Is a Ford Transit van worth the money?

[blizzard2014]

I've been looking at a lot of Ford Transit vans and some are going for almost fifty thousand dollars. Is it really worth all the extra money for a small handful of long and tall loads per year? The vans are very nice though. If I survive this Corona thing I'm coming back into the game next January. I have money saved, credit, and am ready to get back to doing what I love to do. No more pain meds. I have adapted to a new normal pain level and had to learn to live my life with pain and that it will always be with me. Driving is no longer aggravating my pain levels, not like cleaning buildings does. I have a tester for blood thinners and can test weekly and I get results in 1 minute. I have lowered my diabetes back down to a normal to pre-diabetic level by eating only 1 meal every 24 hours. I only get hungry once a day at 9 PM. So, I got these medical issues under control. My blood pressure only goes high when standing up, so driving all the time, I would barely need any meds for that. If we are all in danger 24/7 of death any ways, I want to spend my time doing what I like to do. What is it like out there for long and tall vehicles VS regular extended cargo vans? I can buy an extended cargo van for cash right now and still have plenty of money to spare. How are things out there right now? Thanks for all of your responses.

Blizzard

 

[danthewolf00]

The long and tall just isn't for freight needs its also extra space for YOU! I mean do you really want to be bent over in a standard roof van? Also the ford transit is alot cheaper to repair than a sprinter.......

 

[LDB]

I ran a G3500. It was a great van but I wouldn't go out again without having a taller van. I might only go to the basic Transit height but that's still 8-9 inches taller than my G3500 and that's enough difference to put pants on standing up, albeit a bit leaning over, instead of only sitting down. Good luck with your decisions.

 

[robin280]

I drove small Chevy vans for the first 7 years that I was out here. I bought my Ford Transit 250 in 2016 brand new. I went for the biggest I could get with the tall roof and extended length. I have never been disappointed. The cons that I have encountered are that almost all repairs have had to be done at a Ford repair shop and they are always expensive. Due to the height, you can't just pull into any repair shop. My first oil change was done at a Firestone. They had to crawl underneath to do it. So unless I have it in a Ford repair shop for something else, I use Valvoline drive-thru oil change stores. As for "a few handfuls of long and tall loads per year" you are wrong about that. Before everything went downhill for us, I was probably averaging about 3 large loads per week. My Transit has 390,000 miles on it.

 

[brokcanadian]

Bought my 2005 long and tall Sprinter 4 years ago. I really don't know if a Transit is worth it, I paid $2900

Reason: shippers lie. In almost every case, it's taller, longer, heavier than they asked for. Here is still the idea that they charge by weight, hence the lies. Very small chance of being caught out on it, I haven't even heard of anything here being weighed unless it had dual wheels...

So long & tall sprinter was the end of the stress for me. No more being yelled at by a shipper "why did they send you" because stuff won't fit. 90% of my loads are still able to go into a regular van. Now the 10% that actually need my sprinter: it's essential for me to get EVERY load I can. These 10% of loads are never replaced with something else at my carrier, i'd be waiting with everyone else that has a smaller van. Many times the large load has led me to another load, simply because of where I was after the drop. If I kept my smaller van, I'd be back near home competing with the rest of the fleet.

Here's a solution: buy a 2015 long and tall at less than half the price.

Why buy a new van ever? How do you even get over the depreciation in the first year of ownership?

Lulled by the idea of a 0 miles shiny new smelling van? You'll never enjoy it driving long hours in the dark, then grabbing what sleep you can. And a year later you're faced with many more years of payments and the damn thing has 100,000 miles on it, you have as many problems as anybody else. (Plus that fun monthly payment. They don't care if you had to spend $5000 on repairs this month)

Just my 1.5 cents (Canadian 2 cents)

 

[blizzard2014]

A shiny van is good for one thing, you know how it has been driven since it's first mile, and you can keep it's appearance in pristine condition. Other than those two things, I would never buy new. I'm looking at 2 year old vans with 30k miles on them for around 24-27k. I am coming into a very small inheritance in a few months, maybe 7 or 9k and I plan to use that as a down payment. I'm kind of going to do what OVM did. Drive for as long as my health allows and save money while building up social security credits and payments. If I can eek out ten to fifteen years before I am grounded, I am all good with that. Ten percent more loads is a pretty decent amount of loads. I guess having a leg up on the other guy is a good thing. Any how, thanks for the advice.

