I looked into the Ford Transit since it seems like such a nice vehicle at a reasonable price. It can only hold 3 24x36 crates which is not enough for me so I passed on it. I have heard of people who stack crates and get more in but I do not want to be lifting Labradors up and down. I do know of one person who shows Labs and owns one and she loves it. maybe she will see your post and reply.
I've had a Transit for almost three years. I can get three 30 inch crates and one 36 inch in it on the floor. I do not usually stack crates because of the difficulty of getting a dog into a top layer but have put small crates for puppies on top. I do not have the optional rear seat. I doubt if you could get a 36 inch crate in along with 3 30 inters if you had a rear seat. The Transit is a truck. It is rather noisy and does not ride as smoothly as a passenger car, but it handles fine. I recommend getting the extra side windows. Visibility is limited with only the front and back windows. I take mine off road for field training and I'm in Wisconsin, so I drive on icy roads a lot. The front wheel drive allows decent handling in winter, and I haven't had any issues driving on fields with high cover. I did get stuck in my driveway last winter, and I would say it is not quite a good in snow as my minivans were.
I saw the new model (xlt?) today at the Ann Arbor KC show.... if I was in the market, I'd think hard about it!! They had it set up great for people to look at... two 36x25 wire crates in the middle and a large varikennel in the rear with a medium varikennel bungeed on top of it. Next to the varikennel, they had a large cooler, chairs and some other stuff, but there was more than enough room for another large crate if you wanted. Overall it looked MUCH more passenger vehicle-like instead of a stripped down mini cargo van. Check it out!
I have the 2010 version, of course. Not much choice was available at that time. I was told they were planning a four wheel drive model, too. My Transit takes up less room in my garage than my old non-grand Caravan did. I find the seat is very comfortable on long trips, too, but the armrest is too small to help my tendinitis.
I have the Ford Transit... I LOVE it!! I can fit 6 dogs comfortably (yes it is a hassle to unload the top crated dogs but I keep those open for the ones that weigh less and/or are puppies), plus I can fit all my luggage and a co-pilot's luggage :) I get around 28 a gallon for gas as well. I wouldn't trade it for the world!
Good info. Not sure if I like the "noisy" issue however....the van that I drive now makes excessive road noise and it bugs me. Neat to hear about the upcoming model - love it's capacity.
