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Just purchased a 2018 Transit Connect!


DCRCTX
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Just purchase a Ford Transit Connect XLT LWB (passenger) from Planet Ford in Spring, TX.  I had just sold my 13 VW Golf TDI back to VW, and had been on the fence on a Connect as it's replacement. I'm opening a bike shop and figured I could use something bigger anyway. I looked at Titanium editions and loaded XLT's, and was even considering holding out for a 2019,  but the deal I got at Planet Ford in Spring today on this XLT helped make this decision easier....lol  It's Silver Metallic with Charcoal Black cloth interior. Can't wait to pick it up tomorrow.


Options include:

Pwr adj /fold/ heated mirrors

Sync3 HD radio

17" premium painted wheels, 

Front and rear sensors

2 additional key fobs

 

Now to dive into the forums and figure out some tweaks, hacks, and mods I might want to implement. Thanks in advance for your contributions.

Ford TC.jpg

Edited by DCRCTX
left out a few comments
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Welcome, I like the color.  I have a 2016 Titanium bought new in lat November of '17 - got an incredible deal and I traded a 2008 VW Rabbit (Golf).  Now my VW collection is down to a Rabbit and a Jetta wagon.  I like the painted wheels, I have the other 17" wheels and they are a hassle to wash.  I would have not bought the folding mirrors but have really enjoyed them.  I have a shelf unit on the drivers side in my garage and use the folding mirrors to clear when opening the door!  Maybe it's because my Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R lives between the two cars in the garage so I have a bit less room.  If you are pulling a trailer or have a bike rack on the back there is a switch to turn the parking sensors off.  I haven't used it yet as my trailer is complete apart being repainted and repaired but expect to use it soon.  This is a great forum and there are lots of helpful folks as well as some great tips.  

 

Bought the WeatherTech floor mats for the from and center seats and the big mat for the rear with all of the seats folded down.  So far have hauled some lumber, a double oven twice, a dishwasher and a bunch of stuff from IKEA.  When hauling the appliances I used the mat and put a piece of MDF on top of it to spread the load and it worked great.  Only change to that I'd make is using a rubber mat over the MDF for sliding resistance.  They were strapped down but still like have no movement.  

 

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The more I read about all the changes coming in 2019, I decided I'd let someone else be the guinea pig. Plus I figured they wouldn't have near the available incentives....and I would of wanted the diesel which would have had the price going even higher. Completed a cargo van, because I'm interested in getting it wrapped and the cargo sides are so smooth plenty of signage. Still may wrap these one at some point, but figured I'd drive it for a while before I make that decision.

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Are American dealers stocking the passenger wagon? Here in Quebec, I had one dealer tell me "it doesn't exist" & one dealer offer me a fully loaded Titanium "cause that's what we've got within 300 km." I found a dealer with FTC as his limousines, & 6 wagons on order, 8 vans on the lot. (His neighbourhood is also the only place I've seen a TC wagon on a driveway.) I ordered through him in February & I'll probably see it in July...

 

(I'm also a diesel fan & wanted a manual shift but I'll let somebody else be the guinea pig for the first ones.)

 

GK

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1 hour ago, Jiquay said:

Are American dealers stocking the passenger wagon? Here in Quebec, I had one dealer tell me "it doesn't exist" & one dealer offer me a fully loaded Titanium "cause that's what we've got within 300 km."

Unfortunately, most (95%?) of the sales people working at dealerships will tell you whatever they think they need to say to sell you whatever they currently have on the lot and if that doesn't jive with the truth, well, so be it  -  They don't even give that a thought . . . . they have only one goal, and that's selling you what they have to sell

 

For me, a car remains a pretty major purchase, despite the fact that quite some time ago I finally reached the place where I can pay cash for them, so I always do LOTS of research before I buy.  My last 3 purchases have all been quite far from home  -  When we bought our 2014 TC barely used a couple years ago, I got it from a dealer 300 miles (and two states away) from home, because they had exactly what I was looking to buy (a SWB XLT passenger van, which turned out to be a pretty rare animal) and I got a much better deal on it than I could have locally.  That made the 600 mile round trip more than worth it . . . . and we made it a mini vacation and saw some sights both on the way there and the trip back

 

Oh, you can get your local dealer to ship in a vehicle, new or used, from some other dealer's stock several hundred miles away, but it will cost you and you pretty much have to have 'bought it' before they will agree to do it.  When we drove 300 miles to get the TC, we could have walked away without buying it if it had been misrepresented in any way, or if they tried to add in any extra charges, and I always keep that option open  -  Walk away if there's any funny business.  They need to sell much more than I need to buy

 

We're currently shopping for a specific barely used 2017 Chevy Volt Premier (with every option) and it's already become pretty obvious that we'll have to go even more than 300 miles from home to get what we want . . . . and it may take awhile.  There are very few electric cars available locally (we have 2 Mitsubishi EV's that we've had for years) and few people at any dealers in our state even want to talk to us . . . . but we'll find 'the car' eventually and go get it wherever it is . . . . and it will be a great deal, or we'll keep looking.  I never buy anything I'm not really excited about and without researching the vehicle very thoroughly.  Good things come to those who wait . . . . and do their homework!  :love_shower:

Don

Edited by Beta Don
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Agree with you BetaDon.  I went almost 300 miles to get my new 16 back in November.  However the deal was really good and I got everything I wanted and then some.  

