Faults:

Service with brakes and replacement bulbs @ 16668.

New clutch @ 16977.

New injectors, solenoid and engine @ 23000.

General Comments:

Initial thoughts were "what a great van", nippy for a fairly big van, great turning circle, good visibility, all the bells and whistles you could hope for (LX model).

Great load area - fancy it's a bit wider than the sprinter - good for racks on both sides. Dopey little knob on inside of sliding side door though - keeps getting knocked to locked position, meaning I have to clamber in through the back doors to unlock side door, then back out and round to open up the side to get my tools out.

Then got it serviced - needed couple of new tyres and the front pads doing (fair enough I thought, I admit, I do carry a lot of weight for work). Going to work, morning rush hour, maybe a week or two later - and I'm thinking - eh? Doesn't seem to be pulling... no this ain't happenin' - clutch had gone.

A few months pass, and I'm back into the frame of mind: "aaw what a van", stopped for lunch, got back in, started up, and plumes of white smoke, juddering like mad at idle, give it some gas and you only get more smoke, no more revs to speak of. RAC came out - said state of the fuel filter was terrible. Ford "service" for you I guess. Couldn't fix it @ roadside, towed off to Ford garage. Two weeks later, just heard back that despite changing injectors, solenoid and mention of injector pump, dealer now wants to change engine. And they're quibbling about the warranty.

I'm self employed, lost work through the van being off the road, first baby just arrived and really could go bust over this. Not impressed. Backbone of Britain? Crap. Knew I should've bought a VW.

Faults:

My clutch burnt at 600km.

The alternator died at 20000km.

General Comments:

Clutch is very soft. This motor home is 4 tons; it cannot reverse up hill at all; I get the clutch burning smell. I avoided reversing up hill for two years, but recently in Brisbane I had to do a hill start (very steep). I tried to start very gently, but the clutch could not grab it properly and started burning.

While I still had another 12 months warranty, I sold it at a loss of 30,000 Dollars. Ford has stop making it now in 2007.