Jiquay

Don't want to slime up a TPMS sensor but those cord plugs work well. If you live in colder climates, matches & candles would be a good addition in wintertime. Just don't put it on the dashboard or you'll crack the windshield. (Don't tell my boss I know this - now!) GK

He complained to the boss about my accusation, I told the boss about this exchange, the boss watched him & fired him within days...

I suspected someone was stealing gas a few years ago - put a locking gas cap on my pickup truck. About 4 months later, a colleague at work asked me about it. "SHHH! You, me & the guy stealing my gas are the only two people who know about that!" GK

I also play music (would not consider myself a "musician") & am anxiously awaiting my FTC to answer that eternal question: "How many ukulele players fit in a Transit Connect Wagon?" GK

A buddy runs a rustproof shop - white & silver rust quicker than almost all other colours, probably because the sun doesn't warm it as much as other paints & the condensation doesn't dry out of the door panels. Hence white & silver being on my 'no fly' list... GK

In stock 300 km away was a fully-loaded silver Titanium. (Silver & white are a definite no-go for me.) Calgary area had exactly the XL equipment list I want - black. 6-8 weeks. meh. My dealer had a naked XL on order. "Oh, we can install everything you want except the frost-free windshield..." White, 6-seater, and I've met some mechanics at dealerships - thanks, I'll wait. GK

Three months in, & I phoned my salesman - still no news... GK

Owners' manual for the '18 has recommended interval for auto transmission oil change at 240000 km - I don't even leave a manual trans oil that long! "Heavy service" interval is 96000 km - much more reasonable. GK

Realise that these jumper packs are good when you leave your headlights on. However, when your car is 15 years old & a hard starter, and it's -25 degrees out, they can't do much for you... not like jumper cables off a running car. Unfortunately, modern computer control systems in cars means a split-second inattention with old-fashion jumpers can cause $1500 damage in a heartbeat. GK

Also, good luck on the camper. I also camp in my Mazda B3000 and I'm gonna miss the 5-speed. I know the '19 FTC could tickle many of my fancies with 6-speed & turbodiesel, but I don't want a "first edition" on the North American market. GK

"Any colour you want, as long as it's white." Cargo van is available white, silver, red, black, or school bus yellow. Most companies want white to put their logo on it, so the dealers' stock is almost entirely white. Seeing a 6-month wait to get a custom-built FTC, you can understand why companies take what's on the lot. GK

I ordered a new '18 wagon 3 months ago - tired of going out to meet with friends & we decide "Let's go catch a film..." followed by "I can give one of you a ride in the pickup - the rest of you can catch a bus..." Tired of my ukulele club doing a road trip & always having to ride as passenger in the carpool group... If you're expecting the TC to be a truck or to be a full minivan, you'll be disappointed. If you realise that it's a Focus with a real big trunk, you're golden. GK

I ordered my '18 specifically to get one with as little electronic crap possible. The salesman tried to push my stereo up to sync, saying how convenient to hook it to my cellphone. I dropped my flippie DumbPhone on his desk & told him to give of the apps. But I'd love a turbodiesel & manual transmission! GK

Oh, I got to talk to a wagon owner on 3 stoplights yesterday - a '17 with the same options as my order. He got it after a series of Caravans & a Lumina that were passed down to his kids. "After driving (the FTC,) my old Caravan feels like driving a school bus!"

I got the wagon count up to #16 by April 29 - the day I returned to my job as a delivery driver for a lumberyard. (I was recovering from surgery...) Every day in my boom truck, I see 80-100 vans & 3-8 wagons. Being more of a commercial vehicle, I guess it doesn't come out at night... an automotive werewolf! In spite of STM (the Montreal bus company) owning a large fleet of wagons, it's still a rare bird, but not a passenger pigeon or whooping crane. GK

The fear bikers had - that bikes will become invisible again when ALL vehicles have lights on - did not materialise. Yes, bike accident over car accident rose 2%, but overall accident rate is down 10%, still an 8% benefit to the bikes.

We've had DRL in Canada for 30 years & it's been in Sweden almost 50... huge reduction in collisions almost instantly on introduction, and no sign of fade-out with saturation. Transport Canada has finally recognised a problem that came bout 10 years ago - the digital dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree, DRL on, and not a rear marker light to be seen because the nut on the steering wheel never pulled on the switch to put a new wick in the taillamps. 2020 in Canada, DRL includes ALL running lights.

mrtn said "I didn't want to push it hard because it only had 3k..." Why I didn't do a "test drive" from the dealer - they give you a car with 3k on it & you drive around for 20 minutes while the salesman makes his pitch from the shotgun. Every car drives great when everything is new & tight. I rented a FTCvan with 34k on it - two years of use, with many drivers, most of whom do not take the care mrtn does, most of whom do not respect "load limits" or drive gentle for fuel economy or longevity of a transmission. It gives a far better impression of what I'll be driving in 2021. I'd still rather be driving the 15-year-old 2.5l than the unproven 1.5td. GK

Dandy: you have rental wagons around? I rented a van to get a decent test drive of the chassis, because NOBODY rents the wagon & dealers (other than Chartrand Ford) don't stock them. Chartrand had a wagon on order for stock but its' option list was diametrically opposite what I want - hence my long wait as Ford builds mine. GK

The diesel has been around in Europe & other continents for awhile. I still wouldn't trust it on first-year North American application - too many peripherals changed & unproven in our market. I'd love a diesel with a manual trans, but my present ride isn't going to last long enough to order a '19 and I don't want all the self-driving garbage they keep forcing on us every year. GK

#11 parks less than 50 metres from me at work & I didn't even know it - their building is between their parking lot & ours, and I arrive from the other side.

Inspiration! So good to hear that these can put that much road into the mirrors... Could you share with us other maintenance issues you've had with it so we mere mortals know what to watch on our own cars? GK

When you consider the environmental impact of producing & recovering the Lithium batteries, the MOSFET speed controllers, the rare-earth magnet motors, plus the electric generation with a coal or CNG power plant, the environmental "advantage" of that clean tailpipe starts looking pretty sad, indeed. There are ways to treat a rechargeable battery that will make it last forever... unfortunately, 99% of us will never do that with our transportation. That guy cited above with the 400k Volt cranks it to 5% every day & charges it to 100% every night - it'll last forever. Go get the groceries twice a week & run to the cottage on weekends and you'll be changing batteries in no time. GK

I had a child restraint when I was a kid - I was wearing a harness that clipped in to a vertical seat-belt on dad's Studebaker. I could stand, sit, or lie down as I wished. When standing, I was back against the seat-back, which means that if I got tired, I wasn't whining 3" from dad's ear... BTW, dad still has a file folder with the advertising flyers for every car in the family back to that 1960 Lark - a feat some of us have given him a hard time to maintain, given my brother's penchant for 30-year-old iron... Must get the dealer to give me some flyers for the '18 FTC. GK

Yeah, tcc, I'm also coming from a small pickup & I saw all of the above when I rented a FTC. Road noise I attributed to renting a freight van & I've bought a wagon. My B3000 runs 12,5 litres / 100km, the rented breadbox ran 9,0 so I can invest the 29% I'm saving on fuel in the windshield washer fluid. Damn, I've never seen such a thirst for blue kool-aid! I also had a Ford Focus for a day, with the full sync3 sound. Any audio system that requires you to mess around with a touch-screen for 20 seconds in order to change radio stations has no place in a car. (I wouldn't even tolerate that in my living room, donchaknow...) GK