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Ford to cancel Transit Connect by end of 2023


Todd111
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I don't know what I would buy to replace the Transit Connect with.  For me, the Transit Connect was a low cost option to replace an Explorer.  It moves people.  7 passenger seating.  I won't be able to do that with a small pickup.  Or even a large pickup.  I'm cringing at the thought of spending twice the money for a larger van or sports utility vehicle.  An all-wheel-drive Transit is coming to the market.  It will cost 3 times what I paid for the Transit Connect, and be much larger and harder to park.  Only people in large cities understand trying to find parking on the street, only for the parking space to be too small to squeeze into.

 

 

Ford's CEO has a very strong dislike for dealerships overcharging the customers with add-ons, markups, and price gouging.  He has publicly stated that he wants to change the sales structure to a flat price model.  

 

People are also pricing cars online and buying cars from Costco.  The last time that I bought a car, you had to haggle like it was a third world country bazaar.  I've always paid less than MSRP out the door.  Maybe things are done differently now that 3's Company is off the air.

 

A local dealership advertises that they do not mark-up their cars.  Their ad on television says that no customer pays over MSRP. I haven't bought a car from them, so I don't know. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Fifty150
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  • 1 month later...

You have to wonder if it’ll make the value of these go up even higher. If you haven’t noticed in the last couple of years, the resale $ of Connect’s have gone wild. I bought a 2019 TC new (I call it ‘ShitHauler) but one it few drawbacks is it doesn’t have all wheel drive. I do drone photography, and FPV, which works out great for the van, but when it snows in the Cascade’s the TC ain’t so great. I’ve have a Ford Maverick on order since January that recently got changed from a 22 to a 23, not holding my breath on that order. When the time comes to sell the TC. I’ll be happy with the resale bucks, but we be sad because it’s almost like a friend. So in the meantime, I’ll continue having fun with my ShitHauler. 
 

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Not enough people want to buy it.  If there was a larger demand, and higher sales volume, it would not be discontinued.  Reminds me of other low sales volume cars that were discontinued.  Nothing wrong with them. They weren't bad cars.  Just not enough buyers.  

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I bought the seat covers off of Amazon and added some additional padding since the seat were not exactly comfortable in my opinion. As far as people wanting to buy TC’s, small business is the biggest consumer. Ford is consolidating their fleet, and pushing the Ford Transit. Since the TC is build on the focus platform which is also being discontinued, Ford is pushing their constrained chips and limited parts towards their more popular vehicles. I had a 2011 Ford Ranger (last year before discontinuing) and three years later I sold it for what I paid for it. I think this will be a similar situation for the TC. 

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I like the Caddy. Not enamored with VW but it's a nice van option I'd consider if it was available in the US.

 

https://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/en/new-vehicles/caddy-cargo.html

 

I was sitting at a traffic light the other day and saw a commercial branded TC cargo for a window coverings business. It's hard for me to accept that Ford wants to totally back out of this market. I see so many TC's on the road being used for commercial and personal use, but mostly cargo models. It makes so much sense to have a compact work van instead of a full size Transit, even the smallest wheelbase/roof height version. I think an all electric or hybrid model would up the game for Ford. Maybe they are working on that option but want to keep it under wraps until it's ready for market.

 

 

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1 hour ago, mrtn said:

Yes, it's ready, Transit Custom/VW Transporter will be available in diesel/PHEV/EV:

 

https://www.motor1.com/news/611264/2023-ford-transit-custom-electric-diesel-and-phev-debut/

 

Thanks Mrtn. Good find. That's very cool. I like it. Hope that option comes to the US.

Interesting Ford is using the Turkey plant again, same as the Gen 1 TC, instead of the more recent Valencia, Spain for the Gen 2.

 

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The 230 mile range without a swap-able battery would make the all electric  a non starter for me.

If they came up with one of these in a Connect size and Barn doors then it would be very interesting.

Transit Custom plug-in hybrid combines a 2.5-liter gasoline-fueled engine running on the Atkinson cycle and a battery with an 11.8 kWh usable capacity.

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2 hours ago, G B L said:

The 230 mile range without a swap-able battery would make the all electric  a non starter for me.

If they came up with one of these in a Connect size and Barn doors then it would be very interesting.

Transit Custom plug-in hybrid combines a 2.5-liter gasoline-fueled engine running on the Atkinson cycle and a battery with an 11.8 kWh usable capacity.

 

Ha, more like a non-finisher than a non-starter ?

 

Seems the two major obstacles for Ford are plant capacity priority and getting stuck paying the chicken tax. That antiquated tariff should be repealed.

Production would have to be in the US or Mexico for it to be profitable for Ford. They had a good plan for production in Mexico.

I think the sales volume issue is BS, especially if Nissan NV200 (Chevy) and MBenz Metris have now backed out of the small van market leaving only the Ram ProMaster City.

I believe someone in the US is going to capture the small cargo van market with an all electric and/or hybrid. It's a question of who.

History shows that the big three auto giants will miss the boat on a golden opportunity and play catch up later.

 

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  • 1 month later...

I just test drove a 2022 TC Wagon at the dealer (surprised they even had one on the lot) and really liked it, but we're not ready to buy probably for at least a couple years.  I really thought it would be our next vehicle until hearing it is being discontinued--any thoughts on how difficult/expensive it will be for TC parts/repairs 5+ or 10+ years down the road?

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Thoughts on resale value going forward (at least for the passenger wagon models)?  Are they going to go up (because hard to come by) or down (because discontinued)?

 

If I wanted to be financially irresponsible, I could trade in our paid-off Subaru Outback towards $35-40k for a new 2022 Titanium model that's on a local dealership lot now--literally the only new Titanium model for sale within 250 miles.  But the sensible husband/dad in me will wait at least a couple years for a more favorable buyer's market (hopefully) and see what used TC's are going for.  I just wonder since there are so few available these days, should I snag a new one now and settle for another 5 years of monthly auto loan payments.

 

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From a strictly financial standpoint, you are far better off keeping the Subaru until it is 10+ years old. All the money you don't spend on payments can be used for lots of fun things. I keep all my vehicles for at least 10 years and this has allowed me to accumulate enough money to pay for the next new vehicle with cash. This changes everything including buying my wife a Volvo that cost 2X my TC. So I'm not opposed to luxury or having nice things. But I still love my TC.

 

But if you NEED a TC because of it's utility or the Subaru is rapidly failing, then you can't go wrong with one priced in the mid 30s. This assumes you pay it off and drive in several years beyond that. Resale value stops becoming a significant issue once a vehicle hits the $10,000 (approx) resale price point. At that point there is not much variation in price and you have extracted the most value out of the vehicle. Resale value only matters for those who are flipping cars in after 3-6 years of ownership or those who overpayed for the flavor of the day.

 

I owned a 2002 Forester that a sold in 2016 for my TC. I have never missed the Forester....not even the 4WD. But I live where you have to travel to get to the snow.

 

 

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