus suspension. Easy-ish removal of anything added. Flexible bed for 1 or 2 people as needed (or not needed). Cheap Pass for not being too cheap. Day 1: After coming up with a rough idea in my head (not much for detailed planning), decided that first order of business was to make a flat floor. Went to the local home improvement store and bought 6 sheets of 1/2"x4'x2' plywood, "TrafficMaster" brand 48"x96" black vinyl garage mat, and a can of contact cement to get the ball started. Hoping that will be able to recycle other material lying around the house to minimize cost. Chose 1/2" plywood vs 5/8" or 3/4" to try to lineup with the back deck and lip around the cargo area, sacrificing some rigidness. Chose 4x2 to try to make it easy to work with when cutting out notches and holes and such. My first suggestion if somebody else attempts to replicate some form of this and is confident in their measuring and cutting skills, working with a half-sheet 4x4 for the floor would have been better. First picture is the obligatory before. 3rd row seating removed. Second picture is a couple of added supports. Some 3/8" plywood would have come in handy and been perfect, I only had 1/4", added some of those tile spacers to get the height where I wanted above the existing 3rd row bolts, and cardboard in the rear corners as there is no ridge there. I screwed the first piece of "flooring" into the supports that are themselves attached via the existing seat bolts, so this piece of flooring is secure yet easily removable by taking off the seat bolts. Third picture is the second piece of plywood along with more supports for the front "cargo" area that will slide under the first piece of flooring. By this point I got smart and de-laminated one layer off some of the 1/2" plywood scraps to make something close to the desired 3/8" I was looking for. Note a lot of the ridges in the cargo area particularly in this area are not solid, just foam.

Well, any 'restocking fee' on a defective part seems a bit much to me - If I had opted for them to get me replacement, the defective part would have been returned with no fee. Refunding all my money would have been the simplest thing for them to do, but when you have a chance to put the screws to a new, first time Ford owner, you just can't pass that up, evidently When I spoke to the dealer manager, he said the fee would only be 10% - Not the 15% the other dealer charges. When I actually went in for my money, it was 20% and not the 10% he told me over the phone. I'll chalk it up to a learning experience. I've never owned a Ford of any kind before, so I was kinda 'shopping' for a Ford dealer. My last 4 vehicles were all Mazdas and the good news is, our local Mazda dealer is also a Ford dealer. They are twice as far from my home as this dealer is, but I'm never going there again. I'll get my warranty work and recalls done from the Mazda dealer, but my plans to use the local Ford dealership for oil changes and tire rotations will have to be changed - Too far to drive for everyday things. It cost me about 30 bucks to find out the local guy isn't the dealer I want to do business with. Small price to pay I guess I probably will buy more things on-line in the future and forego having to deal with the parts department Don

Don't ever be afraid of drilling holes into your car. Sometimes, you need to drill holes to install what you want. Communications equipment works best with an antenna mounted onto the roof. Over the years, I've drilled plenty of holes to install aftermarket lighting products. I'm already eyeing that extra metal above the windshield, between the windshield and the roof, as an ideal mounting spot for a 52" LED light bar. Those huge spoilers don't simply stick onto your Honda with double sided adhesive. Just make sure that you apply a little bit of Rustoleum to protect the bare metal, and use a little silicon to seal the hole from leaks. On a side note, WeatherTech Rain Guards install just as easily as the ProClip mounting base. They snap right in without tools. Ford 2016 Transit Connect Side Window Deflectors - In-Window-ChannelPart #: 80751

Well, they agreed it was a factory defect and "We'll order you another one" - I said I didn't want another one, I wanted my money back. "We don't do that on accessories" I ended up talking to the manager who said he would try to see if they could send it back to Ford, and if so, they'd give me back my money. He called me back at the end of the day and said that Ford had agreed to give him back my money and he would refund it to me . . . . less 10% for a restocking fee - I'm paying about $15 so they can restock a factory defective OEM accessory The box had been opened and retaped closed when we got it - I'm pretty sure it had been 'restocked' before Time to find me a new Ford dealer - Sadly, this one was 5 miles from my home and the new one will be 15 miles, but that's the price I'll have to pay to deal with someone I can trust. The new dealer allows you to return anything you order for a 15% restocking fee - This other guy claims he can't return *anything* to Ford (he even had to get special permission to send back my factory defect) so if I need any further accessories, I'll be buying from them Don

Unless I'm reading this wrong, you pretty much paid them the sticker price of $18K - No doubt that's the fastest way to get a 'deal' done A better way would have been to show up with a check made out to them for $16.5K and see if they turned you away Don

My solution was to add a small accessory fuse box that was originally designed to go on motorcycles. One big advantage for me was the ability to easily make each circuit either swiched or unswitched simply by which side you plug the fuse into. Here's the thread where I detailed the parts used and installation in my 2015 LWB TC wagon. Accesory fuse box insrallation Another benefit for me, but maybe not for others, was the ease of hard wiring my phne charger, dashcam, etc. without having a bunch of lighter plug adapters sticking out.

Speaking for myself, I would never do it. For me, one of the "features" of an "American" car is the constant power to the cigarette lighter. I like being able to turn my ignition off, with my phone or whatever, still plugged in and charging/operating. I've been known to take Japanese cars and wire up the 12v power port and the stereo directly to the battery so that I can still play music without the engine running. Yeah, I know. The obvious is to turn the engine off, then turn the key back to the ACC position. But I like doing stupid things to my cars. It allows me to exit the vehicle with the music still playing, only to come back in the morning to a dead battery. The best has to be to leave your headlamps, fog lamps, and off-road lights on. That really drains your battery.

Showing up at the end of month with $$$ can get good results. I bought a new van last day of the year and it had been on the lot since February. I bought my Transit the last day of July as the used car dealership was trying to cover the months expences and ran a facedbook special.