Are Class B Transit's here to stay?

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by avanti

No, I don't.

As a point of information, the Transit was first introduced in 1965.

Transit as a unibody van in 1965?

I know the name in the USA was not introduced by Ford until May, 2009. I was coincidentally there in Old Town Alexandria, VA when they debuted with the smaller body Transit Connect. They were all over town for photo shoots and I was intrigued. May 19, 2009 to be exact according to my Photos library.

I agree with your "No, I don't" statement. I don't have information at hand but I believe Transits outsell Sprinters by a wide margin now in the USA. You see more and more of them in businesses. I first thought they would make better headway in the RV market than they have.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Transit as a unibody van in 1965?

I know the name in the USA was not introduced by Ford until May, 2009.

As I understand it, he was talking about brand names being constantly retired, not specific vehicle architectures--trying to use longevity of the brand as some kind of measure of quality. By that standard, Transits must be amazing vehicles.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Davydd

I know the name in the USA was not introduced by Ford until May, 2009.

If we want to talk about USA only, the Sprinter wasn't introduced until 2001, not "1995".

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

. . .

There's got to be a reason why Federal Express is using a really big fleet of Sprinters....?

FedEx also uses Ford Transits in my area.

[Boxster1971]

Noticed a key statement in brochure for the new Pleasure-Way Ontour 2.2:

"With over 3000 Ford dealerships nationwide you are never far from service."

Looked at the protoypes on display at Hershey RV show yesterday.

Nice layout and typical PW quality. They have Lithium and Solar, plus finally a compressor refrigerator/freezer. But they still have LP for heat and hot water. Since these are gasoline engine Transits they include a gasoline 2.8KW Onan generator.

This would not be my first choice.

[jrobe]

I remember doing the math once on LP furnaces and as I recall, a 12 gallon LP tank would probably run a furnace for about 80 hours or so (depending on many variables). This would mean that if you ran the heater for 8 hours per night, the tank would last for about 10 days. It is a real nuisance filling LP tanks. I would not want to do this very often.

This is the one advantage of a diesel van. The trucking industry has perfected small and efficient diesel furnaces which work great in RV's. They do make gasoline Espar furnaces but I have no idea how well they work.

[BillsPaseo]

Not sure why you find it a nuisance to get the LP tank filled. Most gas stations will fill them. I have 3 gas stations to choose from within a 5 mile radius of my house that will fill my tank. Takes about 10 minutes and costs about $15 (5 gallon tank). And I typically only need to do it about 3-4 times per year.

Also I don't think your math takes duty cycle into account. Our Truma Combi only runs at about a 25% or less duty cycle unless it is really cold outside.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by BillsPaseo

Most gas stations will fill them.

Well, THERE'S a bit of an exaggeration.

[BillsPaseo]

Originally Posted by avanti

Well, THERE'S a bit of an exaggeration.

Maybe in some areas. Here in the PNW it is no problem to find a gas station that can fill propane tanks.

Around here, most Ace Hardware, True Value Hardware, Chevron gas stations and U-haul dealers can fill propane tanks.

And it is NOT an exaggeration that I have 3 gas stations within 5 miles of my house, takes less than 10 minutes, and I only have to do it 3-4 times per year. I don't see anything painful about that... which was my whole point.

[Roadtech]

I like the design Gala RV in Canada has for their propane system on the PM chassis. They have two 20 or 30 lb. standard BBQ propane tanks mounted in compartments on the side of the van. That way you can remove them easily and have them refilled or swapped out like you do on a trailer. You don't have to drive the van to the fill station.

[Dave&chris]

I have just received an email from PleasureWay advertising their new “Ontour” that will be on show at the Hershey RV Show September 11 to 15 2019 there are two models based on Ford Transit chassis.

[Hatteras Jim]

" But, I'm wondering if we're missing some great, viable options by not considering a class b on a sprinter chassis? "

Yes you are! The opportunity to meet many different Sprinter dealerships on a cross country tour. You'll even find out which states do not have any dealerships or ones that are 700 miles out of your way. And, you'll discover many exciting things to do while you wait 2 weeks for an appointment.

"The 2015 - 2016 10 Starts left tour ----- 6 months, 25 States, 24,000 miles - 8 different dealerships, 4 NOx sensors, 2 computer resets, 1 DEF nozzle cleaning and 2 that had no clue. " Fed-ex has a fleet because 1 is not enough.


Before you bash me, it's a 2013 that I had from new, kept up on the maintenance (at the dealership), and left on the trip with around 10k on the odometer. On the brighter side, all repairs were covered under warranty. It did not cover the aggravation, extra camping nights, fear of driving with 4 starts left and adding a month to our trip. The first alarm hit at 135 miles on day 1 of our much anticipated retirement tour.

Even now, we are very cautious about driving it anywhere. Probably why we only have 50k on it.

Go gas and be happy.

[mikeehlert]

Originally Posted by Roadtech

I like the design Gala RV in Canada has for their propane system on the PM chassis. They have two 20 or 30 lb. standard BBQ propane tanks mounted in compartments on the side of the van. That way you can remove them easily and have them refilled or swapped out like you do on a trailer. You don't have to drive the van to the fill station.

But you lose a lot of storage.

[mikeehlert]

Originally Posted by Dave&chris

I have just received an email from PleasureWay advertising their new “Ontour” that will be on show at the Hershey RV Show September 11 to 15 2019 there are two models based on Ford Transit chassis.

