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Um, I have used ABS in both my cars and motorcycles. I have only had one instance of an ABS "light on". In the last 18 months I have ridden 20,000 miles on my motorcycle. Only time Ive had ABS kick in was slow speed. However I still want it for that one panic stop. Maybe I missed something want as quick to react whatever. Don't plan to use it but want the safety net. Same reason I wear all the gear when riding. In case I go down. Having spent months getting over a shattered kneecap and and a concussion from a 15MPH crash on a scooter. I'll take the gear and the ABS every time. My previous motorcycle and current one both would give a pulse feeling thru the bars and brake lever. Today I got a bump out of it in a parking lot at low speed when I thought a minivan was pulling in from of me - they stopped. A while back ABS totally saved me in my Volt, someone moved over in front of me going much slower - maybe 20 in a 55, I was doing the speed limit! Had s situation on my motorcycle which was very quick and only had a few pulses from the ABS but made the difference between a lockup or not. My experience with stability control is more like @sKiZo describe above. Lints up like a Christmas tree but don't feel so much. LOL I've done that in the Volt when I forgot that it doesn't corner like my sports bike did. The traction control on my ZX6R 636 would give bars that counted up to where it would start intervening. On that bike I did have one very hard stop from 70MPH on an exit ramp. I got one bump out of the ABS which indicated to me that I was right at the limit. I think on some vehicles it is possible to disable ABS by pulling a fuse but I would never disable as I can maybe match it on a good day but certainly not in the less optimal days. The older I get the more I like the nannys looking after me as long as I'm in control and they are assisting.

LOL you beat me to the PlastiDip, love the photo! I was reading the thread and was thinking the same thing. In the LWB model the rear seats are relatively easy to remove - 4 bolts each and then lift them out. They are not super heavy but certainly not light. With the middle seats folded "flat" there is 58" from the rear door to the back of the seat. It sticks up 7 or 8 " above the floor. I haul one of my scooters in the rear a lot. Remove the back seats fold middle seats "flat" put a WeatherTech mat down with a 3x3 MDF board on top. Roll scooter in and let the front wheel drop down between the two middle seats. I have hauled scooters from 165 pounds to 250 pounds. I have not taken the middle seats out just fold them flat so not sure what is involved with removing them. When looking check the rear door - I have the lift gate which makes a nice cover in the rain. Look at the vertical clearance at the door, particularly with the rear seats folded. Better than most vans but less than the total interior headroom. Note I have the 6 passenger Titanium van in creeper white. When I bought was looking for a good deal and that is what was available - not my first choice but better than black in the summer. Red would be one of my favorites.

That is nice, must be the same mechanic that filled my motorcycle with water instead of coolant! Did you swap all the mounts or just the rear?

Interesting and perplexing. I think the glass shattering is a clue. I would look at the latch and the rubber bumpers (the tailgate rests against when closed) to make sure it is closing and latching properly. I would look for something that is not holding the tailgate in place and allowing it to move. If the glass is shattering it possible is under tension or pressure either at rest or while moving. Years ago my wife had the glass in the sliding door in her Safari van shatter while driving down the road. It was replaced under warranty. it would tilt out at the bottom and was secured by one or two latches. Once is random, twice is not.

Congrats on the new van. Now I'm curious about the dealer. I have a cousin in Chattanooga that has a TC, think it is a 2018 SWB. LOL, seeing the comments about the TC being the small vehicle. It's the opposite for me. Mine lives with a Chevy Volt and a Smart car. Smart car is my wife's, she doesn't drive any of my vehicles! She doesn't like the Volt, it is different and hard to see out of at times, particularly when backing up. The van she describes as huge. Not sure what happened to her, for years she drove our kids around in a Safari van. I hear you on the clutch. I used to ride a motorcycle to work most days, it was bad when I got stuck in stop and go traffic having to constantly work the clutch. Volt is fantastic in stop and go traffic. Yesterday I picked up 6 5/4x6 by 8' boards. With the seats folded they fit behind the passenger seat with it all the way forward and the back leaned forward. I folded an IKEA bath mat and put under the front and that gave me a 1/4" to 1/2" clearance. Very versatile van.

