Gargman

Because the retired engineer isn't covering our warranty! And because our vehicles are NOT breaking down which means that our mechanics are doing a great job. Good lord, I thought this was a help forum not a bully pit. Your entitled to stand up for your forum buddies when they are wrong but you don't need to attack someone cause he is RIGHT!!!! And what do you people have against the Ford mechanics? Your retired engineer is just that, retired. He's not going to come to our shop and fix something for free and he certainly won't claim resposibility for giving bad advise. I know a lot of retired engineers and I still let the dealer handle work thats under warranty, why wouldn't I? After the warranty we do our own work like everyone else. We have a retired Ford master mechanic that does our fleet work! Maybe you don't know how a warranty works.

BTW, I never said the transmissions were covered at 200,000, just that one made it that far.

Lol, ofcourse not but the transmissions don't know that!. But we run it to the limit with the puny extended warranty. Hardly worth paying for. I personally wouldn't buy an extension unless it was considerable. Thats the only negative issue with the connects, horrible warranty. fortunately we didn't have to use it for anything serious. none of us have any special love for the Connect but it has turned out to surprise everyone so far in it's durability and reliability. I personally told the owner that they would never see 100,000 miles. So it's not an Econoline, but it does the job..

Actually it was the Ford dealers professional commercial truck mechanic that suggested the 120,000 mile change no matter what we were hauling. He said it makes no difference and is a waste of fluid to do it sooner. The oil however, changing it sooner under heavy loads is recommended. No issues with any of our TC's transmissions (one of which just hit 200,000) so we will stick to what the dealer says as they are the ones who carry our warranty.

So, this "loop" that Ford puts us in when we need parts help is aggravating! All I need is a locking fuel plug for my 2015 Transit Connect. My dealer says there isn't one available to call Ford. Ford says to call the dealer! All letters to CEO and below have no response. There has to be one department that will get the ball rolling. We have had one of our Connects vandalized by debris intentially inserted in filler tube. It was a stupid Idea of Ford to put capless filler without at least a filler door release! All the other Ford vehicles have a locking fuel plug option and there are thousands of requests by 2014 owners to present for one. Don't need any personal opinions about what to do, just a part number.

I noticed lots of inquiries about towing with no real helpfull replies, mostly opinions. So here it is! Seven company vans, 2 1/2 years of towing with the TC LWB 2.5 engine. 5 days a week pulling a trailer combined weight approx 1300 lbs with another 500 lbs of tools inside the van. Two of the 2014's have over 170,000 miles with no issues. We change the oil @ 5,000 miles with Motorcraft blend and Motorcraft filters. This is a mountain area and still the vans are working very well. As hard as we work our equiptment I can't imagine anyone having any problems under normal driving conditions. We change the tranny fluid at 120,000 miles and the air filter. Routine maintenance will make all the difference in longevity. We did notice an increase in fuel mileage in our 2015's after 20,000 miles. Drive and enjoy.

We have 7 TC lwb cargo vans. Some of the 2014's have over 170,000 miles! So don't listen to those people sharing a negative opinion, just use it. We tow a 500 lb trailer loaded with approx 800 lbs of HVAC equipt plus another 600 lbs of tools in the van! We do this 5 days a week in a mountain area! We have had no problems with any of the vans and change the tranny fluid at 120,000 miles. These are great vans and we have transitioned from the Econolines completely this year. Stop listening to the scare tactics of people with issues about using their vans, just change the oil, take care of it and drive it!! We noticed after about 20,000 mi the fuel mileage gets better and some of the noises start to go away. We use motorcraft blend oil and filters and change at 6000 miles. Nothing else has been needed.