Double Nickels

And a shade tree mechanic is working on the car.

They make dash kits which are cut out for the screen. Why would you want to eliminate it? All of the info on the screen and your back up camera would be lost.

The screen should have a harness which will easily disconnect. Most likely, you will lose information displayed on the screen, and the reverse camera. Unless your new aftermarket unit has a connection for the OEM screen harness.

Another thing to look at is the reading for coolant temperature. Mine shows 210+ when stuck in traffic. Stop & go traffic also raises temperatures in the transmission.

I agree with your recommendation for fluid exchanges. No way to lower transmission cooler fluid to below the bypass valve setting unless you delete the bypass valve. But there's no reason to do that. The real concern, and the reason for additional cooling, is if you tow, climb hills, carry heavy loads, sit in traffic, drive for hours like on a road trip or it a work van which runs all day, and your transmission fluid temperature runs to 225 or 250. 208 is nothing to worry about. Watch your gauges. Does it drop? Is there cooling? What's the highest you have seen?

With what I have seen, with most cars that allegedly have weak transmissions like Honda's, is that most transmissions that fail also have contaminated fluid. A lot of those trannies could have had a fighting chance, if the fluid was exchanged. For the 6F35, the number I keep seeing is 30,000 miles.

Has anyone bought tires from Costco?

It's all greed. That's business. That's why e85 is on the market. It was never meant to be sold as an alternative to gasoline. It was only meant to subsidize corn farmers and meet CAFE requirements.

I have a wagon. Tires have been fine for city driving. I have been lucky with tires and batteries. Only time things like that fail early is when I bought cheap batteries. For whatever reason, every tire I've owned has lasted beyond 40,000 mile warranty, including cheap tires. My point is that the service writers, for whatever reason, want to sell new tires and make you pay full price for them. Tires and batteries should always be prorated within the mileage warranty or time frame of the warranty. And just for anyone in the market, there are a lot of options. Some walk-in tire stores will price match. Always good to shop around.

No problem starting off the line. Van is capable beyond recommended specifications. Stopping is harder. As already mentioned, trailer brake will help. Hardest part may be handling. Besides the obvious, that you are doing something advised against, you already know what the risks are. Injury and death. I say do it. It's a lease. Do whatever you want to do. Blow out the transmission, and you don't own it.

The dealership is suppose to prorate OEM tires and batteries. Getting a service writer to do that is a different story. I have found that the identical items are priced different on Direct Tires vs America's Tires web sites. You can also negotiate with the store, for different pricing. When you buy online, sometimes WalMart has good prices, as well as Amazon. Amazon also sells installation at Sears. Tires ship to the store, not your house. Then you have an appointment for installation.

I haven't seen a problem. I would also look at the rubber seal at the front edge of the hood opening. Some lamps are not completely sealed. They are vented to allow for heat and condensation to escape. Most vents are placed somewhere which doesn't receive direct water. But if the seal on the front is allowing water through, then that could be a source of water in the lamp housing.

It's hard for most of us to compare ownership experience between the VW and Ford. You will get more opinions than facts.

Mirrors look good.

Are those Honda JDM stickers? They say that trucks like that get the ladies.??????????☹️☹️

Most free apps have an enhanced version that is paid. Forscan, Focccus, Torque.......

Very nice refrigerator. Lucky you. Your wife allows parking in the kitchen. I can't do that.

Keep us updated.

I have wanted to try that device. Only problem for me, and it's just my problem, is cost. Not that I don't have $70. I am using a $25 Amazon Fire. I don't want to spend more on this connector than the tablet. I'm just being cheap. If I buy a good connector, then I will need a better computer, and probably pay for the good version of the software. At the moment, with a $25 computer, I have a $5 connector, and free Torque Lite app. I can see some information, but not everything. I can view diagnostic trouble codes and turn off check engine lights. Not ideal. But better than nothing.

Other cars with 6FXX transmissions have auxiliary coolers. Can't be that hard to source or duplicate the plumbing. Auxiliary cooling may be beneficial for a car which drives all day, at low speed, with constant stop and go between mail boxes. After you perform all the service work, datalog the transmission. It should be interesting to see which gears it shifts to during the work day, and what the temps are. You will get a better idea of how well the OEM system cools with just the oil to water heat exchanger.

Hat speaker is the best suggestion. No install necessary. Much smaller than a boom box. It will also work for hands free calling.

Build a overhead shelf right in front of the the rear door. Single din deck with 6x9 speakers. While you are running wires, add 12V power ports and USB ports.

Your van had them. They fell off. Tell your dealer to replace them. Only purpose is to buffer wind noise. It won't effect you at all in the driver seat. Rear passenger may be uncomfortable. I told my dealer to order another set, order the 3M 847, and install it so that it stays on.

But you don't get 7 passenger seating.

I have heard that every car is tuned for fuel economy, and that there's a little performance left on the table. I wonder how much performance can be gained from custom tuning a Transit Connect. I would sacrifice a little mileage, for a little more power. In my old Mustang, performance gains were noticeable with all the mods. Of course, mileage went from bad to worse. I didn't care. If I cared, I would not have bought a 5 liter V8.