InTransit

EVERYTHING! I own a wood flooring shop. Me and my Transit wear many hats from estimating to deliveries. My pictures show a load not atypical for my truck.

The only issue would be that the hand brake sits betwwen the seats. I get a few 4' x 8' sheets in by pushing the passenger seat forward and then tilting it forward. The sheets fit on a diagonal from rear left to front right standing on edge. As "madlock" mentions due to the chicken tax the fold flat front seat can't come here until they build them here.

I have been looking for proper load rated tires for my TC for a couple weeks now without any luck. Has anyone bought proper weight rated tires yet? I would imagine that those of you in the prairies/ plains areas must have snow tires on by now... We have yet to see the white stuff here in Lotusland but there have been possible snowfakes in the forcasts. The mountains are white (ready for the Olympics) but we are still happily green. I would appreciate any help on this.

I had a 2007 Ranger and it just did not work for me. I took it back at end of lease and waited for my TC which I ordered in March. This is exactly the kind of truck I've needed for my estimating, install and touchup work (I have crews that do most of my company's work - hardwood flooring) . You can carry a full sheet of plywood if you slide the passenger seat forward and put it in on a diagonal.

Hi Madlock, I think your choice to go with a wagon is probably best. My van is an XLT (only trim level in Canada) cargo van factory ordered in March, picked up on Aug 11, with no rear windows, RSC, and backup sensors. I use mine for work as my own truck and have hauled as much as 1300lbs (see my pix) but I do sometimes wish that I had a bit more seating options as I have a family of 5. When I ordered you could get seats only if you had side windows which would be bad for the security of the tools I carry. So I chose not to have windows over having rear seats. Our family vehicle is a Toyota Sienna AWD but once in a while my wife and I have to head off in different directions which can be interesting since she does not want to drive a vehicle with no rear windows. (I hope to replace the Toyota with an AWD full-size Transit in diesel, but no diesel-no Transit, are you listening Ford?) I will say that I love my little trucklette. I have never owned a car (only trucks) and this is the most fun to drive truck I've owned. I did a 300 Km round trip to a job in Whistler (again) yesterday in rainy conditions and it was still fun, and I still have 1/2 a tank of fuel left!!!

I don't think the TC's will be lonely for very long. On my way into my shop today I saw 2 other TCs.

Well that last picture explains a lot!! I think I'm going for the simple speaker upgrade myself. Fordbuff mentioned Alpine SPS 500's, now I wonder if that same speaker is here in Canada, or if they call it something else here.

Welcome! I have spent many hours staring at a computer screen filled with pictures, articles (some yours no doubt) and spec sheets hoping that this truck would finally make it here. That started over 3 years ago when I asked Ford Canada if they had a small turbo diesel van similar to the Mitsubishi Delica vans that are brought here in large numbers. My Ranger really didn't cut it for my business. They replied that there was the Transit (full size) but had no plans to bring it here. I kept on about this until I ran across an article saying it would be coming but as the Connect. That was well in advance of any official announcement and a few false starts (it almost didn't come as a result of the Euro exchange rate as I understand) and a few years I am now happily driving mine. I factory ordered it in March on the second day that the dealers online system allowed it. I'm sure my salesman was happy to get me off his back, I have sent him every item I ever found about the TC and as a result they ordered as many as they were allowed. He only has 2 left on the lot. It will be good to have someone in your position as part of the forum. Now just go and buy one...

I like the middle setting. When you turn the car off the lights come on before you open the door. You can see anything you need to bring with you on those dark rainy nights without getting soaked while the door is open. I live in Vancouver where rain is normal, sun is not. When you close the doors the light stays on for a bit if you don't hit the lock on the remote. If you do hit the lock, the lights turn off immediately. Well thought out.

I actually found the lights to be quite good. One thing is that the beam seams to have a very definite horizontal line as an upper cutoff so you are not ligthing up the objects above that. You can really see that on a dark forested bumpy road.

