First Ford in Many Many Years.....

[JAVMAN]

I grew up a hard-core Ford/Mercury guy.  My first car in 1983 was a 1969 Cougar Convertible.  Along the way I've had another 69 Cougar Conv, 70 Cyclone, 71 Cyclone, 68 Torino GT and a 67 T-Bird (among some other cool stuff like a 70 Rebel Machhine and a 71 Volvo P1800).  These days I have a 1973 Javelin that they will probably bury me in.  I also have a raft of vintage motorcycles and that is where the TC comes in.   

 

For the last 18 years I have driven the only new vehicle I have ever owned, a 2001 2WD Nissan Frontier 2.0 (4 cyl), 5 spd manual
.  It has been mind-numbingly reliable.  It has 212000 miles on it with almost no failures and I'm reluctant to give it up.  It is used but not abused.  These days I use it mostly to haul one or even two of my small (250cc) bikes in the bed which is does quite capably.  It's not too tall so I can load and unload the bikes by myself.  This summer I even hauled two in the bed and two on my small trailer (including all of our gear) to California and back to Colorado.  It was slow through the two mountain ranges but I could cruise 75-80 easily on the flats.  Intuitively I know that I'm going to face putting some money in my Nissan or moving into the modern age. 

 

 I work in the salvage end of the auto insurance industry and I recently came across a 2015 TC XLT LWB while I was shuffling through my vast inventory of damaged vehicles.  I never really paid much attention to them in the past but I took some time to crawl around in this one and I was really impressed!  This one was nicely appointed and had a LOT of interior room.  I also loved the seating vs cargo options.  My wife's vehicle is a Nissan Juke which is also very reliable but small and not so passenger friendly.  The more I looked the more I liked.  After doing some measurements it was clear that I could pretty easily get two smallish motorcycles in the LWB.

 

So after a lot of soul searching and an equal measure of internet trolling I determined that I couldn't afford a new one but I did find a nice looking 2016 with 9K miles.   It was a fleet vehicle in San Antonio but as it is set up with the seats and a nice interior I'm expecting it was a people mover and not used for hauling pallets of depleted uranium.  It is currently being shipped to Denver and I hope to take possession in the next couple of weeks.

 

I guess my only real concern is the transmission.  I'm a hands-on guy and don't have a problem keeping up with the maintenance but I get queezy and my palms start to sweat when I read all the horror stories of transmission failures.  I am however, encouraged by a few of the comments from some that say they have gotten 200K + without any serious issues.

 

I'm looking forward to chatting with you folks and learning more about these vehicles.  

 

 

 

[G B L]

Looks like a good choice for your needs.  The Major issue is that the transmission fluid level check procedure is not user friendly.  You will master it and it should provide good service.

My experience is that the fluid in the Transmission works hard so I drain and flush mine at 25000 mi intervals.

Welcome aboard.

Edited March 27, 2018 by G B L

[Beta Don]

It's an excellent transmission and really gets the most out of the little 2.5 liter engine . . . . but, they do have a history with some early failures

 

I was just like you  -  Did lots of reading about them before we bought one.  Ford claims it's a 100K 'maintenance free' transmission and I believe that's a big part of the problem.  We bought ours with 13K on it and I dumped the trans fluid and refilled it with full synthetic Castrol Transmax at 25K.  I plan on doing that every 25K and we'll see how it goes.  The initial 'flush' takes about 16 or 18 quarts to get a 95% exchange.  The next one will be quicker and simpler

 

Ford designed much of this vehicle to encourage owners to visit their service departments for every little thing, which really rubs me the wrong way.  The omission of a trans dipstick in favor of the convoluted process for checking the trans fluid level is just . . . . ridiculous

 

We had a tiny Mitsubishi van which also had a history of transmission problems, but at least they gave it a real drain plug and a dipstick.  I dumped the trans (only about 3 quarts) and refilled it after every other 3K oil change and we never had any transmission problems over the 150K we owned it

 

But, other than the transmission concerns, we're pretty happy with our 2014 after our first year with it.  Hopefully with a little extra care, it will turn out to be a reliable vehicle long term

 

Don

[JAVMAN]

Thanks for the support guys.  I"m pretty excited about it.  Ill let you know how it goes as I make some mods and customize it for my needs.  

I have read a ton of posts on here for maintaining it which will be a great help.  Undoubtedly I'll have other questions for the experts as well.  

[PhotoAl]

Welcome!  I think you will enjoy the TC.  I have a '16 as well.  Bought it new back in late November - they didn't chase me down and beg me to take it but almost!  I did a lot of reading and research before buying as well.  They are a well kept secret that Ford seems determined to keep a secret.  At the sales meetings I'm sure they have reminders like "don't tell anyone about the TC wagon..."  I have the same wheels as you and they are a little difficult to clean but have had worse.  I bought the WeatherTech mat for the back which goes over the seats when folded down.  I've hauled two double ovens and a dishwasher (but not at the same time :-) ).  In the last week I've hauled my Honda Metropolitan scooter as well.   Have to take the mirrors and top case off and I put a MDF sheet over the back two two thirds of the cargo area.  The front wheel rolls off the board and sinks into the gap between the two middle seats.  The kickstand has a lock which is nice and a couple of straps ton the back to keep it from sliding forward and it rides very nicely.  I'll post up some photos in a couple of days when I recover from too much fun and travel and motorcycles.  I'm currently rebuilding an old Holsclaw three rail dirt bike trailer to haul my scooters or sport bike on.  The scooter would be a real easy haul with the rear seats removed but is a little tight with them in.