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What to look for in a used 2016


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So what pitfalls should I look for in a 2016 TC XLT wagon LWB with about 50,000 miles?

It looks like it doesn't have roof rails. Is that easy to get after market? I found a solution on rhino rack but was wondering if I was missing other options. Nothing too heavy up there, maybe a surfboard or two.

 

Thanks!

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Take a look at the transmission threads, its the weakest link in the drivetrain.  If it was my vehicle, I would drain and fill the transmission fluid to be safe.  Other than that you should be ok.  

 

The original roof rails are too expensive to add afterwards, but there are several aftermarket solutions.  It really depends on what your wanting them for.  Thule has a lot of different carriers that fit their rails.  you may want to check them out.

 

Agree with @G B L , a trailer hitch is a nice addition.

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Most effective, lowest cost, and ugliest solution is a commercial ladder rack.

 

Get a used vehicle without a roof rack, and you won't have to worry about how much weight the previous owner loaded on the roof.

 

i would look for the vehicle without the hitch.  Because who knows what the last owner towed.  Without the hitch, it never towed, and that's less wear on the transmission to worry about.  

 

Have the dealer tune it up, flush the tranny, and perform all service work before you take delivery.  At 50,000+ miles, ask about an extended warranty and have that includes into your out the door price.  

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Agree with others comment about the transmission.  I have the roof rails which are nice for mounting the crossbars on.  I even bought a set of crossbars from a forum member.  However I've never used them.  Mine has the trailer hitch from the factory which is nice but Ive not done much hauling with it.  My thoughts are a trailer is preferable to the roof rack as the roof rack adds noise and hurts gas mileage.  A small lightly loaded tailer will hurt gas mileage and be quieter than stuff on the roof.  From what I know the rails are hard to mount.  So far everything Ive needed to cary has fit inside.  I do have a project which will involve 12 foot lumber but will probably put it on my trailer.

 

Ive had my 2016 for a little over a year and only have 13,000 miles on it.  It is supposed to be for haling stuff and taking longer drives.  For a while it was my daily driver.

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5 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

Most effective, lowest cost, and ugliest solution is a commercial ladder rack.

 

Get a used vehicle without a roof rack, and you won't have to worry about how much weight the previous owner loaded on the roof.

 

i would look for the vehicle without the hitch.  Because who knows what the last owner towed.  Without the hitch, it never towed, and that's less wear on the transmission to worry about.  

 

Have the dealer tune it up, flush the tranny, and perform all service work before you take delivery.  At 50,000+ miles, ask about an extended warranty and have that includes into your out the door price.  

Bingo , i would also be extremely wary of a vehicle with a hitch .  While hitches may be convenient the cost of a trailer are often not ,  if i knew i was towing i would of went with another vehicle entirely.

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Although I am privileged with the luxury of having a larger vehicle for heavier loads and heavier towing.  Not everyone has a truck at their disposal.  And not everyone is able to rent a truck @ $19.95 a day when they do have a something heavier to tow.  Kind of hard to imagine having enough money to buy a boat, enough money to maintain a boat, enough money to put fuel in a boat; but not having the $20 to rent a U-Haul van for the day so that you can tow the boat.  A real genius will try to tow a trailer with horses behind a Transit Connect.  Same story.  They have all the money for those horses, but can't afford a U-Haul truck rental.  

 

Same way I can't see how anyone could overload a Transit Connect, when logic and common sense should prevent that from happening.  Bricks, concrete, wood.......how much can you fit before you notice that your rear end is slow low that the rear tires are pressing into the wheel well?  At what point do you realize that the front end is not suppose to point up in the air because your rear end is too low?  How much weight does it take to blow the tires?  

 

I can only imagine the poor horses suffering in that horse trailer, towed by a Transit Connect, and the trailer flips & rolls.

 

Makes me want to use violence.  

 

 

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17 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

 

 

Although I am privileged with the luxury of having a larger vehicle for heavier loads and heavier towing.  Not everyone has a truck at their disposal.  And not everyone is able to rent a truck @ $19.95 a day when they do have a something heavier to tow.  Kind of hard to imagine having enough money to buy a boat, enough money to maintain a boat, enough money to put fuel in a boat; but not having the $20 to rent a U-Haul van for the day so that you can tow the boat.  A real genius will try to tow a trailer with horses behind a Transit Connect.  Same story.  They have all the money for those horses, but can't afford a U-Haul truck rental.  

 

Same way I can't see how anyone could overload a Transit Connect, when logic and common sense should prevent that from happening.  Bricks, concrete, wood.......how much can you fit before you notice that your rear end is slow low that the rear tires are pressing into the wheel well?  At what point do you realize that the front end is not suppose to point up in the air because your rear end is too low?  How much weight does it take to blow the tires?  

 

I can only imagine the poor horses suffering in that horse trailer, towed by a Transit Connect, and the trailer flips & rolls.

 

Makes me want to use violence.  

 

 

Now calm down , get a hold of yourself for God's sakes , snap out of it .  While extreme violence is perfectly normal & highly recommended when someone is guilty of abusing animals we have no proof that some idiot actually flipped and rolled a trailer full of horses with a TC at this time .

 

Further investigation is needed .

 

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Violence is the universal language.  Over the course of human history, when encountering other people who do not speak the same language, violence has always been able to bridge the chasm.  

