anyone have a ford transit van? how is it as a compact camper?

So I want to get into the Vansion crowd. my 1000 dollar Cherokee though still running well, is just not cutting it for what I want in a vehicle. I could keep it, and buy another car but that seems silly. I don't really go off roading and am looking to get better millage to get to and from areas in north America in a self contained and more long term manner. An added bonus of where I work is if I want a 4WD I can borrow one carte blanche.

So does anyone have any experience with the ford transit, the Nissan NV200 or some other fuel efficient little van?

The dream of course would be Mitsubishi Delica, but I prefer to drive my cars for 10yrs and then trade them in, a hard bargain with a vehicle that has to be 25 yrs old to begin with.

anyone have any ideas on these or others?

Rob Warden, Space Lizard wrote:So I want to get into the Vansion crowd. my 1000 dollar Cherokee though still running well, is just not cutting it for what I want in a vehicle. I could keep it, and buy another car but that seems silly. I don't really go off roading and am looking to get better millage to get to and from areas in north America in a self contained and more long term manner. An added bonus of where I work is if I want a 4WD I can borrow one carte blanche. So does anyone have any experience with the ford transit, the Nissan NV200 or some other fuel efficient little van? The dream of course would be Mitsubishi Delica, but I prefer to drive my cars for 10yrs and then trade them in, a hard bargain with a vehicle that has to be 25 yrs old to begin with. anyone have any ideas on these or others?

The Transit or the Transit Connect? The Transit is old. I was looking at a 2015 Connect the other day. They are small for a van, but larger than any car and most SUVs. You could certainly make it work, although it might be a bit squishy for two people living long term. I sleep in a full size hatchback car with a full bigwall kit and portaledge without too much problem, and the Connect is quite a bit larger than my car. But I also live in it alone.

I'm guessing you're talking the newer Transit not the one 20kN is talking about. I'm looking at the Dodge Promaster. At 6'2" I can sleep sideways in it, letting me get away with a shorter van. Both the Transit and Promaster (Fiat Dacato) have been in Europe for years. Both come in gas or desiel. The Transit is rear wheel drive where the Promaster is a fwd van. I spoke to Quigley's and they plan on offering a 4x4 conversion for the Transit. The promaster is a little less expensive. Or just go with a Sprinter.

Doesn't really answer your question but figured I'd tell you what I know.

I guess i should elaborate 2010-2013 are the years for the transit connect I am looking at. The small one. I am not at all interested in the Sprinter. its a money pit, a poor design, with worse support from Mercedes. I want the smaller van because I think with some ingenuity with cabinetry you could have a sweet platform bed lots of storage and good fuel economy. just wondering if any one else had made it work for them.

It seems hard to beat and I am interested in them because I am unwilling to get a car payment. I am very anti debt. realize I could get a sweet van kit it out and throw it on the card. but my income is not at a level where I want to do that. I would rather stay cash in hand as much as possible.

the info on the 4wd thing is cool. however all the transits I have looked at are FWD, not RWD. interesting.

thanks guys and see you in the spring 20kn

Rob Warden, Space Lizard wrote:I guess i should elaborate 2010-2013 are the years for the transit connect I am looking at. The small one. I am not at all interested in the Sprinter. its a money pit, a poor design, with worse support from Mercedes. I want the smaller van because I think with some ingenuity with cabinetry you could have a sweet platform bed lots of storage and good fuel economy. just wondering if any one else had made it work for them. It seems hard to beat and I am interested in them because I am unwilling to get a car payment. I am very anti debt. realize I could get a sweet van kit it out and throw it on the card. but my income is not at a level where I want to do that. I would rather stay cash in hand as much as possible. the info on the 4wd thing is cool. however all the transits I have looked at are FWD, not RWD. interesting. thanks guys and see you in the spring 20kn

Well, if it's just you then the Transit Connect is more than enough. If it's not, you have way too much stuff. Again, I have a full bigwall kit and I sleep in this:



It's squishy. I could do for some extra room, but I make it work without sacrificing sleeping space, and I dont even have a roof box or hitch box. On the upside, the front seats in this car slide all the way forward to within 1' of the dash, so I have the vast majority of the car to use for space at night when sleeping. Also, I removed the back seats, so it only seats two. With the rear seats in place I would not have been able to do it.

Also, if you plan to trade the vehicle in after 10 years, you wont get much. For a $25,000 van, you might get $4,000 after 10 years and that's if you're a strong negotiator.