Welcome, I think you will find it to be a great vehicle. I have a 2016 (which came from Knoxville TN) and really enjoy. I grew up in Chattanooga and had to look to see where Granview is. The TC is an under appreciated vehicle and there are some great deals on them. I bought mine in late 2017 when the 2018s were out. It hauls scooters, twin grandkids, 91 YO mother-in-law, Christmas trees, TV's and other stuff from Costco and pulls a small trailer. I recommend getting the big WeatherTech floor mat for the rear area - it goes over the seats when they are folded and makes cleanup much easier when hauling stuff like Christmas trees and scooters. When hauling one of my scooters I usually take the rear seats out and put the floor mat down and a piece of MDF board on top. Mine has been very reliable and generally they are reliable vehicles. I think the transmission is the weakest link in the drivetrain and I would recommend a complete flush if it has 50,000 miles on it. The fluid is not lifetime as Ford seems to think but they really didn't do a good job with provisions for draining and filling. As a mechanic you should have no difficulty with that. There are several threads on here about changing the transmission fluid. That said there are many folks with 100,000 miles on the TC and no transmission issues at all. I primarily use mine for long trips unless I have something to haul locally (like MIL or Grandkids). Something that is fantastic about the wagon is that the seat height is very good for people getting in and out. My MIL has very bad arthritis and the seat is easy for her to get in and out of. Biggest aggravation I've had was when the grandkids started using the car seats as booster seats the reach to plug the seat belt in was almost too far for them to reach. I go a couple of short extenders to get the buckle closer to them and so far that has worked well. Sometime i pick them up from kindergarten and we go to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Their mother enjoys a couple more hours of "free" time.

The GPS receiver on my 2016 is a black lump on the roof above the driver. The satellite radio sensor and the sensor for the rain sensing windshield wipers are in a bulky rear view mirror mount. That doesn't look like anything I have. I have the Titanium with factory navigation and Ford MyTouch.

WOW that is a cool project! What you have done really brings out the Gen 1 shape - yea its a box but a box with character. Love builds like this. Looks like pic set 3 didn't come thru properly.

I have a 2016 Titanium with 18,000 miles. It mostly sits in the garage but don't have any of those issues you mentioned. The middle row bucket seats are sometimes a bit cranky about unfolding. Usually it is because something is wedged under it and puts pressure on the latch mechanism which takes more effort to release. I haven't greased mine but probably would help a bit as well - doesn't need much. Drivers sun visor sags a bit but no rattles. Passenger visor is good.

Not good, have it on my 2016 and have not had a single issue. My son even ran my Volt into the back of it and bumped one of the sensors. No issues at all. Seeing all the 2019 issues which I think are more issues than I have seen for all the other years put together makes me think it is a device or software issue rather than a sensor issue. Maybe wiring error during assembly - lots of vehicles have this system and seems to be a reliable system.

LOL, no she doesn't but sounds like her!

Nice! Love the red color, would have been my preference but got what I could - my youngest daughter calls it creeper white! But WOW what a change from a Miata to a TC. Mine feels like a sports car compared to my Volt. Ive nearly run it off the road forgetting that I was in the car not on my bike or the van and went into a curve a bit too hot - fun to watch the stability control light up like. For a van the TC actually handles pretty well, have not checked the limits but it corners nice and flat. Miata is a very nice car to track particularly with the coil overs. My best Miata story is: Taking photos at the exit of a corner, heard a bang, first thought was a car had hit the ARMCO in the braking zone (that's unusual). At that point a Miata comes slowly around the corner being trailed by the right front tire - yes the tire. Most of the rim is still on the car. A brake caliper is tumbling beside the Miata on the drivers side. I have a photo of the caliper on end next to the car as it is tumbling. Cause of the carnage was driver brakes hard (its a track) right front rotor breaks and then rips the caliper off which in turn breaks the rim, not enough rim so tire says see ya later. Car was back out a couple of sessions later. It was a race peeped Miata. I have my fun on two wheels, currently ride a BMW F800GT primarily on long trips. Prior to the BMW had a Kawasaki ZX6R 636 ABS and a CBR600RR. Last summer made two trips to Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, South Dakota, North Dakota and Iowa. Went out thru Arkansas and Missouri. Think you will like the TC, mine is a Titanium in the 6 passenger configuration - being able to walk thru to the 3rd row is nice. My 3rd row seats are out about half the time, I haul my scooter to the race track for transportation there. Front wheel fits nicely between the middle seats. Scooter in the pic is my Honda Metropolitan, usually take the Kymco Compagnia 110i which is about the same size but with a bigger fuel injected motor - 60MPH on 10" wheels! The TC is so incredible versatile, take it on trips with lots of stuff inside, haul people inside. It is great for older folks as the seats are easy to get in and out of. Has my 91yo mother-in-law around in it. She has very bad arthritis and it is very easy for her to get in and out of. Have twin grandchildren almost 6 YO and they ride in it a lot. Doesn't have the drop down video screen like their mothers Odyssey but it handles much better. Have hauled dishwashers, ovens, stoves, kids stuff for the consignment sale, furniture and other stuff. I have a small trailer which I use for lumber and really big stuff. The TC handles it all without a problem. I see you are in the southern plains, can't say about snow because here in the south when it snows it is best to keep the car in the garage due to the abundance of folks who don't know that you need to go slower in the snow. Seriously it is downright laughable what a little bit of snow does here. I bought mine with the intention of camping but haven't done that yet - all of my camping has been tent camping with my motorcycle. I have the WeatherTech mats in the front and center and the big mat that goes over all of the seats when they are folded flat. The big one has been fantastic. I use it with or without the rear seats in. For scooter hauling process is take seats out, put mat down, put a 3x3 piece of MDF on top of it (for the center stand of the scooter). Roll scooter in and let the front wheel go between middle seats - it mends the mat down but that protects the seats. When I'm done I can take the mat out and the carpet is clean and nice. Read some of the threads about the transmission, it's not bad but there are some questions about changing the fluid. A lot of folks think it is a good idea to change the fluid between 30,000 and 50,000 miles. My plan is to do a complete flush at 30,000 miles, Im currently at 18,000 miles. For short trips and around town I take the Volt and save the van for longer trips and when hauling mother-in-law or something big.

