2003 Ford Transit Connect reviews

Ford Transit Connect t220 high roof 2003

Ok, I may be spoiled or biased, but I have always had a proper sized van for doing my work as a service engineer since I was a third year apprentice at 18. I have started with a new company and have been landed with a Connect 75 hp, horrible old thing, as a supposed temp van, but it has been 3 months now. I hate it! The engine is really old school with poor low down torque and high vibration to the point either the gearbox or clutch has a terrible rattle that I have noticed on a lot of Connect vans filtering in traffic, so it must be a common issue. The back door lock and solenoid totally wore out and siezed and the garage had to knock door hinges out and get a stihl saw into the lock to open and remove the back doors. A new lock has been fitted, but it’s not working with the keyfob now and only the key and the doors are now a mess from being pryed open and the hinges are loose causing the doors to drop. The side door doesn’t have an external key barrel and can’t be opened via the keyfob, it has just a manual twist knob on the inside, which is a joke. The front tyres wore down quick. Bits of plastic fall off e.g. window winders/bumper corners and side door blanking. The plug performance is rubbish, but I’m fully loaded and I suppose 35 mpg is pretty decent, not that I care as my company pays for the fuel. The bonnet lock siezed and it was a mission to open the bonnet the first time. The heatshield has fallen onto exhaust and is also squeaking and catching speed bumps etc., but my heart is not in it and I can’t be bothered even going under van for a look. Rust patches make the van look tatty above and around the windscreen, under the rear light clusters, at rear of side ribs and under the drivers door as does the stone chips on the bonnet and the mangled back door that resembles a pringle. I suppose this has been neglected as it is an old spare company van, but I hate it and I’m thinking of packing in my job and moving on it’s that bad as I am emptying the thing to find a part or consumable several times a day. Rant over and I feel better. I have had several vans over the years including a Hiace, which does the job, but is a bit bland. Transits including the current version 115 lx have a nice interior and exterior, but constant need warranty work including egr valves, stereo replacement (cd wouldnt work when cold), wiring harness problems, fuel senders not reading accurate and running out of fuel showing quarter tank, gear selector dropping and not being able to select gear, constant gear cable adjustment etc., etc. I’m not a fan of Fords now, but I loved the smiley faces I used to run. The Vauxhall Vivaro was a good compromise and never had any reliability issues and looked decent enough and I’m sure had a galvanised body that had never seen any rust over the years even from small parking scratches or stone chips.