windguy

@johnyguy since my van is the same config as yours for color and windows, what do think of the panel behind the sliding door? see attached pic with red circled area. with this panel recessed, it looks odd to me, like something is missing. I'm only going by pictures and you've got the real thing so that's why I'm asking. If you don't have glass on the sliding door then the double recessed panel seems better since it's a bigger area. Good spot to put advertising if used for commercial purposes. but the large glass on the slider, which I'm getting, leaves that small recessed area. visually to me, if there was a filler piece that would match the glass it would look better. not sure why they don't offer glass there as an option for a van.

the current rebate is $1,500 plus $500 for military or $500 for trading in a Ford vehicle or something like that. glad you were able to take advantage of a decent rebate. helps lower the cost. when you say $300 under invoice, did that factor in a Ford advertising fee? You're in a major metro area so I'm assuming Ford tacks on an ad fee like they do in LA ($402). That fee is part of the invoice amount with no markup by the dealer. straight thru. My dealer actually gave me a copy of the invoice so I can see their cost per item versus MSRP. That's required when going through the Costco Auto Program. Getting the VIN doesn't do much for you other than knowing that once that's issued, you can't make any changes to the configuration. I'm glad my dealer is keeping track of the order. it would be great to see a video of them making these vans in the factory.

here's another interesting van conversion company. I think they are in Great Britain. too bad there isn't a US based company doing this, kind of like a Sportsmobile conversion. http://wellhouseleisure.com/product/ford-connect-1600-diesel-manual/ they show a pop top for the TC, just like what's in a Eurovan, but no other conversion pics so far - "coming soon". the Ford Terrier is pretty cool. has the swivel seats someone wanted to do. also take a look at the "OTHER CONVERSIONS" tab that has several pics for each conversion they've done. lots of creative ideas to see here.

@Omniphil - gas is heavily taxed in CA. I think regular is around $3.54 for premium brands. Consider yourself lucky in that regard yes - it's nice to have a vehicle that takes regular gas. that's a nice bonus having a TC. driving 20,000 in a year is a lot. glad you're in a fun vehicle now to pass the time. please share your plans for fixing up the back perhaps in another thread.

update on my order - just got a VIN and was told the van would be produced on 10/30. that's the good news. the bad news - probably won't see the van until end of December to mid January. Ford has a pretty decent rebate incentive going on now that expires 01/05/15. Hope I can take advantage of that or something better comes along if that expires before the van arrives

your fuel economy is decent, but what's even more impressive is your low cost for gas, now sub $3/g. Wow! you sure do drive a lot of miles. do you have somewhere to go or do you really like just driving around in your new van?

@ian, thanks for in the input on this. my motive to disable the van from being stolen is because I've heard lots of stories of vehicles being stolen, more so for the vehicle and not the contents inside, which often just gets dumped. I'm trying to be proactive in making sure this doesn't happen to me because my gear is valuable. Based on what you wrote, you're saying it's difficult to steal a TC or similar Ford but I'm curious if it does happen? It seems that car thieves today are pretty sophisticated in what they can do. The theft rate in SoCa is pretty high. Perhaps not an ignition kill switch but maybe a cutoff switch between the ECM and Fuel Pump Relay. which someone else suggested as a good preventative measure against theft. I have no experience in doing something like this or how that works on late model Fords so that's why I'm reaching out to others to see what they've done or have learned. thanks

sorry I can't answer your questions, but welcome to the TC Forum and congrats on your new TC. of course a pic of your new van would be cool. I like the name of your business. best of luck with that.

that's pretty funny. I thought the same and was going to mention it but just left it out. I had to reread a few sentences trying to figure out what he was trying to say. He obviously didn't read what he wrote or it's an ESL situation. Sadly that seems to be the standard today for writers, both on the web and in print. But since he likes the TC we'll let it slide

favorable review from 10-08-14 that's worthwhile reading http://www.torquenews.com/106/2014-ford-transit-connect-titanium-wagon-review-works-minivan-drives-small-sedan

has anyone added an ignition kill switch to their TC - Gen 2? This interests me greatly because it takes 5 months to order a new van and I plan to keep gear inside that's expensive and a pain to replace. It would be devastating to lose both. thanks EDIT - I guess I should really ask is this required with the TC's ignition system? thanks

good to know. thanks!

I would agree. It's good to have competition for products. keeps the pricing in line and makes the manufacturers work harder to add value. Ford is going to have to keep improving the TC if they want to build their customer base.

