I’m no fan of the Promaster, but the Chrysler powertrain isn’t one of its problems. The 3.6L Pentastar make decent power (80 more than the Sprinter) and the 6-speed auto works fine within its limits.

Except this van has a conceptual 4x4 system too. The pics clearly show it still has the dropped solid non-drive axle (trailer style) that all the FWD Ducato vans have.

That’s not how real tandem axle trucks work either. They have a pass through, but with a planetary gearset at the front axle which splits power just like a differential. Trucks intended for off-highway use will have a locker on this as well, but not most OTR trucks. None of them just link the differentials together.…

I’m not sure that would help. There doesn’t look to be any way for the axles to equalize the load. Most heavy trucks use “walking beam” axle, and most Over-The-Road trucks use cross-linked airbags, so the loads are always equal on all four drive tires. The newest OTR trucks are only 2WD, and the center axle lifts with…

I’m pretty sure that’s exactly it. And from the owner’s walk-around vid, he has no idea how it works. Possibly doesn’t even now how to shift the rear T-case, and probably doesn’t understand that any old rusty Ford with vacuum hubs requires manually locking the front hubs for 4-wheel drive to work. I feel especially…

Have you not driven a modern direct-injection turbo? People would try to compare peak HP numbers when the EcoBoost and similar motors came out 10 years ago. Torque is what you feel (and the turbo has way more, much earlier), but also the turbo power-plant will have much more area under the curve, even if peak HP is…

To me, it’s not the vertical elements on their own.... It’s that the integration  with the rest of the body design is poor.

Van sales are probably way higher than most folks assume. This is only 2nd quarter!

I’m pretty sure that’s a Ford Escape.

There’s a plus and minus on the shifter and/or flappy paddles. So that makes it a manual, right?

So would you drive this from the middle seats? Or move the engine to the back?

You could probably get a modern version done easy by taking a Sawzall to an Expedition EL, and finding a use topper from a 5.5' bed F150 to close it in.

You can head in as soon as they start pumping. Just don’t leisurely start leaving the car only after the pump clicks off.

One Ford sales manager posted on here a couple years ago, stating the profit margin on the F150's optional wheels was more than the entire margin on a Focus.

Double? I want what you’re smoking. These are all over the place, at dealers even, for this price. But every single dealer listing I saw in that price range, looked pristine and with lower miles.

Most of the new Ford don’t even have “pad” for the numbers. They are embedded in the B-pillar and only light up when your hand gets close.

On Fords, they come that way be default ( think 10 minute shut-down) but you can also switch that off, so it keeps running. Either way, it’s honks at you if you leave while it’s running.

I don’t know the total population stats as far as work vs live breakdown (and it is somewhat non-traditional in Portland anyways, with a lot of reverse commuting), but 45% of downtown commuters use public transit and the system carries over 75,000,000 trips per year. More telling as that almost 80% use it voluntarily,…

Cars, it probably doesn’t matter much unless you want something low-volume, high-demand. But boats and motorhomes? Definitely during a recession! You can get new ones half of original MSRP when things are slow! Used expensive boats and motorhomes are even a better deal!

True, but they’re probably just rolling the early payoff costs into your next lease.