Recently rented a 15 passenger 2015 Ford Transit - NV waaaaay better!

[dneiding]

My wife and I and our seven kids recently took a 11 day trip to Orlando and rented a 2015 Ford Transit during our stay. At home, we have a 2013 NV 3500 SV. Previous to our NV we owned a 2009 Chevy Express 3500.

 

I will say the Ford is much, much nicer than the previous Ford Econoline and nicer than the Chevy Express. It rides nice, has cup holders and the interior is not so utilitarian looking. However, in my opinion, it is no where near as nice as the NV. The NV is just so much more roomy, has a much better interior and rides 1000x better.

 

We plan to trade our NV in soon for a new van and had thought that the new Ford might be an option. After renting one I will for sure stick with the NV.

[Chris_CommercialManager]

That is interesting, thank you for sharing.  I have yet to really check out the transit passenger.

[joesimpala]

Thank you for your review. I am currently trying to decide between the 15 passenger transit and NVP. We have number 7 on the way so its time to make the jump to a bigger van. I have not had a chance to drive the NV yet, local dealer should be getting one in this week. I did however test drive a 15 passenger transit. I am actually leaning slightly toward the transit for 2 reasons. Those are space and fuel economy. If you were to take the last row of seats out of the transit you would still have a 11 passenger van with a ton of space for luggage. I assume the space you mentioned is in the seating rather than storage. The seating in the transit was a little snug, i am 6ft and could sit in every seat but there wasn't a lot of leg room. Not horrible but not great either. Can you share how the vans compare from a mpg perspective? I am also surprised on your comment about the ride. Without driving one i actually expect the NV to be a harsher ride than the ford. From pictures and feature content it does appear that the NV does have a much nicer interior. Any further comparison would be much appreciated!

[Chris_CommercialManager]

Out of curiosity why do you think the ford will get better gas mileage....Did a ford dealer tell you that?  Other than a micro difference one way or another it will be a wash.  

[dneiding]

Thank you for your review. I am currently trying to decide between the 15 passenger transit and NVP. We have number 7 on the way so its time to make the jump to a bigger van. I have not had a chance to drive the NV yet, local dealer should be getting one in this week. I did however test drive a 15 passenger transit. I am actually leaning slightly toward the transit for 2 reasons. Those are space and fuel economy. If you were to take the last row of seats out of the transit you would still have a 11 passenger van with a ton of space for luggage. I assume the space you mentioned is in the seating rather than storage. The seating in the transit was a little snug, i am 6ft and could sit in every seat but there wasn't a lot of leg room. Not horrible but not great either. Can you share how the vans compare from a mpg perspective? I am also surprised on your comment about the ride. Without driving one i actually expect the NV to be a harsher ride than the ford. From pictures and feature content it does appear that the NV does have a much nicer interior. Any further comparison would be much appreciated!

 

I have no idea on fuel economy.  I don't track mine on my NV and didn't look on the Ford rental.  I gotta pay it so what it ends up being is really irrelevant to me. I did fill the Ford up once during our trip. I don't remember the exact cost but it was similar to my NV so I imagine it has a 20-25 gallon tank. I don't know what the MPG was but I can assure you it was not noticeably different than the NV.  Maybe 1 or 2 MPG better or 1 or 2 worse but nothing that would be very noticeable.  

 

As far as my comment on the NV being roomier, I was talking about seating and over all cabin space (i.e. head room). When we returned to the airport and I got into my NV I felt tiny.  There is just so much more head room and room between the front seats more room between you and the windshield - it is just so much bigger.

 

The NV is much more powerful too (at least it felt that way). Every time I would get on the highway in the Ford the engine would roar, the van would downshift and it just felt like it was giving all it got to get up to speed.  Each time the kids would start screaming 'Dad why are you speeding'.  In the NV, getting up to speed is effortless. On a related note, I have always been impressed with the power of the NV.  We have a 32 1/2 foot travel trailer that we pull with our NV. We also pulled it with our 2009 Chevy Express 3500 with a 6.0L.  With the Chevy you could for sure tell it was back there.  With the NV, I find myself checking the mirrors to see if it is still there since I can barely fell it on acceleration and on breaking.

 

As far as storage in the Ford, the 15 passenger we rented had 0 behind the back seat storage.  Not even enough room to fit a stroller. I think you'd have to take the last row out if you wanted to carry anything more than a few bags of groceries back there. We had to unhook the back seat and slide it forward just to fit our stroller and backpacks back there and put all of our luggage in the first row of seats.

 

The problem I have with buying a 15 passenger van and taking out the last row for storage is that a 15 passenger van (4 rows of back seats) is NOT 33% longer than a 12 passenger (3 rows of back seats). That means the 3 rows you left in have less leg room than the 3 rows would in a 12 passenger. Now if you could take out the last row and space the remaining 3 rows evenly in the entire space then you'd be talking but you obviously can't do that so you are left with a 12 passenger van, with lots of storage but less leg room than a true 12 passenger van.  We had a lot of luggage to take to the airport so we just took out half of the last row in the NV. That gave us enough room for a stroller and 9 suit cases and additional carry on bags and everyone still had the same leg room as they always do. If you have a need for a 15 passenger then that is another story but to get a 15 passenger just to turn it into a 12 passenger with lots of storage doesn't make sense to me. Especially when removing seats in the NV is so easy. My son is over 6'2" and had trouble getting comfortable in any back seat of the Ford.

