[surly Bill]

Aha!

A key word was mentioned: DRIVERS!
When vehicles are used by employees, they are abused by employees. Kind of the same thing with Sprinters; when used as fleet vehicles and driven by employees, they break down a lot, go through brakes and tires at twice the normal rate, etc. When driven by OWNERS both Sprinters and Transits do just fine.

I think the old econolines were detuned and built in a way to make it hard for malicious and mentally handicapped employees to destroy them. Even though they would try, anyway.

 

[surly Bill]

Probably best to just buy a Startrans shuttle van, which is purpose-built. I think most are on 3 ton cab/chassis frames.

 

[surly Bill]

Good fuel economy is a nice bonus for a fleet of vehicles, but not at the expense of down-time. Better to get 8mpg and the wheels rolling all the time. Cost of fuel shouldn't be a major consideration for a shuttle service, anyway, since most shuttle vehicles get around the same range.

 

[surly Bill]

I just got back from a long road trip, the odometer turned over to 40k.

I am very upset that it looks like I'll have to replace the Hankook tires at probably 60-70k!

WORST
VAN
EVER!

 

[surly Bill]

I think than any vehicle manufactured in the last 10-20 years should EASILY make it to 200-250k without any major problems. Assuming the owner maintains it according to the recommendations, and doesn't drive like an *******. Sure, you'll replace a few bolt-on parts like plugs or oxygen sensors or MAF and such things, but you shouldn't have to open up the engine or tranny if you're taking care of it.

 

[surly Bill]

I'm trying to think of the worst car I've owned, and I guess it might be the Dodge Raider (Mitsubishi Montero 2-door) I had for about a year in Colorado. It never broke down, but it was kind of gutless and may have been running on 3 cylinders when I traded it in; probably because I never replaced the sparkplugs or even looked at the motor. Later on, a girlfriend had a Diahtsu Rocky (like a deluxe Suzuki Samurai) that I was constantly repairing, but she got it used and who knows how much abuse it had suffered. All my other vehicles were very good, even the '74 Fiat 128 only left me stranded because of neglect and ignorance of vehicle maintenance (first car).
From memory: Fiat 128, Volvo 264, VW Thing, Suzuki Samurai, Toyota 2wd pickup, Dodge Raider, 3-4 Toyota 4wd pickups, '03 Sprinter, '15 Transit. This isn't counting the hobby of vintage cars, mostly Corvair variants.

So far, at 40k, the Transit seems to be fine. Other than the air filter disintegrating into the intake because it was wet, I haven't had any issues or hiccups. But, I wouldn't EXPECT any issues in the first 100k!

 

[surly Bill]

That's RIGHT!

I forgot about the days of needing the valves ground and re-seated, and piston rings replaced. Modern engines are SO much better than the older designs.

 

[surly Bill]

Does someone have a pic of the CORRECT positioning of the calipers?

 

[surly Bill]

Only an idiot would buy one of these vans.

 

[surly Bill]

You got nothing on me. I once owned a Ducati.

At least it wasn't a Norton Commando