 

3 hours ago, herb said:

While extreme violence is perfectly normal & highly recommended when someone is guilty

 

It's often inflicted upon request.  But my personal life, and what girls want me to do to them, is not up for discussion in this forum.  

 

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  • 1 month later...
23 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

Very Nice!  Like the color, much better than my creeper van white.  Creeper van white is my daughters description.

I couldn't agree more.  The only thing creepier than a white van is the dark green Chevy with blacked out windows I had before the Transit.  I have heard all the free candy jokes.  All of them.

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I pulled up to the fuel pump. As I got out, the attendant had a nervous look on her face. She subconsciously took a step in retreat, as she asked, "do you need help with pumping your gas today?".  Was it the white creeper van?  Or just that I look creepy, holding a roll of duct tape?

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I actually love the look of the "White" , it was the only color i wanted .  The ONLY other color i think it looks good in is light silver but thats just me .  The only time the color white becomes creepy is when you never wash it , if it's sparkling clean no color looks better imo.

 

 

2018-ford-transit-connect-xlt-black-velvet-3 (1).jpg

2018-ford-transit-connect-wagon-xlt-race-red-4.jpg

2018-ford-transit-connect-van-xlt-frozen-white-3.jpg

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Funny how we all have a different perspective on life.  I actually don't care about color.  Every truck & van I've ever owned, has been white.  Because it's the most common color for commercial vehicles.  When I had Jeeps, they were red.  Back then, Jeeps were only in a few colors......red, green, blue......and somehow the Jeeps I bought, with the package I wanted, were red.  I've had cars in different colors.  But the color just wasn't important.  More important for me, was getting the right "package" combination of engine, transmission, interior, et cetera.  But I know, that I'm the only person who doesn't care.  Everyone else cares.  They don't spend $$$XXX, to get a car with a color that they don't like.  

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I agree 50K is the perfect time to service the trans . . . . either that, or buy an extended warranty which covers the trans  -  You can't just drain it and refill it unless you do that 4 or 5 times because draining it doesn't get even half of the old fluid out . . . . most of it is in the torque converter which doesn't drain

 

White is the universal car color  -  I have 4 white cars.  Two 2012 Mitsubishi electric cars which are 'Diamond White Metallic, a 2017 Chevy Volt which is Iridescent Pearl Tricoat and the 2014 TC which is just plain white.  None of them show dirt very much so I can do other things with my weekends other than washing cars.  I had a beautiful Black on Black Supra once . . . . for about 3 years and then I had it painted white.   Everybody should own a black car once in their lifetime.  If you buy a second one, we know what you like to do on Saturdays . . . . Wash the car!

 

Don

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  • 6 months later...
On 4/3/2019 at 10:15 PM, TCjeff said:

Well, I got it. It has been great so far.

IMG_0739.thumb.JPG.73192fb90b74038321747204ef02e23a.JPG

@TCjeff What was your buying procedure? Did you take it for pre-purchase inspection from an independent mechanic? If you did, what things specifically did you ask to be looked over, outside of the basics? What package did you get? I'm in the buying process as well and would love your input... Also agree 100% with not buying one with a trailer hitch already installed, that would indicate the previous owner hauled and without knowing what they hauled, I would have been weary on transmission wear. 

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I bought mine about 2 years ago, looked at used and wound up buying a new Titanium that was 2 model years old at the time.  Got a great deal on it and only spent about 3,000 more than the nice used ones were.  Mine does have the factory hitch which I wanted.  You can inspect it to see how much wear and tear it has to get an idea of what it has done.  As others point out if used would get the transmission fluid changed.  Mine lives in a garage and generally only makes long drives.  I have the navigation package along with the Ford MySync (before Sync 3) which I wanted, leather 6 passenger seating and driving lights.  I recommend the Sync 3 and navigation if you can.  The large screen is nicer for the backup camera and dialing the phone from a voice command is vey important if you make phone calls from the van.  Navigation is good (not perfect) and uses cell phone data for updates on traffic conditions.  Also bought the WeatherTech floor mats plus the large mat that goes over the back seats when folded.  I have used it a lot even when just folding the back row down.  I like the 6 passenger version as I can walk from the middle to the back and the space between the middle seats is perfect for the front wheel of my scooter.

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1 hour ago, drh14 said:

@TCjeff Also agree 100% with not buying one with a trailer hitch already installed, that would indicate the previous owner hauled and without knowing what they hauled, I would have been weary on transmission wear. 

 

I have a factory trailer hitch on my 2015 cargo and have never used it. I would not exclude a van with a hitch unless the hitch shows a lot of wear. A nicked up hitch could have been used just for a bike carrier, which shouldn't be a problem. Just a thought. That's leaving aside the fact that the factory hitch sticks out too far IMHO and you might clip your shins on a few times. Adding a cover helps with that somewhat.

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6 hours ago, drh14 said:

@TCjeff What was your buying procedure? Did you take it for pre-purchase inspection from an independent mechanic? If you did, what things specifically did you ask to be looked over, outside of the basics? What package did you get? I'm in the buying process as well and would love your input... Also agree 100% with not buying one with a trailer hitch already installed, that would indicate the previous owner hauled and without knowing what they hauled, I would have been weary on transmission wear. 

 

I took it to an indie mechanic. Makes me feel better. No issues so far but we also haven't even hit 60k miles.

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