WillMartin

There was one of those for sale near me about 25 years ago, except it was a window version. The seller wanted $3500, and I didn't have $3500 at the time. I still kinda want one someday.

Mine's a Gen 1, so the pressure recommendations are a little different. The door says run the rears at 49psi. Which I do. They don't show signs of any abnormal wear.

Got those for my 2010, just haven't got around to mounting tires on them yet. Time flies!

I had a similar thing happen recently, but the cause was different. I parked the van, got out, did what I was doing, then went to put the transmission in drive. The shifter wouldn't budge. So, I used the override by poking a small screw driver down into a hole next to the shifter to get it into gear. I thought it was the interlock solenoid on the shifter. It wasn't. Then it was the switch on the brake pedal because the brake lights didn't come on either. It wasn't. Turns out, the high mount brake light was shorted out and was busy smoking the wiring. The dealer figured it out, which means they are doing the work and it ain't cheap! But, at least I don't have a shifter to replace. If the solenoid goes out, I'll look into bypassing it. Why replace the entire shifter for an interlock solenoid? The old vehicles I have driven for decades never had an interlock, so I'm used to paying attention.

It sounds great!

I can. And it's way beyond my capabilities.

Yep, it sure is, but if it does what I need and doesn't burn too much fuel, then fugly is outside where I can't see it anyway.

It will last exactly 71k miles and then spend the rest of ever on a hook, following a tow truck. Oh, well.

My Gen 1 is a 2010, and it was a little battered when I got it, but had next to no mileage on it. It is great for what it is, and I'm very happy with it. It's been great for the last year. I hope you are as happy with yours as I am with mine.

Bad tires are just flat bad tires. The tires that are on my Gen 1 will spin up on dry pavement if I'm starting on a hill. Mines an older one, and I don't think it has traction control. That said, it spins and spins on Seattle's hills. I haven't lost traction braking or turning, so there's that. The next set of tires sure won't be what's on it now.

Doing that with a TC would be even better. Because it weighs less.

I found that replacing the OEM steel wheels with used Focus alloys was a whole lot cheaper than replacing them with steel wheels. Alloys are lighter, look better, and make you a better person. What's not to like? The only issue for me is that I got a bigger diameter wheel. On purpose, of course, but there's always that if you care.

If you are going with that white, all that color. That would be fantastic.

There are a lot of things I would do if I had way more money than I could possibly know what to do with. And too much free time. One would be to take my Gen1 TC and put a V8 motor in the back with a 6 speed transaxle. It would take some engineering and a whole lot of fabrication, but it would be quite the sleeper. It would have to have bigger than stock wheels and tires to avoid lunching them, but it sure would be fun. It will never happen.

All things being equal, a G2 is probably a far better vehicle, in spite of the roof height. But, I'm cheap. So there's that. I had a full sized Chevy van, and it did everything I could ever want a van to do, except fit into parking garages, parking places, and get decent fuel mileage. So, it went, and a TC is now my van. Can't have everything. My ideal van would be about an inch shorter than the G1, 8' clear behind the seats, and with an even lower deck. And a hybrid power plant that would get 40 or 50 mpg. The chances of that are zero, and even if it existed, I couldn't pay for one, let alone afford to buy one. Hey, a man can dream, right?

My 2010 has a low pressure light on. I suspect the batteries in the sensors are tired. For now, I'm just ignoring the light. The tires that are on the van suck, and the OEM steel wheels are rusty. All will be replaced. Then I get to do the rain dance to retrain the sensor. Stay tuned for a lot of cussing this coming summer sometime.

I figure that when my TC bites the dust in a long time, I hope, the next van will be a used Metris. There should be enough of them by then that they shouldn't be too expensive any more. My Gen 1 has a single utilitarian drawback - the bed just isn't quite long enough. Another foot and it would be perfect. Since it isn't, when it starts having problems, or gets to the point that it's likely to start having problems, I'll move on to whatever is available that will work as well or better. I like it and will dress it up a little and take care of it. But, it's a van that I use to haul things.

I figure the weight in my Gen 1 is as balanced as it's going to get, and any more weight will just be more inertia for the crap tires to deal with. So, no extra weight in mine. The tires that are on it were on it when I got it, and they are government issue cheap junk Firestone tires. There's a lot of tread left, but the wet traction is so bad that even my cheapskate soul cannot complain about throwing them away as soon as I can scrape up enough to replace them. On the alloys, of course.

The tires on my van are awful, but they are narrow. That helps. The absolutely suck on wet roads. There's a couple steep hills with traffic lights I have to navigate fairly regularly, and I spin up nearly every time I have to start on those hills. In one respect, it's kinda fun. But, it's a graphic demonstration of how absolutely lousy the tires are. I still haven't bought tires for the alloy wheels and put them on. It's getting closer though. I lost a hubcap a couple days ago. The stock steel wheels sure are ugly.

I haven't had any problem keeping up with traffic in my Gen 1 TC. Like you say, it's a box with wheels. That's how I use it. It won't get hybrid mileage, that's for sure, but it's not a gas hog SUV, either. I get between 20 and 30 mpg, depending on whether I'm sitting in traffic and loaded down or droning along the freeway at a constant speed limit speed.

I believe my Gen 1 was made in Turkey. It is neither as refined or as powerful as a Gen 2, but it does just fine over mountain passes and pretty much anything else I do with it so far.

That's a fantastic ramp! It looks like it folds, too. Perfect for motorcycle loading. I find that the Daytona front wheel pokes in between the seats, and so does the DRZ. It's tight, but it works.

Those mirrors are really great looking. They look like a huge upgrade from the stock Gen 1 mirrors.

That's about what I recall at 30K miles. Mine's a 2010, but I think most of the same information applies.

Except those are gallons, not liters. So, not as bad. Bad enough, though.