I know there have been threads about vans in the past... Often brought back from the dead over and over again...

Time for a new one

For those of you with vans, what are you using? Sprinter, ProMaster, Transit? How have they worked out for you as far as reliability, mileage etc. Longevity.

I'll start out with our 2006 Sprinter. 130K miles. It's becoming way too expensive to maintain. Way too much rust for a van that's spent its entire life in southern CA. It's time to replace her.

2013 Nissan NV 2500 standard roof. Has a 4.0l V6. Mileage is not good, averaging around 15 mpg. Van has been super reliable though, with only standard maintenance stuff needed (oil changes, brakes). No rust, still looks almost new when cleaned. It's comfortable and drives almost car like compared to other vans I have driven.

Wait, "too much rust" on ANY vehicle in Southern California? Why? I brought my 2005 Astro from Phoenix to Milwaukee in 2011- it only has a couple of tiny rust spots and two blisters that haven't lost any paint. MKE County uses about 70K tons of salt every year for preventing road icing.

Have had Ford, GMC and Nissan. The GMC was very expensive to maintain and the Ford started to get that way too. Kept both beyond 150K miles. Standardized on Nissan and have four NV2500 regular roofs, and one NV2000. Oldest one is 5-6 years old, and several are just a year old. New models have 5 year, 100,000 mile warranties. Very few problems. (still have one Ford E3500 that is going strong.)

I have a transit with medium roof and love it so far.
Prior to hurricane Harvey i had a 2012(i think) Nisssan nv high roof.

Between the two the Ford has way better acceleration than the Nisssan, mileage is slightly better but nothing spectacular.
I had a bit more head room in the Nisssan but more length in the Ford (extended model).
The transit fits thru drive thrus better, but finding a car wash is still a pita.
The ride is smoother and more comfortable in the ford
I do wish i had cruise control.
The Nisssan had a great center console, but it generally was just a junk collectior
Overall i think they are both great vans.
I am very happy with my current transit van.

Anybody who lives or regularly works in the salt mist part of the coast (say about 1/2 mile) can experience rust.

Ours typically rust from the top down as opposed to the bottom up like they do in areas where road salt is used.

I lived near the beach for a few years and two of my classics wound up with rust.

YEP... Exactly the frustration. The first gen Sprinters are notorious for their bad paint jobs. Even in So CAL, we have rust issues. I pity the guys who live with road salt.

Apparently the newer body style Sprinters have solved the issue.

Mostly limited editions. I have a NASA pair for the shuttle, two David Bowie ones I had to get off Stock X, and a very limited edition only available at their specialty store in SOHO NYC.

😐

Because 2006 Sprinters are rust buckets.

Most of them in the chicago area look like this or worse.

We have two Transit Connect's w/ Extended wheelbase. I absolutely love these things. Got each one at 20k. Bluetooth, rear cam, kitted with Sortimo. I can fit a 75" in them. My next one will be replacing our full size Chevy 2500 with a Transit Mid Roof Long Wheelbase. We use the Transit Connects for wifi installs, programming, proposals, and smaller installs. Easy to get in and out of the city, great gas mileage, easy to parallel park. The only things we really use the 2500 for is a big rack or 85" TV.

I have the mid-roof, mid-height Ecoboost 250 Transit.  It's a 2015 which was the first model year and I bought it new about 4.5 years ago.

Van has 30k miles on it now and the only service has been routine maintenance (oil/filter changes & brake pads on the rear plus new battery last year).

There have been a couple recalls, but nothing has broken and it's been a great van.

I drive the exact van as has pictured. Except, mine does not have the sliding side door. It has the two swinging doors. The left one does not like to stay open. My only complaint is the front side window design. With the pillar in the middle of it. I see why but it’s a design bandaid. Interior layout. Nearly everything is a few inches out of reach. Radio control, AC control. And don’t be fooled by headlights and dash lights that come on automatically. The tail lights do not. On my personal Chevy truck they do, so I sometimes forget. The cab divider makes you sit up too straight. That’s not the fault of Ford. And that dash top storage bin makes cleaning windshield a bitch. Over all it’s a great van. Drives nice and my complaints are all minor issues. Would buy again.

I know y'all love your full size vans, but you couldn't make me give up my 2018 transit connect if you forced me at gun point. Anything that's too big for the connect gets transported to the job site in my Tundra. 26.5 mpg pretty regularly, reliable, comfortable, and it's even sort of peppy compared to the awful first gen transit connect.

Completely opposite of you. The Transit Connect is a POS. Once you add shelving in it there is barely any room to fit prewire materials and tools. We just have the regular wheel base and with the divider cannot fit a 6' ladder in it. Fish sticks and anything long either has to go kitty corner on top of the shelves or up in a 10' long box we had made for the roof rack.

If you aren't needing to take a lot of material to site than maybe not a huge problem, but the way I use the truck it is not an efficient vehicle to work out of. We just purchased a mid roof extended wheelbase Transit and I can't wait to get it back from shelving and lettering to move into it.

We will still keep the Connect for a service vehicle and for JR techs to drive around in but the Transit will be the main vehicle.

We also have a Ford E-250 that is on the road everyday that we have had for about 7 years and haven't had to do any major work to it other than regular maintenance and a new battery.