Top 5 Things About Your Transit Connect

[Fifty150]

2 hours ago, Gideon said:

 

 

 

 

I do not want to remove seats

 

 

 

I'm with you on that one.  I bought this vehicle because of the 7 seats. 

 

But I don't know about sleeping in the back with a cat litter box.  Sorry.  Just not for me.  Same way I don't bring food into the bathroom.

[Gideon]

Fifty150, I camp in a small tent-trailer (8ft box) with my cat. His litter box is covered and he is very careful to always 'cover-up' his "downloads".

The box is on floor at other end o trailer from my bed  = no smell at all [I do 'scoop' each morning].

I don't need 7 seats, but minimum of 3 at all times; so the T-C is great replacement for my Vibe.  Although I originally looked for late Gen1 with rear seats, my family pestered me to get something newer [ie: 2016] & as they were helping with the cost, here I am.  No complaints!

BTW, the cat has access to the litter box during travel to/from campground [in old car & now in T-C].

Here in town, I've had good comments about my T-C Wagon, incl from my independent garage.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Gideon
add ifo

[donuts]

Here's photo of my cluster from July 24 showing my fuel numbers, also the hottest day of 2018 here in Tucson.

I have over 2000 miles now and my fuel economy is slightly worse even though I don't have the AC on all the time now.

But I'm probably carrying more tools around now too.

 

[Fifty150]

That just means that not everyone is getting 27 MPG. A lot of factors. Weight, idle time, short trips, stop & go traffic, driving style, fuel mix, air conditioning...... but nobody expects 16 - 17.  It didn't get better after 2 years and 20,000 miles.

[PhotoAl]

My son has a 2005 Vibe GT which has been across the country several times.  From Alabama to LA to Gainesville FL to Albuquerque to Gainesville FL to Malta NY and currently in San Jose CA.  It is one of the most comfortable long distance cars I have been in.  

 

My '16 TC LWB Wagon gets as low as 17MPG around the neighborhood which is very hilly, 26 to 27 on the interstate at 75 to 80.  Sometime 80 is the slow speed on the interstate around here!  I drive pretty slow most of the time.

 

I love the small size and incredible versatility!  I can haul 6 people, fold the rear seats down and cary lots of stuff.  A couple of weeks ago took the rear seats out, folded the middle seats down and hauled my scooter and gear to the track.  On Sunday evening unloaded everything and put the two car seats in for taking to twin grandchildren to preschool.  Came back and put one rear seat in and the carseats out and hauled my 90 year old in-laws, my sister-in-law and my wife to the doctors visit.  My father-in-law is almost bedridden and it was much easier to help him move from the wheelchair to the TC seat.  Just stand up and pivot.  I put my wife in the very back - she is almost 5' 1" tall and very agile for her age.  stowed the wheelchair beside the rear seat and away we went!  After the doctors visit which took almost 4 hours we went thru the drive thru at Chick-fil-A.  The van is so quiet I could clearly hear what my mother-in-law wanted me to order.  My sister-in-law has the big Ford SUV and it is quite a climb for my mother-in-law who is 90 with very bad arthritis.  She really likes the van.  My daughter has a Honda van and it is nice with all of the touches like power doors and tailgate and has a little longer cargo area with all of the seats folded, it does not have the headroom or versatility.  I like the manual doors and lift gate, more effort but less to break.

[Fifty150]

I like this van for everything that I can do with it.  

 

But here is a part of my daily life which this van is not suited for.  

 

Interstate 80.  5 lanes.  Traffic flows at 70 - 75 MPH.  This onramp has a stop sign.  You literally have to go from 0-60, if you don't want to die.  Oh yeah, there is about 25 feet for you to do that, and merge into the flow of traffic.

[Fifty150]

On 10/19/2018 at 12:38 PM, PhotoAl said:

 My father-in-law is almost bedridden and it was much easier to help him move from the wheelchair to the TC seat.  

This is the best car I've ever driven when it comes to loading disabled people from their wheelchairs.  

