[danketchpel]

I was finally able to pull the trigger on my Van custom order yesterday. I want to thank all of you who answered my questions and provided tons of info and feedback etc. Hopefully I'll be contributing as well once I get it and start to do my custom stuff.

The fleet manager at my local dealer was pretty good to work with. I had bought my Expedition there back in 2004 and have had service work done with an overall good experience.

He offered me 2% over his cost minus any rebate/incentives available when it arrives plus Tax & License. No other BS fees etc., well.... there's a stupid California tire tax of $8.75 but that's legit cuz I pay that every time I buy new tires, grrr.

I think I might have gotten it a bit cheaper if I'd put a huge effort into shopping other dealers etc. but decided I wanted to work with him and it came out about $100 less than the invoice price I'd calculated using Edmund's numbers. I later found out Edmund's numbers weren't super accurate and missed a $2000 discount on the diesel option.

So the build is;

Cargo Van 148" WB MR 9,000# GVWR
Diesel, w/HD alternator & HD batteries, manual regen, and 3.73 LS axle
Gem green color
Pewter cloth manual seats
HD towing package w/brake controller
User defined upfitter switches w/all the stuff that goes with it
All around windows with 2nd row flip-open & privacy glass
Auto lamp w/rain sensing wipers
Alloy rims
Rear 12v power outlet
Cargo area LED lighting
Vinyl floor covering F & R
Keyless entry pad
2 extra keys w/fobs

My price came out to $41,338 before Tax & License.

I asked the guy about getting a deal on the rear sway bar kit and he said he'd see what the parts dept could do for me. Now I need to scout up those part numbers. I sure wish it was an option from Ford, it makes big sense to offer it.

 

[Harpo]

Yep if not mistaken looks like yours like ours has the maximum tow package. Right now we have 250 6.7 diesel truck. I am really anxious to see how our diesel van will pull the trailer versus our truck. I suspect it will be a bit of a let down but hopefully not to much so. Congrats on the new van. Ours is projected to arrive end of March. Will see.

 

[danketchpel]

Yes, I'm very curious to see how the real world towing stacks up. Keep us posted on your results.

I did go for max towing capacity as part of my build criteria.

 

[Byron the Painter]

Good, I see you got the autolamp. I missed that on mine, I certainly regret it.

Did you get the regular or long arm mirrors?

 

[danketchpel]

Good, I see you got the autolamp. I missed that on mine, I certainly regret it.

Did you get the regular or long arm mirrors?

Yes, I'm glad the autolamp option was pointed out by several here. I almost missed the LED Cargo light option. Luckily I caught it the next day and was able to add it in.

I considered the long/short mirrors pretty carefully. Two different times I went to dealers and found vans side by side with long/short mirrors and jumped back and forth between them to see which I preferred. In the end I liked the short ones better, which is what I ordered.

The reason I like the shorter ones better is I found that as they are closer to you they are easier to see the images in and I believe you have a slightly wider field of view. It's optical reflection path thing.

The long arm mirrors give a more angled view to the rear but I found them harder to see into and the divider between the 1/4 window and the sliding window is dang close to the view path so I found myself leaning forward to clear it a bit.

I think if you regularly pulled a wide and long trailer the extended mirrors would be better. But for most other conditions I believe the shorter ones are better. While my double wide PWC trailer is near the max 122" width, it's easy to see around. Most other trailers I usually pull are open type for hauling equipment or cars/bikes/quads/etc. so are pretty easy to see around.

So that's my take on it. I'll find out for sure once I drive it a bunch. I figure the worst could be having to buy as set of long arm mirrors and swap them.

 

[Byron the Painter]

Coming from my retired E-250 with long arms...In hindsight I should have gotten the long arms with this Transit. The shorts are good, but the long would just be better, period.

They would take care of the rear doors blind spot. Those little dark cars hide in there real good.

I'd trade the A-pillar annoyance for the big black line back there.

 

[TomSV650]

Coming from my retired E-250 with long arms...In hindsight I should have gotten the long arms with this Transit. The shorts are good, but the long would just be better, period.

They would take care of the rear doors blind spot. Those little dark cars hide in there real good.

I'd trade the A-pillar annoyance for the big black line back there.

Bryon, I've the long mirrors with the blinker on them, there real nice, I trade you, and even pay for shipping too.

 

[Byron the Painter]

You covet the short ones, huh? If it's a staightforward install switch, then your proposal would be fine with me. The problem is going to be having the van down without mirrors while their in transit. Overnite or next day might be a bit pricey there, sport. But then again, these things aren't cheap, are they?

Ever travel to Utah or Arizona? I'm there frequently for outdoorsy stuff...we could have a meeting point, I'll bring tools. Bam, done.

Shoot me a PM if you're serious.

 

[TomSV650]

I rented a van that came with the shorties and now I have a van with the long mirrors and I definably think being long is better. You have a better views of the rear. The problem for me is I do several jobs a day driving down alleys and narrow streets and what not and have had a few close calls.....also had to pull to the side of the road to let traffic by. Just don't need that kind of aggravation in my life.

 

[danketchpel]

Interesting feedback guys.

The blind spot thing is part of why I decided to get the windows all around option.

 

[danketchpel]

I got my VIN today, wahoo!!!

So here's what Ford's site indicated.


I don't totally understand their build date number. I don't see where the 30 comes from, seems like it should be 16.

And the info the Dealer sent me.

 

[CrewVanMan]

Your Transit is not built yet. ETIS will not show anything until your Transit is built and passed Quality Control. You can only keep up with the progress in the assembly of your Transit via the dealer History report. They update status at least each week or when there is a change. Your VIN created a slot for the Transit to be scheduled for build in the April 4th assembly week. It can change based on how fast the assembly line moves along, and that would be reflected in updated status report.

The date on ETIS will change when it is actually built using DAY/MONTH/YEAR format

 

[danketchpel]

Thanks for the info CVM.

 

[krispaxton]

your custom order experience

Hi.
I see you custom ordered your Transit.
Would you mind sharing how that process went?
I have a Transit Passenger Wagon XLT on order:
$1000 deposit, signed Ford build-out options on 9/20/17.
Dealership Fleet Account Mgr. emailed me today the ETA is 12/14/17, which wasn't totally unexpected.
The strange thing is the dealership hasn't given/sent me any document (other than email communication) indicating I have the vehicle on order.
If you don't mind sharing, what did you get back from your dealership/Ford between order/deposit and receiving your Transit?
Were you able to log on to a Ford site and track progress???
Thanks.
Kris

 

[CrewVanMan]

Check the other forum topic you made using this same question and see the answers.