OT: Ford Transit, Anyone own one? Options

[Hammy]

My father and I are looking into getting one of these vans for his picture framing business and it looks to be a good van for hauling supplies and making deliveries. Looking at a used fourth generation, maybe 2007-08 or newer.

Anyone here have any experience with these vans? Things to look for? Problem areas? Thanks for any help!

[ldsgeek]

The company I work for has one and I can't stand it other than around town. It's the only vehicle I've ever driven that is both under-powered and under-weight. It has the exact same drive-train as (I think) the base Contour, other than the gearing, pushing a rather large brick through the air (the under-powered part). And to get the 1500LB payload they had to cut the weight as much as possible, meaning any breeze makes it want to change lanes (the under-weight part). If his business is all local, no highway, it might be OK, but much highway driving would make me look for another vehicle. Just my opinion, ymmv, etc.

[bigkensteele]

The company I work for has one and I can't stand it other than around town. It's the only vehicle I've ever driven that is both under-powered and under-weight. It has the exact same drive-train as (I think) the base Contour, other than the gearing, pushing a rather large brick through the air (the under-powered part). And to get the 1500LB payload they had to cut the weight as much as possible, meaning any breeze makes it want to change lanes (the under-weight part). If his business is all local, no highway, it might be OK, but much highway driving would make me look for another vehicle. Just my opinion, ymmv, etc.

That's the type of responses I recall from the earlier thread.

[okieflyr]

The company I work for has one and I can't stand it other than around town. It's the only vehicle I've ever driven that is both under-powered and under-weight. It has the exact same drive-train as (I think) the base Contour, other than the gearing, pushing a rather large brick through the air (the under-powered part). And to get the 1500LB payload they had to cut the weight as much as possible, meaning any breeze makes it want to change lanes (the under-weight part). If his business is all local, no highway, it might be OK, but much highway driving would make me look for another vehicle. Just my opinion, ymmv, etc.

That's the type of responses I recall from the earlier thread.

This was the same response I got from a contractor using one. He stated bad visibility to the right rear due to the solid panels (no glass) on his company supplied van.