Fifty150

You have vision. When are you starting your build?

The sales figures don't look that way. But an aftermarket may develop. With the low price point on cargo vans, Transit Connect may become something offered by coach builders who do custom conversions. Maybe we'll bet the stretched version with a wet bar.

They dropped the ball with the Taurus. Toyota Camry & Honda Accord stole the market segment, because Ford failed to keep the vehicle up to date. Not that there weren't other issues. The Taurus just did not compete price wise, mileage wise, or comfort wise. Even today, I would buy a Honda, over any American small car, if I needed a small car. Maybe. Maybe not. The accountants figured out that the company was so far behind in the small car segment, that they may as well give up and focus on the vehicles which sell at a profit. The accountants are the ones who figured out that it was cheaper to import a passenger van, strip it to sell as a cargo van, and it would still be more cost effective compared to USA production. The accountants figured out that it was not economically feasible to continue to market the Mercury Brand. The leadership has a vision of profit. They can see the numbers on the spreadsheet, presented by the accountants. While the consumer who may want to buy American is left behind.......we'll all figure out that Honda is produced in Ohio, and we actually are buying American.

That was a good car, which didn't sell well. Sort of like the Ford Probe, which nobody bought either. But plenty of people are willing to buy the Ford Fiesta. Ford needs to stop selling small cars. Clearly, they don't know what they're doing. They should have stopped back when the consumers stopped buying Ford Taurus, and started buying Toyota Camry. Every little car which isn't that great, only serves to diminish your reputation as an automaker. Chrysler's K Car saved Chrysler, and ruined it at the same time. They sold a lot of those little cars, which saved the company financially. But the reputation of the K Car, even today, would stop me from buying a Chrysler. Even if Ricardo Montalban does a TV commercial, pushing the "Corinthian Leather".

Politics. Not even Trump politics. Chicken Tax goes way back. What makes sense to you, does not make sense to the guys with the calculators. What they are doing is the most cost effective way to sell the car and make a profit.

You will see Transit Connect & Mercedes Metris. I doubt if you're seeing any of the Chevy City Express, Ram, or Nissan NV200.

Fleet vehicle may have been properly maintained. Fleet Service programs are usually on top of whatever it takes to keep the vehicle running safely. Basics. Oil change. Brakes. Tires. Lights. Although I suspect that @ $160,000 miles, you will be the one left with all the wear items with 160,000 miles worth of wear.....suspension, axles, exhaust leaks. And some maintenance items which Fleet Service skips unless needed......Radiator flush, coolant exchange, brake & steering fluid, transmission flush, spark plugs, air filter, wiper blades........ It could still be a good car. Just know what you are getting into, and weigh that against cost of ownership. You don't want to pay $$$XXX, only to have spend $$$XXX on repairs. If this is at a dealership, use that as your bargaining chip. Make them an offer, which will include having all deferred maintenance items addressed. Let them fix everything, before you buy it. At that mileage, I would surely be concerned about the transmission, axles, front end, and suspension. Have them include a tune-up with new spark plugs & coils. Make them flush the cooling system and transmission. See if you can get them to include as much as possible. This is a used car, with high miles, that they do not benefit from keeping on their lot.

Did you get a roadside assistance card? With new cars, Ford has an auto club type program that will send a tow truck. Good enough for me to cancel my AAA Auto Club membership. I used it once. Got in the tow truck with the driver; and the tow truck smelled like weed. "Dude, your tow truck smells like weed." "Uh, yeah.....you want some?"

I left my light bar on for 2.5 hours today. I was inside a bar having noon time cocktails. My amber lights burned steady the entire time. Lucky that I did not return to a dead battery.

6F35 has been in service enough that there are known issues. Hopefully, a transmission builder will offer a remanufactured transmission with those issues corrected.

Just interesting that the window sticker mileage is an "EPA" mileage estimate. I suppose that's true with every vehicle. Real world driving varies from person to person. We all have different driving styles, and road conditions. I have never personally seen the window sticker mileage on any car I've owned or driven. Didn't MythBusters do a few episodes on mileage?

Good call. Don't spend your hard earned money on something that you are not happy with.

