PhotoAl

Welcome! I think you will enjoy the TC. I have a '16 as well. Bought it new back in late November - they didn't chase me down and beg me to take it but almost! I did a lot of reading and research before buying as well. They are a well kept secret that Ford seems determined to keep a secret. At the sales meetings I'm sure they have reminders like "don't tell anyone about the TC wagon..." I have the same wheels as you and they are a little difficult to clean but have had worse. I bought the WeatherTech mat for the back which goes over the seats when folded down. I've hauled two double ovens and a dishwasher (but not at the same time :-) ). In the last week I've hauled my Honda Metropolitan scooter as well. Have to take the mirrors and top case off and I put a MDF sheet over the back two two thirds of the cargo area. The front wheel rolls off the board and sinks into the gap between the two middle seats. The kickstand has a lock which is nice and a couple of straps ton the back to keep it from sliding forward and it rides very nicely. I'll post up some photos in a couple of days when I recover from too much fun and travel and motorcycles. I'm currently rebuilding an old Holsclaw three rail dirt bike trailer to haul my scooters or sport bike on. The scooter would be a real easy haul with the rear seats removed but is a little tight with them in.

My TC generally sits in the garage except the last couple of weeks I've been working on my trailer. It's an old Holsclaw DB-9 two rail dirt bike trailer. TC was driven once during the time. Mostly it's the Volt but if the weather's nice I'll take one of the scooters to the grocery store. sometime I take the Kawasaki Ninja out for fun :-). Going to the track tomorrow to take photos so loaded my small scooter in the back on top of the seats. It fits very nicely and since it only weights 165 pounds is not too much. Next time I'll probably take out the back seats but leave the middle ones in. Have it tied down using the two car seat rings in the back. It was a tight fit to get it in the rear opening but went thru OK. About the point it would have hit the roof above the middle seats the front wheel rolled into the space between the two seats. I have a WeatherTech mat with a 1/2'" MDF board on top. For a short drive it is OK. When I get the trailer finished I'll post up a writeup. It's small and has a capacity of 700 pounds which I think makes it ideal for the TC. Putting 12" wheels with radial tires which actually have a speed rating on it.

Agree with you BetaDon. I went almost 300 miles to get my new 16 back in November. However the deal was really good and I got everything I wanted and then some. Wish you the best on the Volt, I have a '13 I bought very quickly from a local dealer that was much more interested in selling Suburbans and Tahoes and wanted to get rid of the Volt. I went thru Costco and they came off the Costco price the evening I looked at it and the following morning called me up and offered another $700 off. It is an incredible car. For the first two years I went to Chattanooga almost every weekend which is 300 to 350 miles round trip due to my mother being ill. Electric was great and the ability to run gas was invaluable. It has been on several longer trips but really shines around town. Something I've had a bit of difficulty adjusting to with the TC is having to remember to check the gas gauge and go by the gas station when it gets low. It sounds crazy but the Volt usually has between 60 and 130 miles of gas plus the battery. If I run the battery down then it just switches to gas which is usually just 5 or 10 miles and that happens maybe once a week. Haven't driven the newer Volt but my generation runs pretty good from 8 to 50 MPH and it is reputed to do 100 on battery. I have had a good bit of fun at traffic lights playing with other vehicles, surprised a Fiat 500 Abarth once. My twin 4 year old grandkids like the Volt better than the TC because of the display which shows the battery wheels and engine. They tell my how many bars the battery has used up and we have good conversations about how the battery supplies the engine going level and uphill and how it charges the battery when stopping or going down hills.

Welcome, I like the color. I have a 2016 Titanium bought new in lat November of '17 - got an incredible deal and I traded a 2008 VW Rabbit (Golf). Now my VW collection is down to a Rabbit and a Jetta wagon. I like the painted wheels, I have the other 17" wheels and they are a hassle to wash. I would have not bought the folding mirrors but have really enjoyed them. I have a shelf unit on the drivers side in my garage and use the folding mirrors to clear when opening the door! Maybe it's because my Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R lives between the two cars in the garage so I have a bit less room. If you are pulling a trailer or have a bike rack on the back there is a switch to turn the parking sensors off. I haven't used it yet as my trailer is complete apart being repainted and repaired but expect to use it soon. This is a great forum and there are lots of helpful folks as well as some great tips. Bought the WeatherTech floor mats for the from and center seats and the big mat for the rear with all of the seats folded down. So far have hauled some lumber, a double oven twice, a dishwasher and a bunch of stuff from IKEA. When hauling the appliances I used the mat and put a piece of MDF on top of it to spread the load and it worked great. Only change to that I'd make is using a rubber mat over the MDF for sliding resistance. They were strapped down but still like have no movement.

