American Pickers Retires Sprinter for Ford Transit

[Muttley]

The programmes with the Transit are now being shown, have to say that the van looks great

[huns]

> with engine PowerStroke 3,2l/I-5.

Don't see the problem here.
In California you have "Lemon law" too for cars.

The Transit is the most affordable, comfiest van I have tried and we did check them all.
The only thing comes close (and wins) is the Iveco Daily, but it costs +20-30% more.

Sure, lots of plastic here and there, but that's the trend now.
Shame, but every van/car is like this now.

Lot of people recommending Sprinters on the forums lately - I noticed.
But every Sprinter I saw (even newer ones) were full of rust. Covered in rust, at hinges, at body parts, everywhere.
Even on a few year old van. And I bought my MK7 used, then I kept it outside, and had 99% less rust than a Sprinter.
Other than that, the interior/cabin looks/feels very cheap, compared to a Transit.
Not sure about the comfort/features though, I never had a Sprinter for longer periods.
Reliability wise the MK7 was perfect for me. Sure, it had a few issues, but I bought it from a company that never even replaced the oil in the van.

[Garandman]

Chrome grill on the us one

There is an optional "Exterior Upgrade Package" that includes the chrome grill. I found it gaudy. The standard grill looks like this.


One interesting tidbit is that their van has a left-side door. This only became available in the 2016 model here, but they've had it for months.

[Garandman]

Pickers? Is that a programme about snot then?

"Pickers" is a colloquial (and as far as I can tell, Mid-Western) term for antique collectors (in this case, for sale). Considering that a 25 year old car is now considered "antique" [for registration purposes] there is considerable leeway in what they are looking for. See - http://www.history.com/shows/american-p ... is-picking

Consider it a "Wheeler Dealers" for collectibles. The show's popularity stems from the extraordinarily affable co-hosts and their "aww-shucks" humility. I doubt Ford will sell a single one here as the result of the show placement, but they do not need to, since the Transit is almost fully ramped up and selling at nearly five times the rate of the Sprinter. In fact Ford sells more of the still-available E-Series than MB sells Sprinters.

[Muttley]

'Twas tongue in cheek my friend I have watched every series from day one have you noticed, they have a Connect as well

[V184]

, since the Transit is almost fully ramped up and selling at nearly five times the rate of the Sprinter.-.[/quote]

Would be the same in the UK but for the crap backup !

[karl]

, since the Transit is almost fully ramped up and selling at nearly five times the rate of the Sprinter.-.

Would be the same in the UK but for the crap backup ![/quote]

true and their shite technicians who have been sat in a class room for 2 to 3 years then get a job on paper the enter the workshop and don't have a clue

[gregsfc]

Transit sales in U.S. really gaining steam...These vehicles in general are becoming more and more prevalent, but for what ever reason, probably mostly related to brand loyalty and Ford's long time entrenchment in fleet sales, it seems like the Transit is probably outselling all others combined, which includes Nissan, MB, and Ram. The Transit's not been for sell here very long, but the last couple of months I see as many Transits as I do the other three put together out on the roads. GM is still trying to sell the old-style American van under the name plates Chevrolet and GMC, but I haven't seen a new one of those in months. I suspect they're losing market share and will have a large panel van out soon. I've already seen one of the small panels at a dealer lot, so they're getting in the game. I suspect these commercial vans will start to really pickup market share in fleet sales as I suspect they'll start thinking they'll work much better for them that the monster-truck pickups the OEMs keep trying to shove at them.

I'm a new owner of an F150 full-size pickup with the 2.7 Ecoboost, but I would have paid an extra US$5,000 for the 3.2 I5 PowerStroke (known as Duratorq elsewhere). I'm achieving 23 mpg in my truck with the Ecoboost, but with the PowerStroke, I could achieve that or better without having to try so hard. The Ecoboost is ready to suck gas anytime I think about putting pressure on the accelerator. But Ford won't put the PowerStroke in the F150, because the 185 horsepower isn't enough for the larger and heavier versions of the truck I've got. If they do install a diesel option, it'll be the 3.0 V6 Lion, which will be very expensive by comparison and out of most folks price range or to anyone who can do math.

[wojciech]

because the 185 horsepower isn't enough for the larger and heavier versions of the truck I've got.

But power it is not everything.
Power Stroke 3,2l/5cyl. has 185HP, but however very high torque 470Nm - similar as V6 Ecoboost. Strongest Ecoboost in Transit 3,5l/V6 biturbo has 310HP and "only" 542Nm...
For economical drive Power Stroke 3,2l it is optimal choise.