Remember that Ram Promaster City I bought?

Or, I am driving my car to The Challenge. Should I experience catastrophic failure, I could tow mine home with The Roadmaster and then sell the rust free southern example upon returning back North.

Love these tradesman's vans but none of them seem easy to lift for additional ground clearance. Folks have hit dead ends with the Transit Connect 1 and 2, and I haven't heard anything about the Nissan/Chevy variant. The Fiat Doblo Adventure may yield some parts to bring overseas.

Or the Mercedes Metris/Vito will be offer some more lift options.

JG Pasterjak wrote: And speaking of my Ram Promaster City, anyone know what the bolt pattern/offset is on the wheels? You know, for a friend...

It should be 5x108, so the same as the current focus.

That Fiat Doblo Adventure looks really cool.

Did you have to provide any credentials proving your qualifications as either a pro or master?

Is there anywhere in the thread that says how the darn thing is to drive and otherwise live with?

JG, any update on this one? I've got a friend thinking about one for his business. Anything you can add would be helpful.

I saw and checked out the Ram at the Challenge, JG was very happy with it. The storage area is huge and versatile, he was enjoying the car immensely.

aussiesmg wrote: I saw and checked out the Ram at the Challenge, JG was very happy with it. The storage area is huge and versatile, he was enjoying the car immensely.

Pretty much this. Towed the F500 to a couple events and over flat land with the cruise set at 70 it gets 20mpg and you barely know it's back there. Now that it's broken in a bit, non-towing mileage is in the 30s on the freeway and over 25 in typical mixed use driving.

One thing I noticed when I had it loaded down for the autocross is that it's very tall in the back, but it only has one floor. Once you have the floor covered there's a lot of wasted vertical space. So I built a package shelf that covers roughly half the cargo area with storage underneath and above. Used 1 x 3 pine and trunk carpet so it's light and goes in and comes out in a snap. Made the rear a LOT more useful. Now I can pack ALL my typical autocross event goodies and still have half the back left for hookers and blow or whatever.

Tough to make a "dislike" list because there isn't much. The turning circle is not great, but actually that's kind of deceptive. The turning circle is actually among the best in class, but it drives so "small" and nimble that you expect it to turn like an '85 Civic S and when it doesn't you're a bit surprised.

The lack of sound insulation makes it a bit droney on the freeway, but, again,this is a problem I haven't noticed from the driver's seat. All I know is that when I'm talking on the phone, my wife makes me use the handset on the freeway because she says there's too much noise when I use the Bluetooth. Around town I've never heard the complaint.

So, overall I'm really pleased. I'm actually getting ready for a pretty substantial 2000-mile road trip with the F500 in January, so that will be a nice indicator of extended road time comfort and use.

So what's the lesson here, that FCA will screw you over unless you are a nationally syndicated writer with a legion of faithful followers online?

time to panel up those walls with some insulation behind it. should quiet it down a lot. also help with temperature regulation inside the van.

pinchvalve wrote: So what's the lesson here, that FCA will screw you over unless you are a nationally syndicated writer with a legion of faithful followers online?

So I never really did pull rank on anyone. I did contact our media liaison at FCA, and she put me in touch with someone, but I think it's someone who I would have gotten to deal with eventually anyway. Best case I skipped a step or two.

Still not sure exactly what the takeaway lesson is. Don't launch a vehicle without an adequate supply chain to support it? Don't have a refugee crisis near the factory of a newly launched vehicle? Ultimately I think it was a perfect storm of f-ups that met at my windshield. Except for the one D-bag who tried to bullE36 M3 me, I'd rate the customer service good to excellent. I'd recommend the dealer to anyone, but I'd certainly specify my salesman and my service advisor (who, coincidentally, are engaged. They'll probably have the most customer servicing baby ever).

JG Pasterjak wrote: They'll probably have the most customer servicing baby ever).

That's worthy of "quote of the year". Keep 'em coming JG!

The engagement (and possibly baby on the way) may be a result of that they were both very eager to please.