Curious as to what the problem is in the snow. We get it rarely down here and if you know how to drive in the snow the best thing to do is park in your garage because everyone else drives like it is raining i.e speed up! Oh and those who have 4 wheel drive PU trucks think they are invincible but not for long. Somewhere I have a photo of three trucks parked side by side, all going to same direction on a two lane road. Oh and when it starts to melt most forget about the shady side of the hill still having snow and ice.

I've had other cars where the solenoid that locks it in park was sticking or the switch on the brake pedal was not getting the signal to the solenoid. It was either the Smart car or one of the VW's. I wound up not replacing anything but working with one of the parts and it was sticking (now isn't that a nice description kind of like "I fiddled with it and it worked)!

I purchased this OBD interface from Amazon for $29.99. It worked without a problem for me but some have had issues with it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F0GVBWY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I'm running Windows 7 64 bit on a Dell notebook and let it install the drivers it wanted when I plugged the device into the USB port - it was not plugged into the OBD port at the time. It did take a couple of attempts fiddling with the switch on the box to get it to work. I think one position is a demo mode or something.

I have very little real experience with maintenance on the TC's. Bought my 2016 in late November and it now has 1,500 miles on it! They are based on the Focus and share many parts with it. I looked under the hood and there is a lot of room under there. No silly engine cover with a built in (hard to get to) air cleaner like my VW's have. Compared to a turbo New Beetly it's a dream! The Forescan application is available for free and is a good electronic diagnosis tool that not only will read and reset codes but will do much more. I got a USB OBD interface from Amazon for $29.99. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F0GVBWY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Some have had difficulty with it but it worked fine for me - all I did was connect it and run the software. For now I'm back to the dealer till the warranty runs out. There are a couple of places that sell the full service manual. Depending on which version (PDF or PDF with hyperlinks or CD) the cost starts at $79 I think and goes up. I have found this board to be very helpful with questions. Therefore with Forescan, a service manual and the advice of members here it's my opinion service and repair will not be too difficult.

Welcome to the site. Sorry but don't have answers to your questions. A little more information about your TC such as commercial or passenger,which trim level (XL, XLT or Titanium) and which radio package. I have seen several posts discussing the backup camera and I think it also has something to do with radio modules. If you have not done already try searching for backup camera. Also there are a couple of threads that talk about service manuals. As I recall the cost is between $130 and $200 depending on PDF, PDF with links or on a disk. Hopefully others will be able to give more detailed responses on the wiring.

Update, my OHP ELMConfig USB tool arrived yesterday so I spent the evening washing and waxing the Volt! Almost didn't survive to get computer from son-in-loaw but after surviving a near miss got the computer. It's a Dell XPS 13" that's about 4 years old and is running 64 bit Windows Pro. Read the instructions on the OHP site, a bit scary, but plowed ahead and remembered my engineering background so closed that window! Plugged the module into a USB port and it was immediately recognized and Windows started searching for drivers. I let it go ahead nd search for the drivers using Windows update. First was a port driver like for a serial port and then a UISB driver. There were no issues, next I downloaded the free Forscan tool and installed it. Again using standard configuration location etc. Next I plugged the device into the OBD port on the TC, then plugged the USB cable into the computer (I unplugged it from the computer when I waled to the TC). Turned the ignition key to the On position and then started the Forscan application. Took some fumbling around, had to switch the switch on the OHC unit a couple of times - up was the correct position. The down position is maybe a demo mode. There are connect and disconnect icons on the bottom left of the Forscan window. I clicked on the Connect icon and it connected. Next it went thru and produced a list of modules - don't know but appears to be working. The mileage is in km and looked to be correct (with me doing quick math in my head). Almost didn't get the computer. My wife was busy painting artwork so I headed out for a late lunch at Chick-fil-A. It was warm so got the Honda Elite scooter 110cc 52mph and rode it. Had a brief rain shower which got the streets wet but I had my rain jacket on. Went up a steep hill with a 20mph speed limit that most people do 30 on. at the top there is a left hand turn. I'm just entering the turn when I see an SUV going the other way and way too fast. I photograph everything from gokarts to Indycars to MotoAmerica races and have seen many mistakes. I instantly knew they were so fast they would not make the turn! Sure enough the front wheels started sliding and the left front came over the center line about the time I got there. About that time the front got some traction and the rear started coming around as they went by. Watched in the rear view mirror as the proceeded to go off the the drivers right or inside the turn. There was a daily steep uphill bank at that point. Turned around and went back to see what had happened expecting they rolled. They slid sideways they grass and came to a stop at a right angle from the street and the rear wheels in the gutter. When I realized they were OK I had a couple of choice comments like "you almost killed me" as I was feeling a bit of stress. They maintained they were not going fast - my guess would be at least 40 if not 45 and on their was to a grandchild birthday party. I hung around till the policeman showed up, could fairly contain my laughter when his very first comment was "you were going too fast". Driver explained, he said "you were going too fast". He finally said "if you were going the speed limit you would not have slid off the street" Posted speed limit is 20 to 25 in that area. I didn't say anything as the policeman knew what had happened. They just missed a brick mailbox and a concrete driveway which may have caused it to roll over. I was wearing a full face helmet and leather gloves.

