Fifty150

It sounds like you bought the right van for your needs. In other markets, vans are a lot more popular. Many more models to choose from. Honda has a StepWgn which is even nicer than the Odyssey.

I know a couple of guys who spray paint public transit with community art displays. For a small fee, they could probably decorate your transit connect with that design.

We need a donor Transit Connect for the next Scooby Doo film.

Over the top? The paint? The interior? The girls with big hair? Those guys are at another level of being car guys. A Jay Leno level, and then some. Lowrider hydraulics sounds just like what you need. You need "front & back, and side to side". '

Never heard of Galpin?

There is method to the madness. My local dealership is the regional Ford Performance dealership. Ford Performance / Ford Racing parts can either be bought retail and/or installed at my local dealership, or available to shops from a regional distributor an hour away. If you were to order superchargers, crate engines, exhaust kits, et cetera, and you want Ford Racing parts so that it is dealer installed and your warranty is intact; Serramonte Ford is the only authorized dealer. All the other dealerships have to order from Serramonte Ford. New cars with warranties are sent to Serramonte Ford for the installation. Kind of like how Galpin Ford in The SouthLAnd is a Ford Performance / Ford Racing dealership. I am filing a claim with California Department of Transportation. CalTrans is responsible for the roadway and maintaining it in safe, operating condition. The state's poor maintenance caused damage to my vehicle, which otherwise would not have occurred, if roadway were properly maintained. Dealership wants to inflate the estimate, which is standard practice when writing estimates for OEM parts and service. Same way you see a $30,000 sticker price on a car, which you will buy for $25,000 out the door. Ford Racing rep says that for $$$XXX, I can collect the claim, pocket some of the money, and they will be able to put all new tires and alloy rims on the Transit Connect.

estimate from dealer #2, The Ford Store

I like it. Lowrider hydraulics on Transit Connect. I got front & back, and side to side.

Gullwing doors with hydraulics in the suspension. Doors will no longer be a prolem and you can get custom made wheels as wide as you want. Van lowers in Park to where tire fills entire wheel well. shift into drive or reverse, van raises to allow for proper steering and turning.

Star Trek had a flip phone.

Cut the door

https://wsvn.com/news/local/hallandale-beach-commission-gets-heated-after-mayors-comment-on-sphincter-bleaching/

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article216726340.html

80's imaginary technology and David Hasselhoff Dream big, my friend.

The code section you are looking at covers tractor trailers. In excess of 40,000 lbs is an 18 wheeler. In CA, Vehicle Code 27600. No person shall operate any motor vehicle having three or more wheels, any trailer, or semitrailer unless equipped with fenders, covers, or devices, including flaps or splash aprons, or unless the body of the vehicle or attachments thereto afford adequate protection to effectively minimize the spray or splash of water or mud to the rear of the vehicle and all such equipment or such body or attachments thereto shall be at least as wide as the tire tread.

That is nice. What do you do with the other bikes, since that rack only carries 2? My brother-in-law has been talking about buying an adult tricycle for my sister. Only problem with that is there is no way to transport it. And I am not about to follow them around with their family's bicycles in the back of my pickup. Or fold down the rear seats in the Transit Connect to follow them around with her tricycle. Obvious solution is just to lend them the truck or the van, since I can't drive both at the same time. But the both of them have a habit of striking deer. Funny thing about deer who aren't being hunted, they do not have a fear of people. Even though you are not suppose to, people still hand feed deer, turkey, geese, and whatever else wanders down into the city. I'm waiting for an idiot to hand feed a mountain lion.

Your insurance guy is sharper than you think. If you didn't stop and question it, he would have sold you a more expensive policy, with a bigger commission. My insurance girl looked at me, kind of did a double take, and asked, "what are you doing with a car like that?" She knows me from the community, outside of the office, and knows my lifestyle. "No way! You bought a minivan? How many girls did you get pregnant?" She said that the biggest issue right now for their agency is all of these people with rideshare apps. She had to tell me, just like everyone else, that if you do not disclose that you are driving Uber or Lyft, and you get into an accident, you will have zero coverage. Even if you are just driving yourself, without a passenger, get into an accident, and you have those Uber & Lyft stickers on your car. Or if your car has a pink moustache. You can ride the moustache.

You owned your own shop, so you know, that there is no way that an independent shop can support more than a handful of guys, and those guys can't unionize against you. But mechanics who work for large corporations, dealerships, fleet service companies, trucking firms, rental agencies, and government will all be union. Imagine mechanics at the airport, the guy who wrenches the police department Harleys, the wrench turners @ Ryder, Costco, Hertz........not to mention all the car dealerships. Geography and demographics. A major metropolitan area, with a lot of Democrats. Unions make a lot of campaign contributions in their direction. Not to mention that the idea of unionization is very left wing. Ever wonder why all those communist groups purport to the "party of the worker"? You're banding together to take back what's yours, which was produced by your sweat, blood, & tears. So that the rich, fat, greedy capitalist stops profiteering from your agony. Interesting story is that I know this guy whose family operates a small electrical service business. Family business. Grandpa started it. His uncle took over. Most of the men, and some of the women in the family work there. Electricians. Run wire. Set up lighting. Install breaker panels and transformers. Nothing complicated. Uncle bid on a county contract and won the bid. They all had to join the union so that the family business could be awarded the contract to change lightbulbs at the courthouse, the jail, sewage plant, wherever. If the county workers in any department go on strike, the entire county is suppose to go on strike. So if the janitors walk off, the secretaries, mechanics, carpenters, clerks, teachers are all suppose to honor the strike line. We always joke about how awkward it would be at the dinner table when you have a picket sign and a bullhorn.

I think that the service manager knows that he is ultimately responsible for what those techs are doing, or not doing. And some, if not all of their activity, is at his direction. I can see how a car comes in for a recall, they take a look at it, park it in the back, return the car without doing the work, then bill Ford for the recall service. Same way lube shops, for years, sell customers on transmission and engine flushes, tell the customer to come back in a few hours, then never do the work but charge the customer. Common practice. A guy I know at a gas station (the owner) likes to have coffee, smoke cigarettes, and tell me about all the BS that other shops are known to do. Sell you a "premium synthetic oil change" and if you're not looking.......they will let 2 quarts out, top off with 2 new quarts, and wipe off the filter. The oil is whatever gunk that comes in a 55 gallon drum. Same way you have no idea what they are using when the lube tech pulls the dispenser gun from the wall. Even the most basic service, an oil change; they find a way to screw you out of the least amount of money, $16.95. Makes me think that even at the dealership level, there is dishonesty. After all, they cheat you when they sell you the car.