E Series Van dies

[garmp]

Apparently Ford has decided to discontinue it's E Series (Econoline) vans, or the Ford van as we know it today. Going for the sprinter style. A sad, sad day for us van campers/B Wanna Bees. Wonder how Sportsmobile, GTRV and even PleasureWay (Traverse) will handle the transition. Longing to get one of these (when money falls from trees), but will definitely wait to see how all this shakes out.

[markopolo]

I guess the 2012 E-Series are already out there.......... Will there be a 2013 E-Series?

Re: the Transit

Ford anticipates that the new vans will be 300 pounds lighter -- and will offer 25-percent-better fuel economy -- than the current E-Series

[Photog]

There is a whole forum for these Ford Transit rigs. They are on their 7th+ generation. Front wheel drive, and rear wheel drive. They must have 4WD.

Here is a link to a forum, with photos of a Ford Transit RV.
http://fordtransit.org/forum/viewtopic. ... 5&t=100295

[MegA]

To lose the E-series, that's major. The Transits look smaller to me - at least the ones I've seen around here are - so I'm not sure they're a good substitute. The Sprinters are bigger but they don't look very stable to me - like a good crosswind would knock them over. I think there was a discussion about that on one of the other forums... I could be remembering wrong, though.

Meg

[cargovanconversion]

Production was recently postponed for another year (2013). They are decent vans and already have a long track record. A friend of mine in Europe had one for years without any problems.
They may not be as sturdy, but I think they are about 300 lbs lighter, which makes them more fuel efficient. As an RV'er, that counts for something too.
AFAIK initially they will be produced only in a limited number of versions, which may limit your choices.
The production of the Econoline was going to stop in 2012; that may be extended to 2013 I suppose.

[AZ ADVenturist]

Interesting about the "Econoline" name being retired by Ford. Clear back in the late 60s I bought a well used 'Econoline' Van that some one had tried to convert into a camper van. It had a platform for sleeping with storage underneath. We used it mostly for family transportation - 2 little kids.
They had all that room to play and jump on the mattress. No seatbelts required in those days!
And we all survived... We did have to turn the heater on high to help it run cooler in summer driving the mountains of Montana. It was finally junked and replaced with a Chevy Suburban - 2dr, 2wd, 6cyl, 3 on the tree. All four of us camped in that & it was a great hunting rig.
Ah, Those were the Days! Ric. (Older, no wiser, still ADVenturous)

[AGP]

It is indeed a vehicle we can all relate to. I have 2010 ERA Sprinter and the difference in technology and really how it is built from a traditional Ford truck is huge. My 2008 F150 the best RIDE I have ever owned for reliability and exceeded all expectations. The new generation vans compared to the e series are apples and oranges. Some will like it,some will not. My big concern is how it will hold up. I will be driving it over 30k miles/ year and really want to get 10 years. They tell me no problem as it is basically a fed ex van. Time will tell.