You could always do what I do and get a CMAX. It's a hell of a lot nicer vehicle than the Transit Connect, and it gets 45 MPG city and highway, plus it costs less, has almost zero maintenance and costs less to insure. Ford does not have a good reliability track, but the CMAX seems to be solid so far and Ford has a large leg of experience in building hybrid drivetrain.

The Transit Connect is unfortunately extremely plain for the price. It's a cargo van with a early 2000's dash (unless you get a 2015 higher trim model). All around it's built very simple with virtually no options on the base model. I dont even think the base model comes with power windows if I recall right.

This guy Randy has a couple interesting posts w/ photos as to how he set-up his Transit Connect to live in it:

cheaprvliving.com/blog/upda…

And here's bunk beds in a Transit:

tinyhousetalk.com/ford-tran…

thanks for the help, after looking into it, the fact that lots of people have complained of 4 transmissions in 40,000 miles is perplexing and possibly a deal breaker.

I own a 2010 transit connect conversion, with 95k miles. It has a bed, sink that drains to ground, water pump, shower hose, house battery, inverter, large tupperware bin with a drain to the ground that can be used for storage and/or a sitting shower. It's my first van, and definitely a step up from sleeping in the dirt.

Pros:
26mpg, which is nice for a weekend warrior like myself
stealth
maneuverable
good size for me and my dog, or 2 people
cheaper than many other options
having doors on all sides make the limited space more usable.

Cons:
If you want to hang out in your van all day, it's gonna feel small
It's a bit noisy when driving
The seats aren't as comfortable and reclined as my Honda civic for long drives.
The small engine means that it shifts often if going 75mph on cruise control.

No vehicle is perfect, there's a tradeoff between space, price, economy, reliability, riding comfort, stealth..... for me, I think it was a good choice.

thanks Doak, have you had any maintenance issues beyond the norm?

From what I saw I am now leaning towards a 2wd taco with a slide in camper

This is the model of the Transit Connect that I drive on a daily basis:

I've driven it for about three years now in all sorts of weather. It's got a fairly good engine and it carries loads well. The only pain in the ass part of the vehicle is the door locking mechanisms. They tend to wear out quickly due to having plastic gears. If you eschew power locks that wouldn't be a problem. For a camper van this would be a pretty good deal. The tall cargo area is quite nice.

stich have you had any other issues besides the power locks... i would want the least optioned one around. so crank widows manual locks.

MAJOR BUMP!!
+100

I just got one recently and I LOVE it!
I am 6'4" and have a 6' long sleeping platform with plenty of storage under. Thule topper helps with the soft stuff in the small van. Still working on the solar/aux. battery & sink. But I barely shower and wash when I am at home so that isn't important.

Waiting for the chill to break...

Second run to Vegas over Thanksgiving. approx. $60 Modesto-to-Vegas

Dex is ready to drive at a moments notice... Not a good D.D. in squirrel country.

Let me say again, this van is the perfect road trip van. Like it was said above, it could suck if you had to spend a lot of time in there. For a place to sleep, low key, cheap, great gas mileage... it can't be beat IMHO.

Happy climbing and road-tripin'!

Rob Warden, Space Lizard wrote:stich have you had any other issues besides the power locks... i would want the least optioned one around. so crank widows manual locks.

Let's see, just minor stuff. The tire pressure indicators can be squirrely in the cold, but I think that's common. No engine or transmission issues as of yet. We have about 24K city miles on our vans at present. It's very easy to drive and park in the city as well, which is a plus.

These vehicles are assembled in Turkey, incidentally.

Trick it out s'more, John Greer! That's looking nice so far.

also the platform was under $200, including hardware, lumber, and carpet. No holes drilled. Used existing reinforced threaded attachment points. Finished in a couple evenings of beer and 'work'.

Rob, I bought the van last March and haven't had any issues (other than the brake pads need to be replaced). The previous owner said she didn't have any issues either, and I haven't seen any evidence to believe she was lying.

Rob Warden, Space Lizard wrote:thanks for the help, after looking into it, the fact that lots of people have complained of 4 transmissions in 40,000 miles is perplexing and possibly a deal breaker.

You can buy a Ford extended warranty powertrain only for 8 years 125k. Not sure how much it is on the Connect, but on my CMAX it was about $1250 or $900 for 7 years 100k.

2wd Tacoma with a camper is the way to go. The resale on the Tacoma is going to be better and reliability no one can beat it.

I rented a Transit for work for about 3 months and drove about 10k. It was nice but I don't think it beats the Tacoma. like stated it did shift alot going uphill with the small engine.