- The engines. They are getting downsized to hell. I own a 2.2L Transit, and it's already way too weak compared to my previous MK7. I mean I would not ever dare to put ANY kind of box on this engine, or make it into a camper van, or anything that requires engine power. There is none. With 1.3T loaded, it's a constant struggle.
And that's the 2.2L without adblue. The new 2.0L? Every person and reviewer is crying that it's way too weak.
Solution: If you want to carry people or weight, get a Mercedes V6, Renault has 2.3L, Hyundai H250 has 2.4L engines. Just look around. I would go with the Hyundai, but the base model is pretty base. Point is, if you need to haul weight, stay away from Ford. As much as I love driving comfort, technology and the entire thing in general, this is an honest and good advice. With that said, don't spend too much on a new van. I brought my MK7 to a Diesel Specialist, they service the entire country. The dealers take engines to them to get them fixed. He shown me ALL brands (Ford, Mercedes, Renault, Peugeot, really everything), and there were blown engines, bad engines, but they were almost all brand new. tl;dr: All modern vans suck. But if you have a weak van and try to haul load, you are going to have a bad day. Oh, and I was in a Renault service, and they fix Ducatos. DO NOT BUY A NEW DUCATO. It's literally paint. With no metal. Not even as much as our vans have. I also drove a Movano, it has zero power. None, nada, nil. So that's my two own experiences.
- Frustrating things like how the Transit Connect refuses to heat up. WHY. It's such a basic need, such a basic thing, and yet they just release the car like that. Mind boggling. Solution: Get an aftermarket seat warmer. It's scientifically proven that when the temperature drops in your nose (i.e.: your body temp drops), you can catch a flu or something much easier and faster. So it's not the cold that gets you - which we knew a long time ago - but it's the cold that gets you. Bottom line. Get a seat warmer.
- The build quality. OH MY GOD. I took apart my MK7, then the MK8 Transit. Then the Connect 1.6L, and now the Tourneo 1.5L.
When I first saw the MK8, I was shocked how horribly built it is. How plastic it is. I mean I never had luxury cars, but come on, it's just cheap.
I said that until I opened the 1.6L Connect. Holy hell. The engine bay, the wiring, the entire front part... Jesus Christ. I wanted to cry.
And last I had to take my 1.5L Tourneo apart. It's like a horror movie. Seriously. The engine. Good luck replacing the oil filter and replacing oil. They made it so it's almost impossible to reach the housing, and if you take it apart, ALL the components will be drowning in oil. GREAT ENGINEERING, FORD! But hey, that's not all. Took apart my dash today to install a dashcam. Every small trim, every piece, every connection is "one time only". If something goes wrong, good luck fixing something. It took me long hours to take apart things without causing any damage. Now imagine giving your van to some 20-year-old "Ford Technician" who will use a metal pry tool and literally break everything he touches. I know they don't get any training, nor time. But yeah, infuriating. On my old Suzuki sh.tbox, you could tear down the dash, it would come off, and then you could just pop it back without any damage.
But what really took the prize today is how they attach the trim (the insides) to the base. They use these metal clips ( I will attach pics tomorrow ), and the metal clips basically go into the metal base which is painted. I mean, METAL ON METAL. When they install it in the factory it already scrapes off paint, but of course, every time you take things apart, it will eat another chunk off. It's crazy.
- Build quality #2. On my Tourneo (and maybe the new 1.5L Connect as well), they replaced the wheel fender covers with metal. Now you would say "good, metal > plastic", oh you just wait.
As you remember, Ford uses these plastic bags for insulation. And boy, do they love soaking up water?! So when I took apart my Tourneo, turns out it's full of this soaking wet bags and basically it's full of water there at the cover AND OF COURSE ITS METAL. So, enjoy your rust, Mr. Customer! Solution? Take out the bags. Some MK8 owners already did this.
- Build quality #3. If you thought your MK8 is badly built, wait for a new 2.0L one. My Tourneo has huge gaps between plastics and whatnot. One day we went to shop, and the missus said "look this piece sticks out". She pushed it and it popped back in. AND I WISH I WAS MAKING THIS UP. Since there are huge gaps, there is really no solution to this. The plastic/build quality is just this bad.
- Cheap / no recalls: The MAF filter on the MK8 is broken. They should be all recalled / inspected. Instead owners experience random limp modes, random check engine messages, and of cousre in the end, a constant LIMP + sticky ECU error - which all result in a visit to Ford and a MAF replacement. WHY. It's an issue. It exists and affects almost every MK8.
- The paint. Oh my god the paint. I had two "Frozen White" vans (connect + transit) and paper boxes scraped off paint. Flies, rock chips, everything. I mean they are both were new (few months old) and already had paint coming off. When I got my new Tourneo, I instantly took it and got it wrapped. Solution: If you buy a new Ford vehicle WRAP IT UP! It's gonna cost ya, but trust me, your paint will thank you! A braindead 'tard forgot his parking break, hit my new Tourneo and thanks to the wrap, it didn't scrape the paint off.
- Aftermarket things. I ordered both my own specced vehicle (Connect) and "on stock" ones (Transit + Tourneo). The specced vehicle also missed a few things like top rails, so I went to the dealers with all. Turns out, the things you see like "tow bar", "alarm", they are NOT Ford ones.
For example.
- Rail on the paper: 150gbp. But once you want to install it AFTER you bought the car/van, it's 500gbp. "It's the factory build price", so to say.
- The alarm they wanted to give me was some cheap local alarm that I could buy and install for 1/10th the price they quoted me. So if you buy your vehicle without factory alarm, you will not be able to add a factory one.
Words can hardly describe my feelings. I mean I consider the price of a Ford vehicle quite mid-range, i.e.: not cheap. And I also love my cars, I care about them. So when I see these cheap cuts they made at the factory, and the horrible job they did, It makes me want to cry. It makes me want to sell my cars and vans right now because it's just THAT BAD.
And you know what's the most maddening part in all this?
Ford has the technology. The driving experience. The comfort. Everything. If they only kept the proper engines and proper build quality, they would be the best-of-the-best on the market. I don't know why they don't want to. It's beyond me.
