What I want in one of these tall vans.

glasseye

Well-known member
As usual, I overstated my case. :shifty: Not all my arguments pertain to Mother Mercedes' engineering.

Imagine this: You're inbound to HKPierce's residence in Chevy Chase. You're facing Washington DC traffic and its notoriously difficult to navigate road system. It's late afternoon rush hour, you're driving solo, and the last time you'd been east of the Mississippi was the summer of '09 on the Shuttle Launch Road Trip.

How would a paper map have worked for me there? I could barely stay in my lane, let alone decide which lane I should be in. Rush hour parking rules meant that there was no place to pull off the road to even consult such a map, let alone make sense of it or implement its information.

The wonderful Google Lady lived right inside Frito's dashboard, confidently and clearly directing me straight to my destination without me ever taking my eyes off the road.

Now, I agree that this wasn't Frito's doing. His only involvement was providing the speakers through which the Google Lady spoke her calming advice. This was a Google/Android team sitting inconspicuously on the seat nearby.

But that team was a technical tour de force, Luddites. One that renders paper maps and "directions discussions" with the significant other to the dustbin of history.

And don't get me started on carburetor icing. (Are you listening, mid 70s Ford E150 ?)
 

michaelyares

2005 2500 158" WB
I have been recently searching for the ups and downs of replacing my van.

With that being said, we are moving 2500 miles east to the Blue Ridge Mountains of WNC with a steep driveway and occasional non-California like weather (or ever)...

One of my ideas is to use my 2005 Sprinter LWB High Roof with 210,000 miles towing a car hauler that we might load the wife's 2018 Transit Connect up in Phoenix where we will meet up for the trip eastward together with our four pets and her sense of urgency.

I have some high mileage breakdown anxiety that is heightened by the wife being along. The practical concern is what would a prudent type do? I have some idea as prudence is a come and go thing for me.

I thought of selling the Spider Van and getting a....

Promaster for snowy traction advantage but they seem a piece of crap and I like to tow and carry heavy stuff.

Ford Transit? I was hoping they'd be Ford Tough and not be Found On Road Dead... Can't tell how they really are from this string other than the panned review above. They are also pretty rare used relative to used Sprinters and a bit princely in price.

Newer Sprinter? There seem to be ample supply of used newer Sprinters but I hear they have their own myriad of troubles.

My 2005 has had the T21 recall done and no engine lights for a while now (knock on wood). It seems solid and tows great but I would sure be sad to many miles away from a Sprinter specialist either on the road or while living in the mountains of WNC near Asheville.
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
If you are staying on top of maintenance, and not ignoring any symptoms, I would not be concerned with the sprinter. Mine just rolled over 170K, and I would take it anywhere. Many folks with 300K+ miles of conservative driving.
 

4wheeldog

2018 144" Tall Revel
Bunch of Luddites. :tongue: :hugs:

Who here among us would do without remote keyless entry? Speed control? Fuel injection? Automatic transmission? Anti lock brakes?

And how about Google Maps, with that wonderful woman inside the dashboard telling you hot to get to where you want to go?

And don't get me started on Frito's 30mpg vs 10 mpg on all my previous F*rds and Chebbies. :cheers::rad:
Yup. In my youth, I wanted nothing to do with power windows, power door locks or even power steering. Let alone consider an automatic transmission. Just stuff to break, on the old junk I drove.
But when I finally owned a Toyota van with power door locks and AC, I swore I would never have another without those features. I still prefer manual transmissions, but only because I am more skillful with one than I am with an automatic.
 

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