 

[Moot]

My Transit has 390,000 miles on it.

Could you share what repairs you have made other than routine maintenance and flex coupling replacement?

 

[VTurri]

Best bang for the buck, lowest up front cost and has the lowest maintenance costs is the Dodge Promaster. Issue with Ford is the dealers rip you off. The 3.6 engine in the Dodge is more reliable and cheaper to fix IMHO.

 

[blizzard2014]

Best bang for the buck, lowest up front cost and has the lowest maintenance costs is the Dodge Promaster. Issue with Ford is the dealers rip you off. The 3.6 engine in the Dodge is more reliable and cheaper to fix IMHO.

Thanks for the input Vince. I appreciate it. I will start looking at the Promasters as well.

 

[Treadmill]

One of the main reasons I don’t like about the Promaster is the 4-6 inch step down from the cab to the cargo area. Not good in my book.

 

[piper1]

One of the main reasons I don’t like about the Promaster is the 4-6 inch step down from the cab to the cargo area. Not good in my book.

It's odd for sure but, it means a lower overall roof height without sacrificing load height. Less things to hit and a smaller hole to punch in the wind while going down the road.

 

[Treadmill]

It's odd for sure but, it means a lower overall roof height without sacrificing load height. Less things to hit and a smaller hole to punch in the wind while going down the road.

I drove one for a day one time and wasn’t really impressed and when I got out of the captains chair to go to the back wasn’t really ready tor the big dropoff into the cargo area.

 

[LDB]

It's different alright but after a few days it's the new norm and not stepping up/down becomes the weird design.

 

[Moot]

I ran a G3500. It was a great van but I wouldn't go out again without having a taller van. I might only go to the basic Transit height but that's still 8-9 inches taller than my G3500 and that's enough difference to put pants on standing up, albeit a bit leaning over, instead of only sitting down. Good luck with your decisions.

I've have a 2015 long and tall Transit. I'm 5'10" and shrinking. I wanted a mid roof with an interior height of 72". After two standard Chevys I figured I could live with 72" while having lower profile than the high roof Transit. Ford, at least for the 2015 model year did not offer the mid roof with the long wheelbase and extended length.

 

[Steady Eddie]

Also the ford transit is alot cheaper to repair than a sprinter.......

I don’t think that statement is actually correct. Based on my repairs of my Sprinter and a friend’s transit. His was newer, repairs were more than my repairs. Based on similar items that were repaired.



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[piper1]

Didn't you have the old style Sprinter? 2006 and older Sprinters were great, 07 and up are expensive.

As with any vehicle, how you treat it and your basic knowledge/abilities when dealing with vendors/service shops makes a huge difference. If you try hard, you can make a simple old F150 cost more than a Lamborghini.

 

[blizzard2014]

I don’t think that statement is actually correct. Based on my repairs of my Sprinter and a friend’s transit. His was newer, repairs were more than my repairs. Based on similar items that were repaired.



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It's good to see you still out and about my friend. Are you still with Express-1? I can see now that in the current climate a long and tall vehicle is almost a necessity in order to be at the top of the pecking order. I was thinking about a build in sleeper, but I will opt to keep all of the available space open for loads. The ole cargo van ain't gonna get-ir-done anymore. It's a dinosaur. If it doesn't work out, the van can still be used to live in, put a driver in, or keep for travel and transportation. I don't know what's happening with mu small inheritance as it was supposed to go through this month and the courts are currently shut down. I used to not stay out as much because no heater and no rooftop ac. Imma do it up right this time. Have a nice area rug for when not loaded. The Promaster looks nicer then the Transit. Just have to get the right size. They come in all lengths and heights.

 

[blizzard2014]

I hope all are well and surviving this virus. I hope they open things up soon. I think May 1st is a good date to get things opened up. We can't stay closed forever. The disease is going to get to people no matter what we do. I'm hoping things will pick up for JIT loads once the automotive companies start opening back up and people put in for more online orders.

 

[blizzard2014]

If they would just bring in better standards for carriers, it would eliminate a lot of the needless competition. But expediting is like the wild west. I guess it's going to remain that way for the a long time to come. The players change but the game remains the same.