W8PIE

Ford missed the DMV height requirement for wheelchair passengers by 2" at the rear door opening. Gain 1" for latching system. Removable seats so you can carry a sheet of plywood or a 2x4. Latch removable rear seats like all other passenger van manufacturers. Lowered floor for stability and ramp angle. Ability to program the rear doors and trunk as one separate from the front doors. Diesel for horse power and weight for the ride and stability. Real CNG 90G option availability. Real CNG factory installed instead of a $4,000 retro fit. A real cup holder that is not behind you. Replaceable dash panels to install radio equipment in the dash. Roof rails to tap into roof mounting products. Roof drainage so all the water doesn't come down the windshield when stopping. Lock on glove box for security. Factory or Dealer installation of ramp or lift systems instead if an $18,000 retrofit. Real Ford Mobility installations at the factory or dealer level. Tilt out rear windows in door or side windows. Factory alarm system installed or plug and play instead of some garage hack voiding warranty. Heater controls that you don't have to pull over to see. Utilization of center counsel for storage. Air ride drivers seat. A dealer that want's to service or sell the Transit Connect.

85 Ha! Mine won't do 85 down hill with a tail wind and if you did the wind drift would change lanes for you. As for carrying weight it won't lug around my 500 lbs Braun lift without loosing 5 MPG and loss of ability to get from red light to red light in the flat land of Detroit. Driving across the country it won't get out of it's own way and sometimes going through the mountains I want to hook onto a passing semi going up a 6% grad with it's flashing lights on. It fulfills my needs as GM quit making the Safari/Astro line of passenger vans which I had 5. It is the only passenger vehicle that will hold a person in a wheelchair without modification. Ford F-250 through 450 are not allowed to be parked in my community driveways and will not fit in a standard 2 car garage. The Transit Connect is much easier to park than most and the turning radius is great. It is one of the last vans that will fit in my garage. It is a fun car to drive around the city at 35-45 MPH. I tried to order a few more mice under the hood. The diesel is not imported into the US. 54 MPG vs 20 MPG is a criminal. Double the hauling capacity to is criminal not to have it. Maybe the additional weight of the diesel would improve the ride too. The sound system doesn't compare to the AM systems of the 70's. It will not fit in two of our local car washes so check carefully before scraping your roof. Ford brosure should state scrap for sound system and list what car wash systems you can go through. Never had a problem with my Safari or Astro and they were taller and wider. Roof rails are not an option as they would keep my local car wash from scraping the roof. Since I only have 7,500 miles on mine maybe it isn't broke in enough to do 85.

I took a flight from Detroit to Phoenix to pick up a Transit Connect one of the only CNG prepped vehicles available in the country. There is a specific option Transit Connect XLT Premium with the CNG 90G prep. It has harden valve seats and valves. There is a temperature difference and flash point for CNG vs Gas. If you run CNG without the 90G prep you will void your warranty. The CNG tank mounts behind the rear seat and is filled under the hood. The actual CNG is not installed at the factory nor dealer but an after market company. There is also a different computer that is installed which is part of the prep package. When I got to Sanderson Ford, Arizona from Detroit with check in hand all they had was a white Taxi Transit. Ford will not put a cruise control in the commercial Transit Connect. The wiring was not there to install a cruise control and a new steering column lacked the wiring hookup to the vehicle. They would not paint it red as promoted. I know Bate and Switch. Once they got you there your stuck until you buy. I didn't I took a flight to N. Carolina to pick up one of only 3 red XLT Premium Passenger vans with full windows in the country. There were none with the 90G prep except in Arizona and California. California will not sell a vehicle to be registered in Michigan. Arizona has CNG to the public at about 12 locations around the city. Detroit only has one that you have to be a member to get through the gas company gates. Needless to say I can't run CNG on mine without voiding the warranty. The purpose of vehicle purchase was for CNG and wheelchair access as I live in Phoenix in the winter and Detroit in the summer. GM stopped production of the Astro/Safari and the Transit Connect is the only production passenger van without modification that a person in a wheelchair can sit. It will not hold my Braun Lift as it weight is over 500 lbs or 1/3 of the vehicle weight capacity. I had to go to a Roll-A-Ramp system. Make sure CNG is available in your area. Check School systems, municipal bus systems, municipal road yards, fleet servicing stations. Most times you will have to join some sort of cooperative. Driving across the country you will not find open access and have to join several type cooperatives to gain access. Phoenix to Detroit is 9 tanks of gas not even 20 MPG. Some points it can't even get out of it's own way through the mountains empty. You would have to join 9 different services to obtain CNG while traveling across country. I would wait until they bring the diesel to the US at 54 MPG to worry about CNG. They are going to start production in one of the Detroit plants this next year instead of shipping from Turkey.