New work vans

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Klockopotomis

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Parker CO
Im a service call/commercial/residential EC and I have been looking for electricians input on either the Ford Transit or MB Sprinter.
All decked out both are within $5k in price. I am concerned about gas mileage, power and storage. I have been contemplating the medium/high roof and mid length chassis on both. I live in a neighborhood where i can't have ladder racks so i was going to put my 12&10' ladders hanging from the ceiling inside-hence my med/high roof choice.
So I'm asking if ford is decent?
Is the high roof too high? or the low roof design is plenty?
Is the medium length chassis too much and short is just fine?
Appreciate all input thx
I also live in colorado so weather factors apply
 
Sprinter vs Ford Transit

Sprinter vs Ford Transit

I previously owned a Sprinter mid length with high roof. I now own the same in the Ford Transit model. I have enjoyed driving both.
The Sprinter had excellent fuel consumption. A tank of diesel would last nearly a month. The biggest problem with the Sprinter was the high cost of repairs. Any repair, fuel pump, water pump etc. would cost over $1k. One day the truck would not start. I had to have towed to the dealer. It turned out the sensor that communicates with the smart key was broken. This repair cost $3.5k and took four weeks to get the parts.
Another issue with the Sprinter, I recently read in the paper regarding Trump's tariffs there is a 25%??? tariff on imported work vans?

As for the Ford, I fill up the tank about three times per month. So far, no repairs.
 
Greg1707 said:
I previously owned a Sprinter mid length with high roof. I now own the same in the Ford Transit model. I have enjoyed driving both.
The Sprinter had excellent fuel consumption. A tank of diesel would last nearly a month. The biggest problem with the Sprinter was the high cost of repairs. Any repair, fuel pump, water pump etc. would cost over $1k. One day the truck would not start. I had to have towed to the dealer. It turned out the sensor that communicates with the smart key was broken. This repair cost $3.5k and took four weeks to get the parts.
Another issue with the Sprinter, I recently read in the paper regarding Trump's tariffs there is a 25%??? tariff on imported work vans?

As for the Ford, I fill up the tank about three times per month. So far, no repairs.
Click to expand...

I dont know about the new tarriff, perhaps you are thinking of the chicken tax? (from wikipedia)

The chicken tax is a 25% tariff on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks imposed in 1963 by the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson in response to tariffs placed by France and West Germany on importation of U.S. chicken.[1] The period from 1961–1964[2] of tensions and negotiations surrounding the issue was known as the "Chicken War," taking place at the height of Cold War politics.[3]

Eventually, the tariffs on potato starch, dextrin, and brandy were lifted,[4] but over the next 48 years the light truck tax solidified, remaining in place to protect U.S. domestic automakers from foreign competition (e.g., from Japan and Thailand).[5] Though concern remains about its repeal,[6][7] a 2003 Cato Institute study called the tariff "a policy in search of a rationale."[4]

As an unintended consequence several importers of light trucks have circumvented the tariff via loopholes. Ford (ostensibly a company that the tax was designed to protect), imports the Transit Connect light trucks as "passenger vehicles" to the U.S. from Turkey, and immediately strips and shreds portions of their interiors, such as installed rear seats, in a warehouse outside Baltimore.[1] Mercedes imported complete vans built in Germany, "disassembled them and shipped the pieces to South Carolina, where American workers put them back together in a small kit assembly building."[8] The resulting vehicles emerge as locally manufactured, free from the tariff.
Click to expand...

Vehicles built under nafta are exempt, like the RAM series.
 
180308-0858 EST

Klockopotomis:

I can not really answer your question.

My grandson has a Ford van with an EcoBoost. He likes this engine very much. Now has over 35,000 miles on the van in 1.5 years. It is very good in the mountains. Big disadvantage was no 4-wheel drive available. You absolutely want a limited-slip rear end.

I have an Escape with the EcoBoost, stop-start, and 4-wheel drive. This performs well in our city with mild hills with very little up-down shifting and low RPM. Seldom over 2000 RPM. My overall mileage without too much highway driving is around 20 MPG.

In the past Ford F150s had much greater strength than competitors. 10 to 20 years ago tests of competitive vehicles at the Ford Arizona test track in a sand trap with an overloaded box showed major failures of the competition. Boxes were ripped off, transmissions and transfer cases ripped out, etc. How are designs today I have no idea.

In our area I see more construction workers with Ford trucks than others.

On the subject of 4-wheel drive. I have driven only 4-wheel drive vehicles since 1977, and I don't want, and won't buy a 2-wheel drive vehicle.

.
 
180308-1042 EST

On a different aspect.

For the most part in recent years I have leased vehicles, 3 year lease.

Roughly this means I am within warranty and my costs are lease, insurance, fuel, and some routine maintenance.

Repair costs are going up and will get worse. Too much complexity, too much electronics, too much you can not do yourself, and then you look in my engine compartment and it is packed full. I have no idea what a spark plug change would cost. In the past that was do it yourself. True in the past with leaded gas it was every 10,000 miles, much longer now.

How does this relate to an electrician in commercial service I do not know. But at least think about it.

.
 
Klockopotomis said:
So I'm asking if ford is decent?
Click to expand...

my E-350 was fine after i spent $11,000 at
90k miles rebuilding the 6.0 diesel.

that ended that. i'll never buy a product that
benefits ford, or it's satellite companies again.
and i'd been driving fords since the age of 15.

so, i'm a little biased.... but if you want all
weather, 4x4 is a consideration.
 
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