Think its a good decision to put a new transmission in. Years ago our Ford Taurus SW ate a transmission while on vacation. Local AAMCO charges us a huge amount for what turned out to be a very poor rebuild. Local AAMC made a comment like wish I could get that much. He found a motor mount issue which I think had been there a very long time. Trans rebuilt by Ford at 11,000 miles (under warranty), again at 49,000 by AAMCO and when we traded it on a GMC Safari van at 98,000 miles it was not right. My last Ford until the TC. Was hoping they had learned something about transmissions in the meantime. The Safari van made 200,000 miles of school kid transportation before being retired. I had the transmission flushed about every 60,000 miles and had no trouble. I plan on doing that with the TC every 40,000 to 50,000 miles. Most of it's miles are interstate. As for the lifetime fluid I have a VW Rabbit (2008) bought new and have had the fluid changed one and will get it changed again soon - it has an Asain transmission which I think is similar to the TC transmission. Amazingly similar powertrains - bothe 2.5 liter 150HP except the VW has a 5 cylinder and the TC a 4 cylinder. I do hear of TCs that have lots of miles and have had no problems so not a guaranteed failure. Nowdays better to get something fixed at first sign of trouble.

Grom is a great little bike - much more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow! When I had my super sport bikes it was really frustrating to just putter along in the neighborhood, my scooter is much more fun to ride locally. 200 pounds 110cc fuel injected so it will go pretty good. I haul it in the van, It fits with the rear seats folded - I have 6 passenger version so front wheel goes between middle seats. Usually I take rear seats out and put board on the floor. I have an old Holsclaw dirt bike trailer that I added wood deck to. Handy for hauling wood and stuff and it is very small and light. Northern Tools has an aluminum trailer that is small and would be great for hauling the Grom. The Holsclaw trailer is very light and tows great behind the van - hard to see in mirrors though.

I bought mine about 2 years ago, looked at used and wound up buying a new Titanium that was 2 model years old at the time. Got a great deal on it and only spent about 3,000 more than the nice used ones were. Mine does have the factory hitch which I wanted. You can inspect it to see how much wear and tear it has to get an idea of what it has done. As others point out if used would get the transmission fluid changed. Mine lives in a garage and generally only makes long drives. I have the navigation package along with the Ford MySync (before Sync 3) which I wanted, leather 6 passenger seating and driving lights. I recommend the Sync 3 and navigation if you can. The large screen is nicer for the backup camera and dialing the phone from a voice command is vey important if you make phone calls from the van. Navigation is good (not perfect) and uses cell phone data for updates on traffic conditions. Also bought the WeatherTech floor mats plus the large mat that goes over the back seats when folded. I have used it a lot even when just folding the back row down. I like the 6 passenger version as I can walk from the middle to the back and the space between the middle seats is perfect for the front wheel of my scooter.

I have the wagon version but don't have any experience with unimproved roads. Around here those types of roads have deep ruts and would not work with the TC, however the Excort wagon doesn't seem like it has much more if any more ground clearance although the wheelbase of the TC is longer. Could you rent a TC and give it a test drive? As for trailers I pull a small one without any trouble.