 

When the van was brand new, my dad loved riding in the 3rd row, with the second row folded down.  It was like being in a limo.  Now, it's my niece & nephew's favorite seat.  Although it's illegal, sometimes I fold down all the seats, and let them ride in the back so that they could roll around, jump, bump their heads, fall when I hang a turn......just like I did back when I was a kid riding in the back of pickup trucks.  Tinted windows.  And they now have learned the game of ducking down, when they see a cop.

[WillMartin]

Mine is a 2010, and I haven't even got through a full tank of fuel yet.  I expect it will do far better than the 2002 Chevy Express it replaces.  It better!  Plus, my wife will be able to drive it.  She wouldn't drive the Chevy.  It's about the same noise level inside as the Chevy.  It feels a whole lot more like a small car to drive, because that's really what it is.  Driving it is similar to driving my wife's Prius C in a lot of ways, except it can haul all kinds of things.  The low deck and high roof make it easier to move around inside than in the much bigger Chevy, and the roof is still an inch or more lower.

 

For what it's worth, it is a cargo van with white bumpers.  It has XLT trim and fancy stuff.

[PhotoAl]

On 10/20/2018 at 11:58 PM, Fifty150 said:

I like this van for everything that I can do with it.  

 

But here is a part of my daily life which this van is not suited for.  

 

Interstate 80.  5 lanes.  Traffic flows at 70 - 75 MPH.  This onramp has a stop sign.  You literally have to go from 0-60, if you don't want to die.  Oh yeah, there is about 25 feet for you to do that, and merge into the flow of traffic.

 

 

Wow that that is a tough merge!  Places like that is where I liked my Kawasaki Ninja, it woul do 0-60 in 3 seconds.  Had traction control so wouldn’t wheelie or spin the rear tire.  It was lightning fast when needed.  However not much protection.  When I was in Sunnyvale and San Jose I thought the drivers were much better than here.

[Fifty150]

2 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

When I was in Sunnyvale and San Jose I thought the drivers were much better than here.

 

 

That's different.  First time I've ever heard of drivers from San Jose & Sunnyvale being described as "better".  3rd world countries, without any vehicle codes or traffic laws are the most difficult places to drive.....except that the absolute worst place to drive, from my perspective, is India.  Way more signage than anyone could learn to understand.  Rules that nobody else has in any country.  And chaos ensues because everything is flagrantly disregarded.  I would rather drive in NYC or LA, where the chaos is controlled by bumper to bumper traffic moving at 5 miles an hour.  

 

[WillMartin]

Nice that they have separate signs for horses, cows, and wildlife.  Your windshield responds differently when each of those comes flying through after a collision.  Hump road?  Hmmm...

[Fifty150]

On 10/18/2018 at 8:06 AM, donuts said:

Here's photo of my cluster from July 24 showing my fuel numbers,

 

This is today.  Math works out to 17.32 MPG.

 

Your mileage may vary.

 

 

 

[WillMartin]

I'm just now about halfway through the first full tank of fuel.  It had about a half tank when I got it, and I filled it the rest of the way with fresh fuel to at least dilute the fuel that was in it.  I don't know how long it had been sitting, but it will probably be happier once this tank is gone and it has completely fresh gasoline.  So, half a tank of half stale fuel, and it's getting about 20 mpg in mixed highway and lousy Seattle traffic jams.  That's 20 wimpy little US gallons for those of you who are used to calculating in Imperial gallons with 20 ounce pints.  Not as bad as Fifty's mileage, but not so great, either.  It's a whole lot better than the mileage the Chevy was getting, so I can't complain too much.  My wife likes it so far, and that's a big plus.  She says it's not drafty, like the big van.  She doesn't feel majestic, surveying the world from up high, but it feels a little more regal than her Prius C.  It sure is smaller than the Chevy.  All the random stuff that just disappeared into the Chevy takes up a lot of room in the Ford.  I have to get rid of some of it, like the emergency kit for the big earthquake we probably won't survive anyway.

[sKiZo]

On 10/17/2018 at 8:20 PM, Gideon said:

Fifty150, I camp in a small tent-trailer (8ft box) with my cat.

 

I'll show you mine if you show me yours ...  <G>

 

 

... and yes ... that all squeezes into a 4x8 foot box, including the furniture and most of the camping gear! It's magic!