From what I've seen, they don't measure up for commercial use either. Transit Connect dominates the commercial market. Nissan NV200 was selected as the NY Taxi. But passenger versions aren't purchased at the retail level. The only passenger Nissans are sold as fleet purchase for disabled transport companies, taxi cabs, and shuttle vans. Nobody buys the Ram or Chevy unless they get such a steep discount on pricing that they can't say no. I'll admit, that if I only needed a cargo van, I would prefer the Ford over Chevy, Ram, & Nissan.......unless one of those dealers offered a deal I couldn't refuse. A florist in my neighborhood bought 3 Nissan NV200. Dealer gave him $6,000 off sticker + extended warranty on each. Dollars & sense. He saved a great deal of money. Then I pointed out that Japanese car warranties are 3 years, and extended warranty made it 5 years.......Ford is a 5 year warranty for everybody. Not to mention that his commercial use would go to 60,000 miles way before 5 years. But still, he feels like he save $18,000.......although the local Ford dealer would have probably made a similar deal on the sale of 3 new vehicles. They would have just found 3 vehicles with $26,000 stickers and sold them for $20,000.

You are correct. The pre-drilled steel stock would not be an option. Life is never that easy. Remember in Rocky II, how Mickey had to tie down Rocky's right arm, in order to teach him to use his left jab?

Come on now. Renault has come a long way since The Le Car. Or maybe not.

Common hassle. Several post on this forum. It's human error. Someone used the wrong bolts. A dash kit is available for aftermarket stereo installation. You will run into issues with aftermarket stereos being compatible with your OEM equipment....i.e. steering wheel controls. Most aftermarket backup cameras have a ground wire, a power wire which taps into the reverse lamps, and a video cable. The video cable easily plugs into any aftermarket stereo unit with a video feed. From what I've seen, any simple unit will do. I installed a $12 backup camera sourced from Amazon. Simple. Cheap. Works perfectly. Do a search, and you will see that there are already forum threads on how to install the cameras.

I agree. Take a test drive. Take more than 1. Drive all the trim levels. Drive the competitors. Chevy City Express, Ram ProMaster, Nissan NV200, Mercedes Metris. See for yourself, what you can buy, or can't buy. For comfort, Mercedes will pamper your passengers more. I believe that Ford is better for utility and hauling. Once you drive the Ram, Chevy, & Nissan, you will rule them out. None of those will be suitable as a family wagon. But you need to go out there and drive the cars. It's the only way.

In the days of Yore & YesterYear, 5150 had more hair on his head, donned a Members Only jacket as his daily apparel, and drove a 5.0. 5150 no longer has hair on his head, a Members Only jacket, or the 5.0. 5150 still has 16 spark plugs, brand new in the box, for the 5.0. The spark plugs are also used on the 1st generation Transit Connect. If anyone wants them, they are yours. Make me an offer. These are AutoLite XP104. Yes. I know. All the talk of using only MotorCraft parts. Especially ignition parts. I can tell you that I got these on sale, and there was a rebate. Now, I don't remember how cheap they were. But I do remember that is why I bought 2 dozen (like eggs). Current pricing is about $5 a plug. So I probably got them for a lot less. The 8 I installed ran flawlessly. No problems what-so-ever in the 5.0. I'm not saying that there was any advantage, or power gain, or increased mileage. I am just saying that they worked. No misfires. Keep in mind that I am not a store. You don't get a receipt. You don't get a warranty from me. I'm just a guy who has extra parts I can't use.

If a Chrysler Pacifica depreciates at such a fast rate, do you want to be the next owner to lose more money on it? If the Pacifica is so good, why are all the owners giving them up instead of keeping them? I suspect that Chrysler Pacifica may have a lot more mechanical issues than what the Transit Connect owners deal with. The data on the spreadsheet does not give real world facts in evidence. Spreadsheet is raw data. Not analyzed. Tell your wife that the Chrysler Pacifica probably drops in value so fast, because it's a bad car, and people can't wait to get rid of it. Better cars hold their resale value. Your wife sounds a lot like one of my girlfriends. Analyst in the financial sector. Every bit of due diligence was fed into her computer. She looked at every piece of information available. Including the test scores of schools in the area, even though she doesn't have kids. After much research on price per square foot, Crimes Against People & Crimes Against Property stats, statistics on homes built prior to a certain year without modern building codes & relevance to maintenance cost, studying transit maps and commute times, analyzing walking distance goods & services........Amenities like doorman, pool, gym, dry cleaning, WiFi, tennis courts, and a latte machine in the lobby, manned by a barista, slinging complimentary espresso for the tenants. She decides on a great deal on a home! She's ready to make an offer! She brought me along since I offer real world insight. 5150 looks at the real estate broker, shakes his head, and removes his Pendleton to reveal a holstered Colt .45 Government Model. 5150 says, "you've got to be kidding me with this!" A brand new luxury property sandwiched between active railroad tracks and local utility company's electric substation with 2 square blocks of transformers. Just as the train came into the station, with bells & whistles, the real estate girl says, "it's not that bad, you'll get used to it".

Has any forum member sent in a sample for Used Oil Analysis?

Raise the roof.

You can buy steel stock with holes at just about every building supply store.