[Thinksnow]

Good morning all,
We are in the process of buying a transit wagon 350 XLT. We are coming out of an expedition EL, but my wife is pregnant with our 7th child so it's time to step up. I've found a few nicely loaded 2015 350 XLT's with low mileage in both low roof and medium roof. I definetly want the eco boost. I've always been hesitant to buy a first model year but I really don't want to spend the money for a new 2016. Was there any 2015 issues I should steer clear of? The other issue would be the roof height. I really really like the medium roof. I'm 6'1" / 295, moving around the interior of the van is so much easier in the medium roof. Easier to mount a TV for the kids, just better over all. The issue is we go into NYC 3 or 4 times a year for Broadway shows, Christmas time, visit the Intrepid, etc. I don't know that I'll be able to find parking for a medium roof. Any advice offered would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[mgore03]

From all that I have researched, reliability across the board has been good, outside of a few issues in cold climates (you will find a thread or two about water in the cabin air filter on the early models). I also know that the 2016 version with the sync 3 system is better than the older Ford Mytouch system. I imagine you may have seen this YouTube video already, but it may be helpful to you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfzQiItRSC0

They got the low roof and a more bare bones model, but they may touch on a few things to consider when finding yours. There is also a follow-up video where they answer a few questions (also on the follow-up video he indicated he paid sticker price, which I don't think was necessary). We just ordered a 10 passenger because we have five kids and want a sixth. You can still get all leather seats on the 8 or 10 passenger, short wheelbase. I've found that it was very hard to find what we wanted on the lot. We would have gone with a larger one (12 passenger) but we couldn't find a 12 passenger with the eco boost, sync 3 and a sliding door, which we imagine will be easier in parking lots (see video for some thoughts on this as well).

I will say that if you ever decide to order one, the sales people will be very clueless about the available options. Also the time frame is about 3 to 4 months - Thankfully our Sienna will still fit us, but it is a bit cramped.

Also, depending on how much money you want to put into this thing, you can always purchase a conversion van. The largest conversion transit will seat 9, which doesn't give you much wiggle room. However, they are pretty sweet - see http://www.conversionvanland.com - new 9 passenger high roofs are around $60,000 here, which is sort of like buying a loaded Expedition.

Good luck and congrats on your big family! - keep us posted on what you get. I just ordered our's on Feb 1st, so I have a few more months to wait.

 

[Thinksnow]

Thanks for the info. Yes I did see that video LOL, very insightful from a parental perspective. We are looking at a 15 passenger. I plan on pulling out the last row for strollers and luggage space. If we are going somewhere with a large group that requires additional seating I can quickly put them back in, like the guy in the video. The storage has been the critical issue with the Expy EL. There's some space behind the 3rd row, but with the stroller there's not enough room to pack vacation luggage for a family of 8. We would end up putting a cargo rack in the trailer hitch and securing our stuff on the rack with ratchet straps. We looked like the Griswalds coming down the road.

We actually looked at a 9 passenger Explorer conversion van. The problem was there is no rear side curtain airbags. The kids are precious cargo, that was a deal breaker. The reason being on the 9 passenger Explorer conv they do not order a wagon as the base vehicle. The start with a 350 stripped out cargo van then add their rear interior. The cargo transits don't come with the rear side curtain airbags.

 

[bertimus2002]

We have 5 kids and got the 12 passenger medium roof. The kids love it and so does my wife as it's the daily driver. We moved from an Odyssey to the Transit and are happy we did so! If you have any questions, let me know, I'm happy to help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CrewVanMan]

There may be a few 2015 NEW Transits still out there with a lot of rebates. Let me know your location by zip code and I can see what is available. You will find out that a USED 2015 wagon is not much cheaper than finding a NEW 2015, plus your lose out on some of the warranty mileage and close to half of the months left in warranty coverage.

 

[mgore03]

Didn't realize that about the air bags - Good catch!

 

[Thinksnow]

07821, thank you

 

[asdrew]

We recently picked up a used 12 passenger XLT wagon (former rental) with low roof and were disappointed not to be able to find a medium roof. However, there have been several times already when we needed to park in busy areas and were very very glad the low roof fits inside a 7' parking garage.

I would rather be able to fully stand up inside, but at least we can still move around better than we could in previous vehicles (Bronco, Suburban, Expedition, Crew cabs, Town & Country).

So far do not think mounting a TV will work well in the low roof, but If I did mount one even in a MR the little ones in the seats farther back would still have trouble seeing over the high backs and headrests. I will be looking into other AV options for them.

Edit: and I wanted the Ecoboost bad but am quite pleased with the 3.7 even while used to the V10 beast in my Super Duty.

 

[asdrew]

I will say that if you ever decide to order one, the sales people will be very clueless about the available options.

Absolutely agreed. Sales people that care enough to learn about these are few and far between Most I spoke with over the last year didn't seem like they even bothered to read the brochure or look at the Transit page on Ford's website. :s

This forum offers a wealth of information, dig through here and ask all the questions you want 0

Also, as mgore pointed out, the sliding door will probably be better for you. I thought I wanted the double doors so no one would have trouble opening and closing, but then I tried to get into one with others in a parking lot. :|

Good luck in your quest!