 

 

 

 

[Gideon]

That style of trailer is a great step up from sleeping on the ground.  But I do prefer my hard-topped Rockwood tent-trailer.  Built-in fridge(3-way), sink, inside storage,  int/ext 2-burner, and all off-the-ground. About 16ft opened up. Advertised as sleep 6 ( 4 adults on extensions,2 kids on dinette).  But as often the case, that leaves little if any inside storage for clothes, etc.  AND if you have a pet with you ????

[PhotoAl]

OK, here is my camping rig.  :-)    Sorry has nothing to do with my TC, no room for pet or wife or friend just me and the open road.  My wife said she doesn't like to camp and will not ride on the back of the motorcycle.  Maybe has something to do with a scooter crash with her on the back.

 

For those who are curious it is Dubois Wyoming, 4,100 miles in 11 days.

 

 

 

[Fifty150]

2 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

no room for pet or wife or friend

 

 

You can get pretty creative on a motorcycle if you needed to bring your cat and a litter box.

[WillMartin]

First more or less full fill-up today.  I thought the tank was 16 gallons, and it probably is.  The gauge that says how many miles before you run out of fuel said I had about 30 miles left, and the tank only took 12.8 gallons, and that was after I overfilled it really badly.  So, probably more like 12.5 or less.  It went 262 miles on the tank, so it got more than 20 mpg.  I'm surprised and happy about that.  Even better, it seems to have had stale fuel in it, because it's idling smoother now.

[jrm223]

On 11/3/2018 at 10:22 PM, WillMartin said:

First more or less full fill-up today.  I thought the tank was 16 gallons, and it probably is.  The gauge that says how many miles before you run out of fuel said I had about 30 miles left, and the tank only took 12.8 gallons, and that was after I overfilled it really badly.  So, probably more like 12.5 or less.  It went 262 miles on the tank, so it got more than 20 mpg.  I'm surprised and happy about that.  Even better, it seems to have had stale fuel in it, because it's idling smoother now.

 

I'm trying to remember the largest amount my tank has ever taken - might be in the vicinity of 14.5-15.5 gallons after I poured in about 1/2 gallon from running it out at 2am one morning... For reference, the "X miles left" gauge had said 0 miles for at least 30-40+ miles driving between 45-70 MPH. I'm in rural Texas and there's not many options for gas along that route I was on, especially at 2am haha. But, I only had to walk 3 blocks home after the engine quit to get my gas can and the meager 1/2-ish gallon that was left in it. Moral of the story, "0 miles left" still has it's own reserve, but I wouldn't recommend pushing it. With my typical mileage, I'd guess the 0-reserve at around 1.5 gallons or so.

[Fifty150]

Out of fuel.  True test just like MythBusters.  When you ran out of fuel, how many miles did you get on that tank?

[jrm223]

Unfortunately I don't even remember now, that was back in the spring and I stopped keeping track of my mileage after I moved to Texas. When I lived in IL, I averaged 26-28 MPG and moving to Texas dropped it to 23-24 MPG because of higher speed limits. Maybe I'll have to do it again sometime - with the gas can IN the van, haha. 

[Fifty150]

Your 1,000 mile road trip would be a great MPG tracker.

 

Does TX also use E10 fuel?  Thanks to The POTUS, E15 is on the way.

[WillMartin]

15 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

Your 1,000 mile road trip would be a great MPG tracker.

 

Does TX also use E10 fuel?  Thanks to The POTUS, E15 is on the way.

I'm not at all happy about E10, let alone E15.  What it does to the van is bad enough.  The motorcycles really don't like that stuff.

[Fifty150]

But it will be good for the economy......of those growing the corn.

[jrm223]

I can't stand that E15 BS, either. We're exporting over half of our oil and then importing from other countries, WTF sense does that make?! Oh wait, government never makes logical sense!

 

Anyway, we have E10 here and I've seen rare stations that have options for straight-gas at like 30+ cents higher per gallon... I've spot-checked previous trips to be around 25.5-26.5 MPG at usually 70 MPH with occasional jaunts to 75 MPH when the speed limit allows. Mileage is kind of crap at those speeds already, so I really don't drive over the limit much, lol. I'll have to see if I can find my little fuel book and record the numbers better on this next trip, but up north may already have winter fuel since they're in the 30's already.