I created a side by side pic. very similar looking with subtle differences. I think the TC is a little more sportier looking, less commercial. It will be interesting to see the specs on the Dodge van when published.

just read this review http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2015-ram-promaster-city-photos-and-info-news Dodge's website doesn't have much info http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/ram_promaster_city/ seems to be very similar to the TC they are going to be easily confused on the road between the two. some specs are one-up on the TC by a narrow margin. don't think it's enough to pick one over the other. some features I like, other I don't. in the looks department, I don't know. very similar in appearance to the TC but perhaps less refined and more industrial like. will be interesting to hear what others think.

you can contact these guys located in Southern Cal. http://www.allianceconversions.com/Custome-Jobs.html looks like they did the mods for the rental company, Jucy Rentals, who is based out of New Zealand. from the looks of one picture, Jucy shipped all the conversion components in a shipping container to the conversion company.

thanks Carl. it will be interesting to see how you like the TC vs the Flex. I think the TC is a bit shorter than the Flex, but slightly taller. will be great to see a pic of your TC being towed by a motorhome. Sound like you went with some nice options. I would agree on the big sunroof. your head would bake and cause permanent brain damage Sorry to hear about your dealer. I think that's the norm, unfortunately. My sales guy seems to be okay, he's a fleet sales director. If you go on Ford's TC Facebook page you can PM one of the Ford service persons that are active on it and they will check the status of your van. https://www.facebook.com/FordTransitConnectWagon one poster wrote "we waited 3 months from the time ours was built in Spain until it arrived at our dealer."

great to hear you've got a van on order. I was told by my dealer that my van will be built this month and I'll see it at the end of the year, so that's two months after build. you can try this website for tracking but I'm not sure it's very accurate http://www.cotus.ford.com/ your dealer should have the best tools for tracking the van but he won't know for sure either. since yours is a passenger model then it won't have to go through any of the supposed mods after going through customs. good luck! curious - since you already have a flex, why get a passenger van?

the 2014 manual says no. the 5 seater on the SWB has removable seats. the 7 seater on the LWB has seats that fold flat and don't remove. seems silly to me but but I'm sure there's a valid reason, maybe. ask the dealer to show you how they are removed. should be entertaining to watch provided he doesn't use an impact wrench.

can you find a dealer in your area that has a 2014 available for a test drive? road noise is a subjective thing so you could make that judgement best. I think other posters have mentioned that one contributor to road noise is the tires. good luck!

Stumbled across this van on the internet today and wanted to share. http://www.jucyrentals.com/vehicles/jucy-champ.aspx?_ga=1.264655116.2036638751.1411945494 I've seen a few of these before pulling into a local beach campground next to where I surf and always figured it was a company van for some juice company. now it all makes sense. interesting what amenities they added to a van to make a nice compact camper for touring. if you're interested, watch the video that shows the camper's features.

I just re-read your post and had to chuckle and comment on what you said. I've seen a bunch of the TC's on dealer lots but not passing by me from a distance. I got a good first glimpse of a TC on the road a few weeks ago. As it got closer I said, "hey, that's a TC". My first impression as it passed by, man that's an ugly van! So I guess I"m in "that camp" for now. Sorry if this offends any TC owner's. From the side, it's something about how the windows and body drops down toward the front wheel is not very appealing to my eye. The front view looks fine. I think they wanted to keep the van from being too boxy. There's no doubt it's not a Sienna, Odyssey or Caravan, which all look very similar to me. But, I'm not getting the van because it would be a babe magnet, purely for utility purposes. This is definitely not a mid-life crisis vehicle

there's a chance they just didn't think of it. I can see your point but never considered that before you mentioned it. since the TC shares its form factor as a cargo and passenger model the cargo version doesn't have special features that would be conducive to cargo or commercial use. there should be a list of options available for this, like a bulkhead, not just aftermarket products. One example that's missing in my opinion is some beefy truck tires, not these passenger things they put on to pimp the gas mileage, if that's the reason. For the Van/cargo version, light truck tires. For the Passenger version - all season touring tires.

what would innovative and cool is if you could flip the backrest so the seat reverses with the seat part staying stationary. not sure how the angle/tilt of the seat would feel sitting opposite.but it's just a concept for when the seat wouldn't be able to swivel. they used to do this on commuter trains so you can face forward if the train reverses direction.

thanks 103west43rd I sent NWCamperman a PM asking if he can provide some updates on his camper van conversion. He's got some interesting amenities added that others might be interested in as well.