Ford Transit Connect road test reports and car reviews

Ford Transit Connect 2006

We have had continuous problems with the tracking of the front wheels, causing us to buy numerous tyres.

Ford Transit Connect Tourneo. 2008

Buying my van has been an abortion from day one. The Ford dealer knew nothing about disabled drivers benefits and had to be nursed through procedure. This including me having to arrange a local engineer to fit wheelchair clamps. At this point they refused my previously agreed finance saying my wife must have finance as she is the disabled person. So my van sat on forecourt taxed and insured and I couldnt have it until I paid the balance ( £6,000 ). I had already paid half down and wanted rest on finance, but had to pay full amount to get my van. They did lend me a car to get about in until I found the money but it had £1000 excess so I was scared to drive it unless I really had to ... When I did get the van ,the drivers door did not fit and was out of line, the steering wheel was out of line ( I asked them to check tracking after reading this page!!) The van also had the wrong tyre pressures, low engine oil, number plates out of line and well on the lash ..so they took it in and sorted some probs but damaged my door, then painted it wrong shade, then took whole thing to proper paint shop who did a good job making it look new, but the drivers door now needs to be slammed or it doesn’t close properly and they ground 10mm off the rubber bumpstop to make door fit. So something is 10 mm out of whack ..the door panels ..and I mean all of them rattle and groan as do all the doors ..at anything over 45 mph there is so much wind noise it sounds like the window is open !! And it only has 800 miles on the clock .. yes 800 .....in case you are thinking "it cant be that bad" I am a recently retired time served mechainic who ran my own garage for 25 years and have been in the motor trade since 1975. So I know what I`m talking about ..On the plus side, its nice to drive,nippy around town good on M ways and returns fantastic milege, really ,really fantastic milage. Sometimes I think the gauge has stopped working its so good ..pity the build quality and local dealer abilities are so piss poor. i am now in process of trying to get Ford head office to send an engineer to find out if it is within manufacturers specs or not. If I get a refund I will be buying a well made vehicle ie a Volkswagen. Fed up with Ford.

Ford Transit Connect 200 2003

Our Connect is a total lemon. Loads of trouble from new which the local Ford agent often struggled to sort out. First fault was it stopped on the dual carriageway & had to be recovered when only a few days old. Front tyres wear out on one side & the tracking has been checked & checked & checked - was doing this while under warranty but the Ford garage wouldn’t (or couldn’t) do anything about it. I’ve heard since that some of then were not aligned properly when being manufactured & there’s nothing to be done about it. The Ford garage denies this. Repetitive fault with the windscreen wiper linkage falling apart. Repetitive fault with the alternator. Massive engine oil leak which cost £800 to fix. Had to have a new gearbox at about 100,000 miles - conveniently just out of warranty. Now it’s had to be towed into the Ford garage again & they say it needs a new engine (135,000 miles with mostly main dealer service history) which will cost £2000 & it’s going to the auction - good riddance! Never again!

Ford Transit Connect 220 SWB LX 2004

I’ve been the only driver since new - it’s my only van, and used for my work as a carpenter. I ordered the van to my spec for my particular needs, and has virtually everything - even the ’no glass tailgate special order’. I have to say that it has been very reliable (now 60,000 miles) and the only problems have been (ongoing) unreliable aircon and that the clock seems to loose time (quite a common problem it seems). Van is used 3/4 loaded most of the time, although it only returns a regular average of 38 - 41 mpg. Mind you the engine is a ’tweaked and tweaked’ version of the doggy Ford diesel of old - must be about time Ford called it a day and fitted something better like the French do in their vans. It is comfortable to drive, can motor well when needed, load area is nice and ’square’ and will carry nigh on 800kg. Would recommend the Connect, but if a better engine is in the offering, wait for that.

Ford Transit Connect 210 LX 2007

Well, where do I start? Having run 4 Escort vans for years, some with over 350,000 miles for each van. I made the decision to try the new Transit Connect 210 LX with all the extras. On collection we were very pleased with our new cash purchase. However at approx 7,500 miles I noticed that the front two tyres had gone completely bald so I took it back to the main dealer to be checked assuming that as the van was just three months old that all would be sorted out under warranty. This turned out not to be the case and we had to pay for the new tyres and tracking. The dealer was not able to obtain any factory test certificates to confirm if the vehicle had ever been tracked correctly and this is not carried out as part of the pre-sale check. It is my opinion that the van had been delivered to us with the tracking out of alignment. At approx 13,000 miles I noticed that the engine had a flat spot at approx 3000 RPM so I again took the van to the main dealer who carried out tests but were unable to find the fault. I was informed that I would have to wait until the van broke down or that the fault was persistent. I carried on driving the van for a further 4,000 miles and took the van to the main again and demonstrated the fault. It turned out to be the turbo that had blown and there followed another week off the road with a new van at six months old. The van has been fine for the last six months but this week as I was driving down the motorway the engine lost partial power and I thought that it was a repeat of the turbo fault so I telephoned Ford for assistance and that turns out to be the AA and nothing to do with Ford and the service was excellent. I telephoned Evans Halshaw in Preston (the dealer where I purchased the van from) and was told be their service manager that the soonest that they could investigate the problem was 2/3 weeks. I called Ford Customer Care to see if they could help and was told that they could send me a list of telephone numbers of other dealers and I should ring round and see if any of them could get the van in any quicker and they would not provide any hire vehicle. This van is still under 12 months old and have just been informed that it now requires a new engine and waiting to hear if it is going to be covered under warranty. The moral of this sorry story if you rely on your van for business do go near a Ford Transit Connect.

Ford Transit Connect swb 90 lx 2006

Not a great deal to be said here, really. Awesome van, quick, quiet, and very very comfortable. Spacious load area due to square shape, reliable (29k in 3 months, no breakdowns). LX pack a real addition, heated windscreen great in cold weather, armrest nice in traffic, driving position and view of road second only to full size transits. Surprisingly good handling, decent fuel economy (same on average as astravan 1.7cdti that replaced it). Only thing mine missed was air con, get that and you’ll grin for years. This van doesn’t get you to work, it helps you at work. Sounds odd, that. Truly capable vans and well worthy of the Transit badge. Definitive 5 stars.

Responses to this review

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