Thanks for the links. Mine will be here tomorrow. I thought about the wifi and bluetooth but prefer a wired connection. I have a 4 year old Dell notebook with Windows 7 that I'm going to use with it so we shall see. Hopefully I'' have an update tomorrow night or Saturday.

Looked at the OHP interface and went ahead and ordered. Now will have to get my Windoze laptop back from son-in-law and load up Forescan loaded. Will not be hard to get laptop as they will want babysitting services :-)

Another note on buying a used TC, apparently some of the earlier Gen 2 automatics have had some issues. At some point Ford made some minor changes to the seals and gaskets. There are some discussion on the board about changing transmission fluid. I wouldn't not buy one with higher miles, but would change the transmission fluid. I'm to sure if mine has the changes but irregardless I plan on changing fluid in the 50,000 mile range. VW had a similar issue around 2008 with their Aisin Warner transmission, said it was sealed for life but fluid needed to be changed at 70,000 to 80,000 miles with full synthetic being the best fluid. About the only fluid Ive seen that is really lifetime is coolant. Did extensive research a couple of years ago and in a clean system, the high quality European coolants last very well.

A bit long and rambling but hope my experience will help you. There is a switch to turn the parking assist off. I haven't used mine but have rear parking sensors and the factory towing package. When looking for mine most of the Titanium versions have the middle row captains chairs while most of the XLT's have the three seat configuration. I found several XLT's with captains chairs but had to look at the photos to make sure. It is possible to get three seats in leather on the Titanium so have to always check. I have the floor matts from weather tech and they are good. Didn't get the ones for the third row but will probably get it soon. Plan on taking the third row seats out in the spring and putting one of my scooters back there. Looks like the weatherTech mat will go in with the rear seats out. I will probably go the route of cutting a piece of rubber as depending on where I'm going and what I'm doing will have some or all of the seats out. I have the rubber mat from WeatherTech that goes in the back with all of the seats folded. I used it once so far and it was nice to have. The seats have panels which go over them when folded but there is a bit of an unsupported area between the middle seats and this helps give it a bit more strength. If you can get the roof racks that is nice as they are expensive when buying from the dealer. The towing package is nice but you could easily add a hitch. Between the 2014 and 2018's there are not many changes. One of the biggest is in 2017 the high end radio went to Sync 3 which is reportedly a much nicer interface. My 2016 has the Ford MyTouch with navigation and I don't have any complaints, radio works, I can make phone calls using voice commands and the navigation works well enough. I bought a new 2016 Titanium in late November after looking for several months. Don't know about the west coast but here in the south there were several new '16s available. I got mine for not much more that the price of a very nice used one. Very few in Alabama but several in central and eastern Tennessee along with Georgia and Florida. Interestingly there were none in the Memphis area or a bit further west. Hopefully my TC will make it to the west coast this year as we have a son in San Jose who is moving to Portland.

WOW cannot understand a dealer putting the under tray back on so badly! I'm at about 1,600 miles and thinking about an oil change but don't want that kind of service. Will go with synthetic oil for sure but, probably what I can get at Costco as the TC does't run high oil temperatures. Temperature is the biggest enemy of oil life, had a couple of VW 1.8 turbos which were the worst car I've ever seen for cooking the oil. I generally do all of my out of warranty work.

