Are Fords really as bad as people are saying ?

[Brian Thompson]

Looking to change our MH. We currently have an Autotrail Apache 700 with the Comfortmatic Gearbox. Looking to get a full Automatic . Are Fords really that bad ?

 

[Reallyretired]

2009 Mk7 six speed manual. 2.2l duratorq.

 

[Miggs]

My friend has just spent over £8000 on a replacement engine for a 2020 Benimar with only 12000 miles on it.
He won't be going near a Ford any time soon!

 

[CAB96]

My friend has just spent over £8000 on a replacement engine for a 2020 Benimar with only 12000 miles on it.
He won't be going near a Ford any time soon!

What was the issue?

 

[Miggs]

What was the issue?

I believe it was injector related. Flooded one cylinder with fuel and when finally ignited it blew it up, or something like that.

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[jockaneezer]

I think the scuttle water shorts out the electrical part of the injectors, not so much a problem with the old mechanical style, apart from rusting them into the head ?

 

[Kelvin8tor]

My summary of Ford Transit Custom van driving (as mentioned previously, not my own van, but one that I drive at work) versus my limited experience (12000 miles) of driving my 2007 Peugeot Boxer 2.2 derived motorhome.
It's a 20 plate with 77800 miles on the odo, serviced at recommended mileage by a trusted independent garage.

Good points:- the handbrake is very good. The Peugeot one is equally as good, but only on the flat.
Build quality:- it's held up well, much better than I expected. Nothing rattles, squeaks or falls off. No visible signs of rust on the bodywork.
Reliability:- the only things to fail are the brake servo vacuum pump (twice) - what happened to the pipe from the inlet manifold? Too simple? It's left me stranded once and same for the other driver. At least it doesn't wreck the engine, like VW Crafters do.
The on-board electrics display - warnings regularly flit between worn brake pads, hill start assist not available (not fitted), ad-blu (for around 2 weeks after it has been replenished) and door open warning, when all doors are closed. But I still have to get out and check passenger, sliding and rear doors are actually closed for my piece of mind.

Bad points:- engine (don't know capacity but it's a diesel) lacks any meaningful torque.
Gear box:- ratios all wrong - 1st is too high, 5th and 6th too low.
Gear selection:- feels like Ford tried to fit a 6-speed box into a 4-speed gate. I still miss gears (only changing down, to be fair) on a weekly basis. You could put it down to my age (69) but I never miss a gear in the Peugeot.
Infotainment console:- worse than my new Toyota CHR, and that's bad.
Steering:- when it decides to add power to it (sometimes a minute or two delay), it is very vague. I don't expect MX5 levels of feel, but some would be nice.
Traction control:- the first thing we all turn off at the sign of bad weather. It's atrocious.
But if I was given the choice of keys for the Transit or the VW, I would take the Ford key.

I have a transit van that is 3 years old I have had it from new for my business it has been totally reliable very economical and a pleasure to drive it’s a custom so is we’ll kitted out
Prior to that I had a Vauxhall Vivaro good van
Prior to that VW transporter the worst van I ever had always breaking down sounded like a tractor
As for motorhomes 2.8 hdi boxer good reliable van engine was agricultural but I liked it
My current motorhome is Fiat based 2.3 multijet this has proved to be reliable so far
All the vehicles have been manual
The layout of the motorhome is probably more important don’t be put off with the ford it is in my opinion a good van ( it will probably break tomorrow)