Interesting, not sure how much zip it will have but electric + 1 liter engine might be enough. Have a 1st gen Volt and it is a great vehicle.

maybe a backup alert?

getting back to the original question: I would probably lean towards the 2.0 with the new transmission. Font think there will be much difference between the 2.5 and 2.0 in terms of durability but the new transmission should be better. The 2.0 has more gears in the transmission and will shift more times but otherwise will be similar. Not sure about the long term effects of shifting a lot. If the area you live in is relatively flat it may not make a difference. Where I live there are lots of hills which kills the gas mileage on my 2016. As G B L suggests drive both then pick the one you like the best. I'd pick the better price. I bought a new one which was a model year old at the time but got a much better price and was able to get more stuff. I really enjoy the versatility. Recently folded all the seats flat and put the big WeatherTech mat over them and loaded it up with stuff for my daughter to take to a consignment sale. Went to lunch with some friends so took the mat out and folded the seats up and we had pleanty of room. Tomorrow will take the two rear seats out so I can haul my scooter to the racetrack for the motorcycle races this weekend. Will probably move the car seats over so can shuttle the 5 1/2 YO twin grandkids to school and back. In a couple of weeks will take 91 YO mother-in-law to visit relatives out of town. For the disco lovers and haters I'm old to have been married and working during that era. Last week got back from a 5,300 mile camping trip to Crater of the Moon and Glacier Nation Park along with a stopover in Minot ND on the way back. However didn't take the TC, took my BMW - the one with two wheels. 5,300 miles in 16 days just me and my motorcycle!

Might want to look at charging system, batteries can have premature failures but generally are very reliable (even if they fail very predictably). Its also possible that something is draining the battery. My son-in-laws VW had a fuel pump relay that wasn't shutting the fuel pump off when it was parked - ever noticed how some vehicles will run the fuel pump when you open the drivers door? Over several days it would drain the battery. Many years ago I made a voltmeter on a cigarette lighter plug that I could check the voltage with - this was sooooo long ago the voltmeter is an analog one! For $13 ++++ you can get a voltmeter USB adapter from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Jebsens-Charger-Battery-Monitor-Voltage/dp/B01N00I4TM/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=usb+adapter+voltmeter&qid=1568725368&sr=8-4

Mine had just over 10,000 miles - may have been 10,200. I don't follow it have been changing every 5,000 to 7,000 miles. A lot of miles are interstate miles. I have been using the oil change monitor on my Volt which have very intermittent engine operation. It's currently at 15% oil life left and will change it soon. My motorcycle has a 6,000 mile service interval. I bought an unlimited milage service plan when I bought the bike. Makes it simpler for keeping the warranty intact. In 14 months just had the 3rd service done and about to leave on a 5,000 mile trip and will probably have the 4th done by Thanksgiving. At that point I will be ahead on the costs with a year and a half left.

I would read codes and look to see if low voltage is among them, could be something totally different or could be a voltage dip during starting if your battery is getting weak. My MIL had a problem with her Lincoln MKC (a cousin), the traction control off message was showing up. Dealer said ABS was off in addition to TC. Turned out they needed to reset the module. In her car it was set off by low voltage due to a battery replacement (car was new but sat on lot and battery went dead). When they fixed it something was said about there was a software issue Ford was working to resolve, something about hers not having all the options and therefore the module didn't reset properly and threw a fault. Not sure how the dealer reset the module but it was a simple procedure with their diagnostic/software package. The list of codes thrown was pretty long but one of them was low voltage - I read the codes with Forescan and my interface. I was reluctant to do anything other than read codes as it was a new vehicle - a week after purchase.

Not sure how it would look, maybe you could add some usb ports in the cubby. My Volt has a cubby on top of the dash with a cigarette lighter which makes a very hand place to plug in a Garmin (don't have built in navigation) or charge my cell phone. Ive seen other kits that are just for a big radio - Crutchfields has one.

LOL, had a Auris rental one time, always wondered what flavor of Toyota it was! I wasn't bothered enough to look it up though. Last year I had a C-Max Grand rental which as near I could tell was a C-Max with two jump seats in the back. Don't think it was the hybrid version so maybe they got the space from where the battery was. Interesting stuff. I remember back in the 70's and 80's the european cars were very different from US cars. For a while seemed like they were more similar but now they seem very different. Of course there is the BMW Supra that can be serviced at a Toyota dealership ......

I have them on my 2016 TC Titanium - mine even flow back when it is locked. I love to park next to a Mercedes and have my mirrors folded back :-)