Fifty150

Not that it really matters, but the latest article in 2018, in The Washington Post, creates a different impression. The only thing that is really important is that for the time being, Transit Connect is still retailed at a competitive price point. Otherwise, we would be in the $30K base price market. And if production is shifted to The USA, who knows how much higher. If Mercedes begins assembly in USA, and their price drops, as Ford Transit Connect price climbs........a lot of us will be on the Mercedes forum. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-strange-case-of-fords-attempt-to-avoid-thechicken-tax/2018/07/06/643624fa-796a-11e8-8df3-007495a78738_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f3bcef32d989 It sounds as if Ford still imports passenger vans, strips them, and pays the import tariff. The case is still going through the courts. Ford expects a refund of all tariff paid, if & when they win the final verdict after the case has exhausted all appeals. But the most interesting thing that I read was from: http://1stclasseconomics.com/ford-beat-usas-chicken-tax-tariffs/ "Customs officials claimed that Ford because so efficient reassembling a passenger truck into a cargo truck that the sneaky task took them less than 11 minutes."

As with every law, you have the letter of the law vs the spirit of the law. Then you have all of the various opinions on how effective the application of the law is. The intent may be to protect the US market from a flood of lower cost imports, at the same time, preserving manufacturing jobs for Americans. Does it work? With a pickup truck or van, almost all sales are Ford, GMC, & Ram. But that's because most of those are fleet sales. Government agencies, utility companies, large construction companies, all buy American trucks and vans. Sometimes there are ordinances which require purchase orders to be Made in USA, unless otherwise unavailable. We all know that Toyota Tundra is a very well engineered truck. It lacks the 8' full bed length which most commercial users want. And it's always sold with a higher trim level, as opposed to something like Ford's XL basic package for commercial use. Only Mercedes sells a full size Sprinter to compete with Ford Transit, Chevy Express, & Ram. For me, the pricing is why I have a F-150 and Transit Connect. I'm not spending double to ride in a Tundra. And the extra $10K is not an incentive for me to buy a Mercedes mini van. I suspect price fixing has also protected the American manufacturers with discounted fleet sales. Does The Chicken Tax work? Yes & no. Who do you blame? The manufacturers' lawyers & accountants who figured out how to circumvent it by importing a passenger van & stripping it down? The labor unions who want so much for their workers, that the cost of labor is what throws the balance sheet off? Congress or The President for keeping an import tariff from 1964 intact? The oil industry whose interest is in us not being able to buy more efficient vehicles. Big 3 greed buying off politicians to protect their monopoly on commercial sales? The consumer, you & I, benefit from a free market. It forces sellers to be competitive in pricing. But that free market is what has driven manufacturing to other countries. It's simply less expensive to produce everything in another country, bear the cost of shipping & import, and still sell at lower retail w/ a higher margin. I'm no expert on global economics. I'm just like the next guy who wants to save a little money. I eat a bucket of chicken, without any thought as to how The USA is still using farm bills, subsidizing chickens and eggs, to leverage trade with other nations. When you start thinking about how The USA subsidizes farming, to flood the global food supply with below cost food staples, then leverages that against foreign governments with trade agreements..........I'm just a fat American, driving a large truck, eating a bucket of chicken.

We need to start a post for everyone to post their moving violations in a Transit Connect. I want to see all of those "exhibition of speed" citations.

That's how it's done. It's called "The Chicken Tax". Politics. Not even Donald Trump politics. But exactly the same thing. Import tariff to protect American auto manufacturers. This goes back to The Johnson Administration. Before most of us were born, and for some of the older guys, before they were old enough to drive. The Chicken Tax is what killed the VW Scooby Do Mystery Machine and gave us the stupid looking Subaru Brat.

Depending on how much you're willing to spend, there is always a local vendor who will sell and install the correct product. No guess work. Then they deal with offering you a warranty on their parts & labor. And you can go back there when it starts to leak.

It actually took him a whole year.

A lot of us suffer from range anxiety. The fear of running out of fuel at a point where there is no fuel available. All that anyone has to do is what you are doing. Refuel to a full tank, before it is needed. But in my daily life, I still talk to knuckleheads who have no clue in regards to mileage, tank range, cost per mile, et cetera. They say things like: "I can get $20 of gas on Monday, and drive until Thursday. Then add $20 on Friday for the weekend. It never runs out. How much do you spend?" I like when they tell me, "your truck is big, does gas cost more?" Nope. I pay exactly the same price per gallon as you do. Your commute is different than mine, so there's no relevant comparison to how much you spend vs how much I spend. But I suppose there's heavenly bliss to not filling up your tank to full, and just handing $20 bills to the cashier every few days.

Now that is a good story.

With the Torque app, I was able to use a $7 OBD II reader w/ bluetooth. One of those that you buy on Amazon. FORScan will not work with that reader. With FORScan, you actually need a more expensive unit. So for the penny pinchers like me, FORScan will cost a little bit more out of pocket.

