[TFin04]

Hello,

I am entertaining the idea of selling my AWD Wagon and buying a van, possibly a Transit. My uses will be:

- Daily driver to include hauling a car seat
- Hauling lumber and other building materials for house projects and side jobs
- Single person camping with some home built cabinets/amenities
- Very limited lightweight utility trailer towing

I know the Transit has a number of models/sizes available, and I am just trying to get a general idea of where to start my research. This will be my only vehicle so I am willing to get a nice example. I am hoping to purchase the vehicle for somewhere around $20,000.

So, given the above, are my goals attainable? Which models/sizes would you recommend? Any years to avoid?

And lastly, I know this is a Ford forum, but are there competing vans from other makers I should consider?

I will begin poking around the forum to learn more, just trying to get a starting point. Thanks for your time!

 

[EddieZ]

Hello,

I am entertaining the idea of selling my AWD Wagon and buying a van, possibly a Transit. My uses will be:

- Daily driver to include hauling a car seat
- Hauling lumber and other building materials for house projects and side jobs
- Single person camping with some home built cabinets/amenities
- Very limited lightweight utility trailer towing

We are talking full-sized Transit, here, right? Transit 150, 250 or 350. NOT a small Transit Connect variant... which this forum really does not cater to.

Transit is my daily driver. Medium roof is tall enough for a 5'8" person to stand in without rubbing head, even after putting in a slightly thicker floor, plus finished ceiling.

Moving lumber, be aware that the long wheel base 148" has a cargo floor of about 11'6". For longer lumber, you either need to load diagonal, or limited amount up between the seats, or remove the passenger seat, which is do-able in SOME variants.

I've got the Ecoboost 3.5L, and my 1-year gas mileage average is 17.5... not bad for a vehicle this size, with SO much power reserve.

Towing... apparently you may be frustrated by a van that was not equipped from the factory with the optional tow package. Putting on a hitch would be easy. The electricals, and especially the trailer brake, would be difficult, due to differences in the wiring harnesses used.

There are a lot of build threads on this forum. Mine is linked in the sig line.

I know the Transit has a number of models/sizes available, and I am just trying to get a general idea of where to start my research. This will be my only vehicle so I am willing to get a nice example. I am hoping to purchase the vehicle for somewhere around $20,000.

So, given the above, are my goals attainable? Which models/sizes would you recommend? Any years to avoid?

And lastly, I know this is a Ford forum, but are there competing vans from other makers I should consider?

I will begin poking around the forum to learn more, just trying to get a starting point. Thanks for your time!

$20,000 for 1-year-used has been showing up. Some NEW 2015s have been going for $28K, IIRC.

Mercedes Sprinter -- No. Too expensive; poor dealer support network. Diesel issues. Rust prominent in some years. Lot of other issues. Lot of Sprinter refugees on this forum, as generally happy Transit owners.

RAM (Fiat) Promaster -- No. Less expensive. Cheesy build. Under powered. LOTS of issues. For long loads, you have a step up from the (lower) load area floor, to the passenger area.

My personal opinion is that there really is NO competition for the Transit.

 

[Finn]

The problem with buying used is that there really aren't that many of them in existence yet. 20,000 would be the lowest I have seen of the 2015s. The used vans around me are in the 23-26 thousand range. Even the small ones.

Oh, competing cans. yes. Nissan NV and Mercedes Sprinter are probably the most similar. But my understanding - and why I am here - is that the Transit is the best of them.

 

[Michael Ophus]

i was recently shopping for a used transit cargo van, there is 1500 ford transit cargo vans for around 20 grand on cargurus.com! (lazyness about flying on a plane somewhere to get that perfect used deal caused me to buy new off of the local dealers lot) also often the used transit passenger wagons come with a ton of options! most of the used cargos have few if any options

 

[Wood_Runner_8]

Car gurus is great. If you're open to travel, you can find a cargo with mid 30k miles for 18k and change.