[Chatski]

Well, after a number of years in Vanagons, I started eyeballing Sprinter and E-series vans as a little more reliable and significantly more powerful. After getting orders back to the stateside desert (military) I wanted something I didn't have to worry about, that had A/C. After the Transit came out, I REALLY liked it. We pulled the trigger...

2015 148" high top 3.5. It's a rocket ship!

Got a good deal on one sitting on a lot in Columbus GA. It has the 3:31 regular axle which I'm not crazy about, but again I've been dealing with worse with veedubs.

 

[smacdiesel]

There is a cool factor with the VW's! Welcome to the forum!

 

[USMC Vet]

Chatski,

Welcome to the forum.
Thank You for your service and WELCOME HOME !

Semper Fi

 

[EddieZ]

I'll keep an eye out for you. I had about the first Transit in Columbus, about 11 months ago. Rivertown Ford had just one high-er top on the lot, and it had been there almost a year. I'm seeing quite a few of them, now, and Rivertown had 4 or 5 high-er tops out there, a few weeks ago. I'm surprised you could still find a 2015. Congrats.

 

[lepelch]

Vanagon vs Transit

We had a Vanagon for 10 years. We were lucky with it based on other horror stories I heard with other owners....but the tranny finally gave us problems at 200,000...so I let it go.
Based on our family lifestyle boy did we miss it....but I didn't miss the fear factor of mechanicals and servicing out in the middle of no-where.

I told my wife and kid we could do another adventure "bus" but not a Vanagon...so I researched ad nauseum and came up Tranist HR Extended.
I've been working on the conversion for a year and about 3/4 finished. It's been my obsession.

I love this van. The vanagon when I see them are just miniscule and never would have worked now that my son is a teenager..plus dog ...when it's all done we'll have a mini motor home that will have everything: bathroom/ shower, kitchen, seating-bench area that converts to queen bed....a pop-up tent on the roof for my son...storage cabinets...and bucket seating for 4 with swivels....
love driving the van....the Ecoboost power, even towing an equipment trailer and mountain bikes....
This guy we know who services Vanagons for a living and owns them...saw our van and started salivating

 

[camp&ride]

My wife and I are also recovering vanagon-oholics. We've had our transit for about a year now and it is fully built out as a mtb transport and camper. There is so much more potential with a new larger van, not to mention AC, airbags, twin turbos, and the ~30 or so cupholders. We did alot of modification to our westy and loved it, but were definitely ready to move into a modern vehicle. We miss the off-road capabilities of the V-dubber, but appreciate the trade-off for more space, fresh build, and modern platform. Look forward to seeing your build, there is a fair bit of support here, but not as extensive as what you'll find on the Samba. Give it some time though, we're only a couple of model years in to north american production!!!

 

[Chatski]

I can't tell you how much it warms my heart to see so many like-minded individuals here. I felt like the Vanagon community got overrun by hipsters, more concerned with having a Vanagon vice having that escape hatch it provided. I'll move on to a build thread in the camper an section. Similar goals to lepelch and camp&ride: vans, bikes. I add flies and hikes.

 

[yelnam]

My family of 3 and 2 dogs is also moving over to a Transit camper from a Westy. It's been a member of the family (with its ow college savings plan! and has taken us on many adventures. I thought for sure I would have it til I was too old to walk. But we've decided to having something more reliable, modern, with air conditioning and better for easily reaching further destinations. Who knows, maybe the Transit camper community will develop to waves and camp outs.

 

[taverre]

My wife and I are also recovering vanagon-oholics. We've had our transit for about a year now and it is fully built out as a mtb transport and camper. There is so much more potential with a new larger van, not to mention AC, airbags, twin turbos, and the ~30 or so cupholders. We did alot of modification to our westy and loved it, but were definitely ready to move into a modern vehicle. We miss the off-road capabilities of the V-dubber, but appreciate the trade-off for more space, fresh build, and modern platform. Look forward to seeing your build, there is a fair bit of support here, but not as extensive as what you'll find on the Samba. Give it some time though, we're only a couple of model years in to north american production!!!

Hey Camp and Ride, do you have pictures of your build? I'm also looking to build a mtb transport and minimalist camper. incidentally, it looks like you are in Utah. We are planning a trip this summer to drive out and see my Dad who lives there. I am hopeful to have a new Transit for said drive

 

[camp&ride]

Taverre - photos and a bit more detail of my van build are available at VanSpecialties @ https://www.vanspecialties.com/gallery_van/dark-star/

For our floorplan setup, we started with how we wanted bikes mounted and build the floorplan around that. If you notice from the photos, our floorplan/layout is pretty much a westy setup (...but bigger, more storage) from the bench forward, and has a queen size bed oriented side-to-side, fork-mounted bikes go underneath. If you do a search on this forum for camp&ride photos, you'll find a few that I've posted. Also, there are a bunch on my facebook/instagram acct's.

If you have specific questions on build, PM or email me and I can give ya my perspective/considerations. Also, give me a shout when you migrate through UT. Always great to see how people are building their rigs up.

cheers--

 

[Jdianda]

I had 31 years in a 1989 Westy but it gave me anxiety the last 10 years. I thought I would miss it but I don’t. Love the air conditioning, cruise control, power, 10 way heated seats in our 2020 250 MR Transit. And the cup holders.😅 Basic build done by Mobility Specialists in Brea, Ca. I did the finishing touches. Curtains are similar design to Westy. I like not having to store them.

 

[perchancetodream]

Sign me up for a T6 California…oh, wait…and wait…and wait…and wait…