Sounds like the kind of dealership I would do business with.

Don't leave us all hanging. You've got a story to tell.

I'm not sure what I will actually do with it. I've got other "toys" that can read diagnostic trouble codes and reset the check engine light. By the way, for anyone who cares, nobody is in the business of writing a custom tune for the Transit Connect. Don't hold your breath waiting for me to get the Transit Connect dyno-tuned at the local hot rod shop. For the record, they're not done laughing at me yet. It looks neat. It looks like it is capable of doing a lot more than I would know how to do. Nonetheless, I'm still hopeful that if someone actually does do something productive with the application, that they will post and share. At this point, I don't think that I will drive around with a laptop glued to my dashboard, plugged into the OBD II port, just so that I can the engine RPM, transmission gear, transmission temperature, et cetera. For anyone who wants men to laugh at them, and have produce thrown at them , bring your Transit Connect to San Francisco, and ask for a dyno tune. Just let me know when, so that I can meet you there. I've got some some fast food packaging in my truck bed that I want to throw at you. (650) 991-0400 ditosmotors@gmail.com DYNO TUNING Unleash Greater Horsepower with a Dyno Tune Bring your car up to speed with a dyno tune. At Ditos Motors Inc., we use the Superflow SF-880E AWD Chassis Dynamometer, a state-of-the-art tool designed for the motorist who's serious about automotive performance. With the Superflow Dynamometer, you get unmatched quality. The chassis model doesn't require the removal of your engine to operate, making every dyno tuning service affordable and timely. Contact ditosmotors@gmail.com to schedule an appointment. We serve South San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA, San Mateo County, CA, and surrounding areas.

I just downloaded ForScan. Looks like a pretty good program. But it's not exactly free. There are free demo versions. You have to pay for something that actually works.

Almo, I am a stupid American. We forget that the rest of the world is metric. 50 US miles = 80.4672 kilometers. Yes. You will be safe to carry on until you can find the next fuel vendor. Odd, I don't have a screen on my steering wheel either. My information display is on the dash, with the gauge cluster, and the warning lights.

The low fuel message is suppose to advise you that you have approximately 50 miles to empty.

Since it does so much, we should have a subforum for using ForScan. What kind of hardware are you using? Apple, Mac, PC, laptop, Android tablet, Microsoft phone, Motorola, Samsung, et cetera? Bluetooth, WiFi, physical cable from OBDII to your computer? Which brand or source for your OBDII connection equipment. What did you do with the application? Step by step to help the next guy. Maybe screenshots. Looking forward to Transit Connect specific task performed with ForScan. Or maybe some other app or program which you are using, and care to share the knowledge with the next guy.

Dilemma is that you already have these new wheels & tires mounted & balanced with the Smart brand sensors. They are already installed on your van, and you are driving on them, so getting them to work with the least amount of effort is the best solution. Easy fix is to have a tire tech install the OEM sensors on your new wheels & tires. Your dealership can do it also. If you have the equipment, you can do it yourself. What I would do is contact the seller who shipped you the wheels & tires, contact http://www.31inc.com for support, and talk to your insurance adjuster. Perhaps the insurance company can pay to have a tire shop program the sensors for your van, or install the OEM sensors onto your new wheels & tires. Stress to the insurance adjuster that you've paid your premiums, you paid your deductible, and now they need to pay to restore your vehicle to a safe operating condition.

Method 1 Unfreezing Door Seals or Handles Push on your car door. Apply pressure by leaning on your frozen door. ... Chip away the ice. ... Pour lukewarm water over the rubber seals. ... Spray on commercial de-icer. ... Start the car remotely. ... Heat the frozen seal with a blow dryer. 3 Ways to Open Frozen Car Doors - wikiHow https://www.wikihow.com/Open-Frozen-Car-Doors

Let's see what you're towing!

Sounds like it's a total loss.

Tell us about your fan set-up. Are you planning on venting the roof also? From experience, any "camp" vehicle tends to smell like one when you occupy it. I don't even want to describe how I know, and what I've smelled.

No way to service the nozzle? You couldn't soak them in solvent, then clear the pinhole with a pin?

It would have been nicer to have a wide bench seat, with a column shifter. Those seats are an option in Europe. I actually like the utility of the design. I just would not want to be the passenger sitting there, as they do look a bit narrow. There must be some sort of safety regulation here in The USA, which stops the import of that configuration. My first thought was seat width. Since there is some sort of code regulating inches of seat width in correlation to safety belt placement. But it could also be the airbag not being able to protect 2 passengers. If the front airbag deploys, will it simply go between the 2 riders and push their heads to either side? I never like airbags......broken nose & 2 black eyes!

Just like with a Mustang, you get used to "all that power". You only need to get a few tickets, and you'll learn.

Which is why commercial users install those metal screens. I believe that in Europe, vans are required to have bulkheads.