The quickest family mover on 4 wheels!
Dad
4 Year Review of the Ford Transit E350 XLT
- Dependability / Ease to Work on
- Driver Comfort
- Passenger Comfort
- Cargo Capacity
- Safety
- Utility
Dependability
In our 4 years of ownership, our Ford Transit E350 XLT has started up every time. Which is great, because the thing is enormous! I consider myself to be mechanically inclined, but the 3.5L V6 Ecoboost motor in this van is next level and a bit passed my abilities. It has been an incredible engine that is probably my favorite feature of this van. We tried out the 3.6L non-Ecoboost version of this van, and it left me very unhappy with the larger 15 passenger Transit’s ability to get out of trouble, or really out of its own way. It had very poor acceleration, and felt incredibly underpowered compared to the 5.4L V8 we had in our 2008 Ford Econoline E-350. So when we added to our growing family, and had to make the jump from a 12 passenger up to a 15, the EcoBoost motor was a requirement.
We’ve put roughly 75,000 miles on this van in the last almost 4 years of ownership. In that time we’ve had to buy new tires once, brakes all around twice, and had the sliding door fixed once. (It needs to be fixed again. This door is massive, and when you have to almost slam it to get it to close all the way, the parts in the door come undone.)
With the sheer size of the vehicle, it doesn’t fit inside the family garage. This means all repairs have to be undertaken outdoors in the elements. Why doesn’t anything ever break when its 75 degrees and beautiful outside? Its always 40 degrees and raining sideways it seems when something goes wrong! If I had a lift, the overall costs of maintenance and repairs would have been less over the 4 years, but I don’t have one, and if you are doing much work brake wise on these HD setups, a lift is almost a requirement.
For that reason, many of our brake jobs have been handled by the local dealer’s service department (which is expensive, but have had to return the vehicle for post work issues, zero times) or a local mechanic in the area that we have had great luck getting work done at. To have the brake pads replaced and rotors turned or replaced, its close to $1500/axle at the dealer. With that pricing, we quickly found an alternative that is roughly 1/2 that price. Look around your area, now that these vehicles have become more popular, there should be a couple of good options in your area for these maintenance tasks.
Driver Comfort
When comparing the driver comfort of the Transit vs the Econoline, there just isn’t a comparison that does it justice. The Econoline felt like you are driving a big van. The Transit feels much more like driving a car. The thing is huge, but it maneuvers quite well through drive-thrus, tight parking lots, the interstate, as well as old country roads. The seat is a very nice upgrade from the Econoline, especially for taller drivers. There is much more leg room, and seat adjustment options then were available on the Econoline. Your field of vision in the Transit is also much larger, with fewer blind spots. The next biggest upgrade over the Econline series is the storage areas for your stuff as the driver! Need a cup holder, as a driver there are 4 different locations within reach that can hold a cup. Phone storage, papers you may need, etc, there is a ton of storage available both in the dash, and overhead. I can easily drive 3 to 4 hours without having to pull off and stretch, which is a 50% or better improvement over the previous Econoline. It’s not quite to the same comfort level of our old Chevy Suburban Z71 in the driver comfort department, but it gets a solid second place in that department.
Not sure where to add this, but Ford Sync has to be one of the best Bluetooth Infotainment extensions on the market. Sure, its not Apple Carplay or Android Auto, but it is just as feature rich. Our transit has the smaller 4 or 5 inch screen. When coupled with our phones, the audio is great, and works incredibly well. When compared to wireless CarPlay, or the GMC system, Sync in our experience is less faulty, and connects up almost every time without issue.
Passenger Comfort
As you can imagine, the jump from large bench seats with wonky seat belts over to individual seats with integrated seatbelts and the ability to recline, was a massive upgrade in passenger comfort. Each kid gets their own seat with a headrest, access to a cup holder, and a clear view out of the vehicle. There are several 12V power sockets available throughout the passenger area allowing the charging of all of the kids devices on a long trip. The Transit also has a great rear A/C and heat system. We have the mid-height roof, with the integrated AC vents throughout the roof. The heat comes up from the floor. One other benefit of the EcoBoost motor is that the heat options produce warm air much quicker than the previous Econoline with rear heat/air. At 6’2″ I can comfortably stand up in the rear area of the van without having to worry about hitting my head, and the vehicle still fits in every drivethru that we’ve come across in our travels.
Cargo Capacity
This is the one place that this van either really is awesome, or is limited. We typically when travelling need all 15 seats available in the van. When that’s the case, the cargo area is EXTREMELY small at the back of the vehicle. So things like strollers, or God forbid a double stroller, are extremely hard to fit. We’ve many times had to adapt our strategy and just purchase an inexpensive umbrella style stroller at whatever final destination that we are going to if needed. I now have 5 of these hanging in my garage! There is however, quite a bit of room under each seat. So we have adapted our strategy further to have kids pack their own backpacks with their necessities and place them under their seat. This works pretty well, and allows larger items like a Pack N Play to be placed in the back. There is also a large opening between the front seats that perfectly fits our Yeti backpack cooler. Great for trips to the local state park, or other trips. The bonus however, is that if you aren’t using all of the seats, the rear row middle seats are incredibly easy to remove. With them out, the sky is almost the limit of what you can haul in the back of your transit. Lots of room for large luggage, sports equipment, groceries, etc.
Safety
The transit includes the safety features that you have come to expect in a modern large vehicle.
- Anti-Lock Brakes
- Stability Control
- Front and Side impact Airbags
- Overhead Airbags
- Seatbelt Pretensioners
- Great independent Seatbelt on every Passenger seat
- Backup Camera and Object Detection
Utility for a Large Family
At the end of the day, the Transit, in my opinion, is the best bang for the buck Family Truckster on the market. If you’ve got a large family, and need a vehicle to haul your crew across town, to a hundred sporting events, and across country, you will find that the Ford Transit is the vehicle to get that done in. You can pop out the seats easily not just for cargo capacity, but for just getting them deep cleaned when the Large Coke inevitably spills, or a child gets sick. The seats are made of high quality materials, and so far, have stood up to 4 years of abuse that 12 kids, and all their friends can bring to it.
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