New ford Transit vans

[muddyjames]

I went and had a look at 2ford transit vans today as my voluntary group want to buy 2 more and I get the lovely job with the chairman to go and browse and do the haggling etc. We haven't signed on the dotted line yet BUT...................





Talk about designing a disco 3 and then near enough slapping it into the new Transits! It looks nearly the same as the disco 3 and ford have moved the grear lever up to the dash too no kneee fondling of the good looking female in the passenger seat!!!!

Also they have only what I can call a dustbin by the drivers right knee.I think it is designed for jumbo size Mcdonalds drink cartons. I am not at all impressed with the looks but as we are after reliability, performance (to tow our big trailer) and easy to get cheap parts then a Transit it is.

I hope they are as good to drive as the old ones. We didn't get to test drive one day as we need to test drive a rear wheel drive one and they only had front wheel drive in the show room.

Anyone else like the new dashboard?

[Ost]

new transit ?

anyone got any pics ?

[MrTFWitt]

new transit ?

anyone got any pics ?

and

http://www.newfordtransit.com/

And soon to be appearing in your rear view mirror being driven by a tattooed bloke with no neck.

[discograham]

What a pig ugly thing that is. Looks more like a volkswagon...

If they brought back the mk2 facelift style I think they would be on to a winner...  but this thing ? Don't looks and style count any more ?

[Jas278]

From the Pikies I have spoke too,( transit specialists :lol: ) they much prefer the old Tranny (easier to nick I think ) than the new unreliable one.....

[muddyjames]

It is pig ugly and what happened to thier big button easy to use and find channels whilst driving radio?

It even has trip meters which tell you mpg blah blah blah.

As long as it comes in red we dont mind. Our spec is a rear wheel drive long wheel base van. Our options are the Transit or the Merc which we can't afford and LDV have stopped doing rear wheel drive vans luckily as I hate them even more!!!

[dreadnought110]

From the Pikies I have spoke too,( transit specialists :lol: ) they much prefer the old Tranny (easier to nick I think ) than the new unreliable one.....

Ford could use this as a selling point!!  :lol:   :lol:

[defenderdan]

Muddyjames   why is the iveco daily not on your list? Great van for the money. I used to use merc sprinters but changed to the iveco daily on grounds of cost but i actually prefer them now. :lol:

[muddyjames]

I didnt know iveco did rear wheel drive vans. Are they roughly the same height and length as the Transit LWB'es as the vans will be mainly be driven by people who drive cars all day long and only drive our vans once or twice a year for a week. We need them to be roughly car size ish if you see what I mean?

Also whay are they like on price? More expensive or cheaper than a Transit?

[defenderdan]

Yep iveco vans are rwd. You can get them virtually any size you want, they come in three wheelbases and three roof heights as a panel van. As for price comparison i don't know how much transits are but i would be surprised if they were cheaper than the iveco. Have a look at www.vansdirect.co.uk , i bought two from them last year. You would need to ring them for a current price as the price fluctuates depending on what they have in stock. As a guide 12 months ago a medium wheel base, semi heigh roof cost £12500  + VAT, A long wheel base, semi heigh roof cost £13400 + VAT. If you are after a swb low roof it must be in the region of £11500 + VAT :D

[muddyjames]

were after a LWB roof height about 5ft ish roughly (thats about the height of the Transit) and it needs to be a 9 seater!!! There is our major problem. With the transit we are getting a pannel van custom made into a 9 seater by a company we know.

[defenderdan]

I didn't realise that it was a non standard vehicle you are after. It sounds like you want half minibus half van :D . I'm sure someone would do this conversion on an iveco but i wouldn't have a clue who.

[Rich_P]

Looks similar to the new Defender dash to me too.  But just remember, Land Rovers have pretty much always been built from the spare parts bin and rarely actually been designed 100% "individually".  Almost every Land Rover to date has had lots of parts in them that were used in a line up of other vehicles, and the Disco 1 is a prime example.  

[dew1911]

I didn't realise that it was a non standard vehicle you are after. It sounds like you want half minibus half van :D . I'm sure someone would do this conversion on an iveco but i wouldn't have a clue who.

Railtrack seem to have a lot like that... Sort of half and half.

VW LT35 or whatever they are called? Not cheap but built to take warfare.

[gee the sparky]

:P

transit may be pig ugly, but have you seen the competition?

peugeot, citroen and fiat all make the same van and its foul.
at least ford is reliable.

[jjsaul]

VW LT35 or whatever they are called? Not cheap but built to take warfare.

theyve got a load of Vw vans where dad works...they'll take his omega to the cleaners performance wise   :shock:

[thermidorthelobster]

It's the Merc Sprinters who always seem to burn me up at the lights.  Brother-in-law drives the minibuses and reckons they really haul ass.

[dreadnought110]

:D I have drove loads of different vans and the most impressive was a 416cdi 4x4 sprinter and a 216 swb low roof sprinter this really went like the preverbial of a shovel!!! :shock: i have worked on iveco's and the build quality is pants!! oh and talking to main dealers they suffer with factory built problems (rear main oil seal chucking oil out on pdi???) transit's aren't bad vw are just merc's in drag fiat/citroen/peugeot well not bad but will fall to bits 2 month's out of manufactor's warranty :D  :D

[Rangie3.0LtrDan]

Definately Merc Sprinter if you have the money, fantastic vans to drive.  So comfortable!

[Grant]

LDV I hate them even more!!!

Whats wrong with the maxus? i borrowed my mates postie van to move some junk (shouldnt admit to that!) and was pleasantly surprised, it certainly wasnt a bad drive. The speedo in the centre of the dash was pretty annoying but you get used to it apparently

[muddyjames]

The maxus is FWD too I have been told and dont do RWD option. It was discussed last time we bought a van and I think that was the answer.

I didn't realise that it was a non standard vehicle you are after. It sounds like you want half minibus half van :D . I'm sure someone would do this conversion on an iveco but i wouldn't have a clue who.

That is eaxactly what we want :D Due to the new license everyone is now getting that only allow up to 9 seats we are finding it hard to get people to drive the minibus. We have loads of people with old licenses but would be alot easier to just have a fleet of vans where anyone can drive them not just those with the old style license! We have found a company that does the convertions for us. Thats the easy part.

After discussions over the weekend it looks the pig ugly Tranny is going to be the 1 for us.  :?  I love Transit vans, its just the new one does look so ugly!!!

[Jake]

We've got Merc Sprinters at work and i must say they are quite quick but they're a pig to drive.
the steering wheel is at a horrible angle, nearly flat!
I'd have a Transit any day.
The original and the best
They are lovely to drive and you can have a quite a few options for little money and they'll still hold reasnable money in the long run.
And as for the disco looking the same?
Compare
Inside view


Outsides look a bit different too

[PUX]

we have fleets of transits at work we have minibus crewcab tail lifts panel vans etc etc and love em to bits lovely to drive we will probaly start to get the new one soon as the rotate the vans alot so they dont get to old before being sold off 8)

[poorman]

not keen on the new transits, look a bit poor in my opinion,
I've got 2 54 plate transits 1 fwd and 1 rwd, both excellant vans, used to have a sprinter but hated it from day one,cheap and tacky inside and gutless, after 4 years it rolled on to it's side on a round about and thought it was time to get rid.

[muddyjames]

I had a merc sprinter higher van a couple of monthsback and I hated driving it. I love driving vans but that one I just couldnt wait to end m journey and get out of it. evil vans. Sit me in a Transit any day of the week!