I have an XLT with just cab windows so I can't help you on the window questions. There is a jack for MP3s in the lower console in front of the gear selector (I want to say stick , but we all know it's automatic.) I factory ordered mine with backup sensors (no back windows) and RSC (stability package). I have driven some pretty curvy roads and highways and this handles more like a car than a truck, even with a load. Like REC said get used to playing car salesman, I even carry my salesman's business cards with my info on back. If he sells one based on my recommend he reward$ me. I now find excuses to drive this truck instead of my cube van and have used the 1600 lb payload a few times. 10' materials (strips, narrower boards) will fit from windsheild to back doors, that one surprised me. I have also carried 4' x 8' plywood standing up on a diagonal with the passenger seat pushed forward.

Do you ever get the feeling that you are living the movie "Idiocracy"? After watching that movie, things like throwing out perfectly good new auto components almost seem normal to me... Why don't the Ford dealers get a couple of those seats for possible resale?

Thanks for posting this info. Any chance that you could post some pics? Most of us are probably a bit cautious of poking around a brand new vehicle.

Here in Canada we only get the XLT so a lot of your dilemas about which to choose down south are easy for us. I factory ordered mine in March so I chose back up sensors (since I only have cab windows) and RSC stability package. I had to do an estimate in Whistler (Oh Darn!) and had a blast driving up the Sea-to Sky highway. I even had to use the cruise control so that I wouldn't get a ticket for excessive speeding (everyone speeds, but for a bit I was passing too many BMW's, Audi's etc for my comfort). The backup sensors are great even though I'm used to driving on mirrors with my E350 cube van. The payload capacity is amazing. At a recent customer appreciation day at one of my suppliers I loaded up on various fillers, finishes, levelling compound and other heavy items. I was parked near the entry so everyone gathered around the BBQ could see us loading. Several guys said to us that we shouldn't punish a little truck like this. I don't know how many time I had to explain that the payload was better than most of their vehicles. The drive back to our shop was a non-event as the TC handled very well. I've got to say that braking power on this truck is phenomenal! I've included a few pics of the load that we picked up at our supplier.

As far as I've seen so far the answer is no. See the "hauling" section below in the tech section.

I found that Thule makes custom fit roof racks for the Transit Connect. There are 2 models as described below in the email I got back from RackAttack. ------------------------ "HI we carry the THule 460 and 460 rapid aero bar system for that vehicle. The 460 is $455 and the 460r is $535 once you have the base rack any of the Thule accessories will fit onto them. Parts needed for base rack RB47, 460r,Fit kit 3021 and 4pack locks, or 50" bars, 460, fit kit 3021 and four locks. If you have any questions feel free to call 604.526.RACK(7225)" ----------------------- These prices are from a dealer here in Vancouver and are in CDN$. Now to find a canoe...

I have followed this introduction for the last 3 years and finally have mine. I also would have liked the diesel but couldn't wait any longer. There has consistently been a demand on all the TC article comment sections for the diesel and just as adamant a response by Ford that we will only see the gas engine. At one point the whole TC project was looking in doubt, but it is here and selling well so I guess if Ford can put together an engine like the VW products it may happen. I suspect that with enough of us constantly demanding better milage they may give in?? The milage is not as good as the Euro-diesel TC's but it is miles better than my old Aerostar AWD. I just did a trip from Vancouver to Whistler (250 km round trip) and some local city driving as well totalling 480 km on about 45 litres of fuel. The truck was not empty and I wasn't easy on speed (1:40 hours to Whistler).

Sorry just tried that today! Oops that's the mute button for when you get a phone call.

There is a towing/hauling section in the technical section below. I don't think this is rated for towing, at least not officially. You could probably search for hitches on line. If it it is rated you should find hitches made for the TC. As for the windows I assume you mean in the fixed panels behind the sliding doors? I see no reason why an after market camper type window would not work since it is only sheet metal on the upper part. Unfortunately we don't seem to be getting the Tourneo Connect (at least not yet) which is the full passenger version. Having said that I don't think the Tourneo comes with the high roof.

I'm no expert on Bluetooth but my XLT radio has a button with a phone symbol on it. I'm guessing that is the connection button, but I do not use Bluetooth (yet).