 

As far as ride, I think you are in for a surprise when you drive the NV. It is still clearly a big, huge, heavy van - it doesn't ride like my Cadillac CTS coupe.  But compared to our previous Chevy Express and the rental Ford the ride was hands down better on the NV.  The ride on our Chevy was borderline unacceptable - it was really, really, bad.  On the 2015 Transit the ride was OK. You'd think you were in heaven if you were comparing it to the Chevy. But when compared to the NV the NV, in my opinion, is much better.  If I had to assign some arbitrary rating (1-10) to them I would say the Chevy is a 2 (with a 1 being a 2x12 strapped to a skate board going down a bumpy highway at 60 mph). The Ford would be a 5 (better than I expected and I wouldn't complain if I had to ride in it every day) and the NV would be a 7 or 8 (so maybe I exaggerated a bit when I said the NV's ride was 1000x times better :))

 

Finally, the NV looks soooooo much cooler than the Ford and you don't see them everywhere. I saw 1 NV in 11 days in Orlando while I saw about 20 2015 Transits. It is no exaggeration to say I get stopped weekly and asked what is that, where did you get it and told how cool it is.

Edited December 23, 2014 by dneiding

[andy_george]

Thanks so much for the write up! I've been waiting for *years* for Ford to bring the Transit passenger to market. Once I saw the very low tow ratings of it I decided the NV would fit our needs better. 7000 miles in, I think I've made the right decision, and I'm glad everything you say reaffirms that!

 

You mentioned your other car, the CTS. Are you going to be upgrading to the just-announced new CTS-V? ;). Makes my mouth water!

[dented]

I too have been waiting for the Transit. I bought the NV to get us by until the Transit has been on the road for a few years, to see other people use it, and report how it works out. When I inspected one about a month ago, I was very surprised to see the state of the suspension components. It doesn't look like a heavy duty chassis or suspension at all. In fact, the front arms looked remarkably similar to those on a VW rabbit we used to own. The stamped steel appears thin, and to convert it to 4x4 I would think the entire suspension gets scrapped. A solid front axle and replaced rear axle would be the way to go. 

We use our NV off road, so that is a big consideration for us. 

Recently on a desert canyoneering trip, we were suddenly faced with a small washout in the road, the actual wash was smaller than the diameter of the wheel, but the road dipped down a bit on both sides too. I wasn't going very fast, but too fast to stop and even a bit too fast to scrub off enough speed for what I would consider a normal speed to pass through it. We rallied through it and I expected to find some damaged stuff upon inspection that evening. But it continued driving normally, and I can't see anything bent or even out of alignment. Still tracks straight on the freeway and no new vibrations. Gear did fly about a bit, and some hats flopped out of the overhead bin, but that's not new. We were all jarred pretty good, but the NV soldiers on. Incredible. I don't make a habit of rallying through washes, but sometimes things like this happen in the desert. I strongly doubt that I could even install a mild lift on the Transit like I have on the NV. Those front arms are pretty short. 

[DeniseB]

I have a 3500sv and had a ford e150 I can't agree more with you about the power of the NV. I'm thinking of towing a TT but can you open the back doors on the NV when the TT is hooked up? I was just in Orlando too with my NV.

[bigmikeysr]

Let me first say that I am new to your forum. Next is that I am picking up my 2014 NVP 3500 this afternoon! This is also my first Nissan. I was previously driving a 2005 Ford V10 Excursion (what a great vehicle). It was getting long in the tooth for the distance that I regularly travel. I began looking for a full size van. My first choice was an E350 Ford. That is no longer made, so we drove a new Ford Transit Wagon. 12 passenger w/ 3.5l Eco boost. Plenty of power, good gas mileage reviews and an optimistic potential buyer. First thing off the bat was seeing that is unibody constructed. Looking underneath reminded me of the Taurus that I drive at work. Inside I felt like a "fat guy in a little coat" I'm 5'10 260. No leg room for the driver,right knee and my pressed against the trans shifter housing. The front door glass has a divider between the fixed portion, and movable portion, nearly dividing in half vertically. I jumped in the rear seats and again found very little leg room. Needless to say I was disappointed w/ this van. A friend suggested that we look at the Nissan NV, so we did. We drove a new 2014 NV3500 passenger van. It was an SL w/ the premium radio. We jumped in, and WOW we could move around. We drove it and loved it!! Needless to say we bought it. That says allot... Full frame, plenty of power, lots of room, and comfort. Gas mileage, well lets just say having driven the v10 sewer for the last 10 years, I ain't sceered!! I will give an update after we drive it for a while...

[Mc2guy]

Big Mike,

 

Welcome.  I had the same feeling about the Transit.  I'm a big guy (6'1" 260lbs)  The transit felt tight everywhere, even though the specs suggest it shouldn't be.  The doghouse intrusion really limited leg room as a driver and the non-adjustable and NON REMOVEABLE rear seats were very close, spacing wise.  That makes it really difficult for those of us with kids in car seats.  You really couldn't have put a rear facing car seat anywhere in the Transits first row, it was that tight.

 

That and the total lack of towing capacity killed the Transit for me.

 

I definitely would've liked that ecoboost V6 and the reported gas mileage, but at $2/gal, who can complain!