Two lengths, pretty good reviews so far.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

https://www.truckinginfo.com/143718/mercedes-benz-report-record-van-sales-teases-rollout-of-next-sprinter

Does it really matter which manufacturer has the largest volume, why is this even an argument?

That's like saying Ford's and Chevy's are the most "popular" cars sold in the USA..... meaningless....

Choose whatever makes you happy..... there's plenty of choices out there for everyone...

[Rdean925]

Traveling Robert did a video of the inside of both PW Ontour models (2 different lengths) at the Hershey Show

https://youtu.be/eTi3ZUDpYak

[booster]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

https://www.truckinginfo.com/143718/mercedes-benz-report-record-van-sales-teases-rollout-of-next-sprinter

Does it really matter which manufacturer has the largest volume, why is this even an argument?

That's like saying Ford's and Chevy's are the most "popular" cars sold in the USA..... meaningless....

Choose whatever makes you happy..... there's plenty of choices out there for everyone...

Sales volume and popularity are certainly a fairly good indication a good vehicle, IMO. Bad vehicles rarely sell well and are not popular even if they do sell decently, with lots of complaining.



Ford has a history off producing very good light truck and sells a lot of them like the pickups that have been highest sales for decades. That doesn't guarantee a Transit will be as good as the others, but it is better than buying a model from a company with a poor history, I think.


Why do I have the feeling that if the Sprinter was the biggest seller, this would have been rephrased and stated as how important volume and popularity are?

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Hatteras Jim

" But, I'm wondering if we're missing some great, viable options by not considering a class b on a sprinter chassis? "

Yes you are! The opportunity to meet many different Sprinter dealerships on a cross country tour. You'll even find out which states do not have any dealerships or ones that are 700 miles out of your way. And, you'll discover many exciting things to do while you wait 2 weeks for an appointment.

"The 2015 - 2016 10 Starts left tour ----- 6 months, 25 States, 24,000 miles - 8 different dealerships, 4 NOx sensors, 2 computer resets, 1 DEF nozzle cleaning and 2 that had no clue. " Fed-ex has a fleet because 1 is not enough.


Before you bash me, it's a 2013 that I had from new, kept up on the maintenance (at the dealership), and left on the trip with around 10k on the odometer. On the brighter side, all repairs were covered under warranty. It did not cover the aggravation, extra camping nights, fear of driving with 4 starts left and adding a month to our trip. The first alarm hit at 135 miles on day 1 of our much anticipated retirement tour.

Even now, we are very cautious about driving it anywhere. Probably why we only have 50k on it.

Go gas and be happy.

Jim, we drove 11,000 miles in 2017 across the USA....
We did experience a problem on the last leg of the trip... saw our "friends" in Flagstaff at the Mercedes Benz dealership.... hahaha....

I know that there's "more drama" with the Mercedes Benz Sprinter emissions, but, at 19-20 MPG... and the performance and driving responsiveness, yeah, I'm glad I got my Sprinter.......

I've actually had more issues with my Roadtrek... and I know that's because I purchased it 5 to 6 years old and had to do a lot of remedial stuff and upgrades to make it "road worthy"...... I think I've just may have crossed that threshold now.... like you, I have just under 50,000 miles on my 2012 RS Adventurous...( 2011 MB Sprinter 3500)......all serviced.

I was really "lucky" in that following the return from traveling across the USA.... my entire emissions system failed completely and it was replaced by Mercedes Benz under the federal government warranty.... they replaced everything on the emissions system and updated my software ..... that was extremely fortunate...

Mercedes did all the work very expeditiously and I was here at home so it didn't inconvenience us at all, maybe two or three days in the shop...

It's all expensive to keep up with repairs and maintenance on an RV.

As for being afraid to take it out; well, I'm sorry that you feel that way.....now that it's fixed, why would you let this bother you??

I just take it out whenever we want to go on a trip and have my towing company information on hand...it's always an adventure when you travel....these are the punctuation marks on trips.... you always remember when something doesn't go exactly as planned... that's life...

You are probably going to spend money on something, right??? You can't take it with you....

I must say that I've never been to a less than elegant Mercedes Benz dealership.... they are very comfortable.

Good luck with your travels.....

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

As for being afraid to take it out; well, I'm sorry that you feel that way.....now that it's fixed, why would you let this bother you??

Maybe because his vacation time is precious, and once he has had his Sprinter's crap emissions system ruin a trip, he will always feel that there is a Sward of Damocles hanging over his head. Having had three vacations spoiled due to such issues, I certainly do.

Maybe if your "expeditious" three day repair happened during an important trip instead of between them, you might see the situation more clearly.

IMO, for the RVer, reliability is more important than gas mileage, it is more important than being able to pass everybody else on the road going uphill, and it is certainly more important than the prestige of a three-sided star.

[Roadtech]

Originally Posted by Roadtech

I like the design Gala RV in Canada has for their propane system on the PM chassis. They have two 20 or 30 lb. standard BBQ propane tanks mounted in compartments on the side of the van. That way you can remove them easily and have them refilled or swapped out like you do on a trailer. You don't have to drive the van to the fill station.

Originally Posted by mikeehlert

But you lose a lot of storage.

True, but you gain larger grey and black tanks under the van in place of the propane tank...