Like them as well, check load rating on wheel. Don’t think it will be an issue.

I'm partial to the factory setup, wiring is easier. My 2016 backup camera works great, no problem seeing at night or or day. Ive read a couple of comments about the image being dim at night. I've only briefly looked at head units. The number of choices are mind numbing. When I was shopping I was prepared to upgrade the stock system. Turned out the one I got has the Ford MyTough Sync with NAV (2016). so I didn't pursue the aftermarket option.

Cool, probably have photos of you from Barbers. Shot most of the CCS races there as well as WERA and AMA.

Plus 1 on being cautious. Your are in a great area for motorcycling. When did you race and which organizations? I've one a lot of race photography over the last 12 or 13 years.

Welcome! Nice TC and love the color. I looked at new and used and planned to put in an aftermarket head unit if it didn't have the NAV already. Crutchfields has good info on what it takes and a truly bewildering selection of head units. Traded a VW Rabbit in on my TC that came from a rental fleet. Daughter drove it until the twins came and I bought it from her for my son who gave it back after I bought him a Jetta wagon. It didn't seem too much the worse for being a rental. I have a Rabbit same year which I bought new and the difference between them was mostly due to one being outside all the time and the other spending the first 5 years of it's life in the garage - I rode a motorcycle most days to work so it truly was a garage queen. I'm impressed camping over the weekend near Cincy! That must have been cold. This was the first vehicle Ive bought in a while which wasn't a near panic decision to replace a car that was suddenly inoperable. Last car was because daughter's Beetle decided to regurgitate part of a valve. Had a Mercedes 190E (worst car Ive ever owned bought used from a friend with high mileage) crack a piston, parked it at the BMW dealer and test drove a 91 318iS. Dealer said take it home and think about it, they knew what would happen! That was the best and most fun car ever until my CBR600RR.

WOW, sounds like a limp mode! Was power normal. Mystified power steering was affected unless it was a more general electrical fault or computer was having a Microsoft day. I eagerly looking for updates and hope they get it solved quickly.

Congratulations on your soon to be purchase. I really like mine. I bought it a couple of months ago and had to drive 300 miles to get a new one. Purchased a new 2016 a couple of months ago without the sunroof. My concern was the extra heat it would let in. In my research on the vehicles I did not see anything unusual about leaking or cracking. It is a non opening glass panel so sealing should be pretty good. I did see some issues with the retractable cloth cover. Sunroofs are relatively common on XLT's and Titanium wagons from what I saw when looking so I'd think if there were a problem it would have showed up by now. I've had sunroofs before and the only problem I've had is the drains getting stopped up and leaking. Since the TC's sunroof is fixed it doesn't have that problem. My wife has a 2008 Smart car with the lean top and no problems but it lives in the garage. My son has a VW Jetta wagon with the giant sunroof that retracts and has had no problems. No these are't the same but maybe will help you. My Volt had a small chip in the front windshield, last fall driving out of my driveway, the hickory tree (or squirrel) carefully aimed a hickory nut at my windshield landing a less than two inches above the chip. Instant almost circular crack!!! Anywhere else and it would have just bounced off! Safelight fixed it no problems. Next year I may have some hickory firewood.

Good to know, I've got the factory hitch but looks like the weight limit is more of a GVW and towing capacity issue. Don't think I'd have any problems with the Metropolitan (50cc scooter) which is 165 lbs . If carrying the scooter would probably to have any real weight in the van. For longer trips will take the seats out and put it in the back of the van. Thinking I'll use a piece of plywood to bolt down to the seat bolts on one side an then strap the scooter to the board.

Welcome, it is very versatile. What attracted me was the ability to haul people or haul stuff or take seats out and haul more stuff and or camp in it. Plus it fits in my garage.

Great to hear about high mileage without major issues. Like the wheels, I have the 17" and they are intricate = difficult to clean. How much does your dirt bike weigh? I've thought about hauling one of my scooters but have held off due to the young weight limit of 200 pounds (for hauling). Honda Metropolitan is only about 165 pounds and the Elite 110 is about 250 pounds. Also have a ZX6R 636 but would put it on a trailer - have an old Holsclaw 2 rail dirt bike trailer I'm rebuilding for it.