 

Wish you the best on the Volt, I have a '13 I bought very quickly from a local dealer that was much more interested in selling Suburbans and Tahoes and wanted to get rid of the Volt.  I went thru Costco and they came off the Costco price the evening I looked at it and the following morning called me up and offered another $700 off.  It is an incredible car.  For the first two years I went to Chattanooga almost every weekend which is 300 to 350 miles round trip due to my mother being ill.  Electric was great and the ability to run gas was invaluable.  It has been on several longer trips but really shines around town.  Something I've had a bit of difficulty adjusting to with the TC is having to remember to check the gas gauge and go by the gas station when it gets low.  It sounds crazy but the Volt usually has between 60 and 130 miles of gas plus the battery.  If I run the battery down then it just switches to gas which is usually just 5 or 10 miles and that happens maybe once a week.  Haven't driven the newer Volt but my generation runs pretty good from 8 to 50 MPH and it is reputed to do 100 on battery.  I have had a good bit of fun at traffic lights playing with other vehicles, surprised a Fiat 500 Abarth once.  My twin 4 year old grandkids like the Volt better than the TC because of the display which shows the battery wheels and engine.  They tell my how many bars the battery has used up and we have good conversations about how the battery supplies the engine going level and uphill and how it charges the battery when stopping or going down hills.  

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The '17 Volt gets nearly twice the battery range of the early ones.  Mid year of '17 they came out with 'Adaptive Cruise Control' which allows you to use cruise even in city traffic.  Set the speed you want and when the car in front of you slows or stops, you match his speed slowing and stopping automatically.   Hit 'Resume' after the light turns green and you follow him again, up to the speed you have it set for.  You can actually drive in city traffic without touching either the gas or brake pedals!

 

It also has 'Lane Keep Assist' which keeps you in your lane if you tend to wander (it recognizes the center lane markings and the edge of the road) and if you use the turn signal to change lanes, it will warn you of an approaching car in your blind spot.  Also has automatic braking which keeps you from running into the car in front of you . . . . which is no problem anyway if you're using the Adaptive Cruise

 

Mid-year '17 or later and you do have to get the Premier Edition with both Driver Confidence Packages 1 & 2 in order to get the ACC

 

There is a guy in Ohio who has more than 400,000 miles on a 2012 Volt  -  He commutes 110 miles each way, 5 days a week.  About 160,000 of those miles are on the battery.  Very few problems with the car so far and he still has about 95% as much EV range as when it was new

 

Don

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7 hours ago, Jiquay said:

(I'm also a diesel fan & wanted a manual shift but I'll let somebody else be the guinea pig for the first ones.)

 

If this is the same 1.5 liter Euro6 diesel engine that’s been available in Europe for the past couple of years then it’s run in already, 9 out of 10 Connects sold in Europe are equipped with this unit.

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BD is listing all the self-driving apparatus on his Volt & that's exactly why I'm buying a brand-new 2018 base-model car, so I can get something without all that crap, & drive it awhile.  I keep cars a LONG time (Nova 16 years, present pickup 10 yrs) so I'm ordering EXACTLY what I want. 

 

The Ford website listed my dealer (45 km away) as having an XL TC Wagon "in stock," it turns out it's wrapped & in limousine service for the dealer. The only thing I wanted to check out was status of the cavern when all the seats folded into the floor. It's "as advertised" so I wrote a cheque.

I also saw 2 wagons on the residential streets near the dealership in my one trip up there. In my town, I've only seen one wagon in 12 years I've lived here. ('Cause the local dealer says "doesn't exist...")

 

GK

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Oh, and DCRC set out his list of options... Priorities change between Texas & Canada, eh? I'm getting electric heated windshield, heated mirrors, plug-in engine block heater, & snowtires... And the radio upgraded.

 

GK

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Snow tires!  -  I saw a set of those on a car once a long time ago . . . . or, were they 'mud tires'??  ;)

 

I have a 1994 Miata in the garage that I bought in 1999, so I know a good bit about keeping cars for a long time.  It still has it's nearly new factory ragtop, 'cause I very seldom drive it on the rain  -  Top down all the time!!  :clapping:

 

Our '14 TC will no doubt last me until I'm gone  -  We only drive it for what we bought it for . . . . long distance trips which are too long for our EV's.  Unless we're headed out of town, it might go 6 weeks between starts.  Since 2012, about 90% of the miles we drive are in our two electric cars.  The Volt should be the best of both worlds . . . . and will help the TC sit in the garage unused for even longer periods of time than it does now  -  I do keep a trickle charger on it so it will start when I need it to  :)

 

Don

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I hope some dealer here gets a Lwb Diesel so I can give it a run to see how it goes. mrtn you could  take one out for a ride to give us a report on how the performance matches yours.

It is good to be in control and write your own Obituary!!

Edited by G B L
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My TC generally sits in the garage except the last couple of weeks I've been working on my trailer.  It's an old Holsclaw DB-9 two rail dirt bike trailer.  TC was driven once during the time.  Mostly it's the Volt but if the weather's nice I'll take one of the scooters to the grocery store.  sometime I take the Kawasaki Ninja out for fun :-).  Going to the track tomorrow to take photos so loaded my small scooter in the back on top of the seats.  It fits very nicely and since it only weights 165 pounds is not too much.  Next time I'll probably take out the back seats but leave the middle ones in.  Have it tied down using the two car seat rings in the back.  It was a tight fit to get it in the rear opening but went thru OK.  About the point it would have hit the roof above the middle seats the front wheel rolled into the space between the two seats.  I have a WeatherTech mat with a 1/2'" MDF board on top.  For a short drive it is OK.  When I get the trailer finished I'll post up a writeup.  It's small and has a capacity of 700 pounds which I think makes it ideal for the TC.  Putting 12" wheels with radial tires which actually have a speed rating on it.  

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