At the start of our time with this, the updated Ford Transit Custom, we asked whether the vehicle would address the criticism What Van? had given the previous version for a lack of interior practicality – a case of more style than substance.
Ford responded by increasing the space in the dashboard alone to 25 litres, for which they should be applauded (I even ended up using the drinks holder in the corner of the dash regularly to hold my phone while I followed its Google navigation instructions).
New features also include a fold-out cupholder beneath the gear lever, while the door panels have been redesigned to include three large stowage spaces. DAB, though, hasn’t been added as standard as wished for.
Something else that remains and was raised as an issue is the single sliding rear door – which isn’t a problem when parking at the school drop-off zone in the morning, as it’s located on the nearside, but becomes an issue when having to park on the opposite side of a busy road. I
found it safer to march my younger kids through the middle of the vehicle as there’s plenty of room and have them exit through the driver’s door.
I, unfortunately, had some issues with Bluetooth too, in that there were occasions when it would allow me to hear the person on the other end of line, but not allow them to hear me.
The only solution would be to pull over, take out the key and use my mobile conventionally.
Thankfully, though, the problem seemed to fix itself before I had chance to take it to a dealer for further investigation, so perhaps it was only a temporary glitch.
Since we first picked up our Ford Transit Custom it has gone on to become the winner of the What Van? Medium Van of the Year prize due to its “unprecedented style, road-handling characteristics and innovative load-carrying solutions”.
It certainly looks great, particularly from the front, offers steering that is nicely weighted and a ride that absorbs road surface bumps well, and comes in a variety of shapes, including this Double Cab-in-Van that carries both loads and people.
But what you gain in being able to transport three individuals in a second row of seats you, of course, lose in load space versus the regular Custom – 2.5m3 to be precise in this case, leaving you with 3.5m3 of room.
That amounts to a sort of squarish load bay, which is great for runs to the tip and chucking in children’s bikes for visits to the park, but not so good for awkward, lengthy items, such as a metal bed base (see picture).
Ford deserve plaudits for listening to the criticisms directed at this light commercial’s predecessor and doing something about them.
And while there may be cheaper rivals out there, they don’t have the Transit name, shift anywhere near the same quantity of units as the Custom does, or possess What Van? award-winning sector status.
End-of-term report
Versus rivals 5/5
It’s a What Van? Awards winner – say no more.
Desirability 4/5
Base Custom proves you don’t have to offer the world to sell big.
Driving experience 4/5
Pre-facelift we said the Custom was in a class of its own for performance, handling and driveability – it still is..
Load bay 3/5
Not as much as the all-out van but something has to give if you want to carry a crew too.
Technology 2/5
There’s not much of it, and what there is isn’t all working.
Exterior looks 4/5
Tick! Front end new look is a winner, but not much has changed at the back.
OVERALL SCORE 73%
Ford Transit Custom V362 MCA Transit Base 2.0TDCI 280SWB D/Cab In Van Low 130PS 6sp
Mileage 6,934
Official combined consumption 40.9mpg
Our average consumption 38.2mpg
Price (ex VAT) £23,210
Price range (ex VAT) £20,160-£31,665
Warranty 3yrs/100,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/36,000mls
Load length 1,577mm
Load width (min/max) 1,351/1,775mm
Load bay height 1,406mm
Gross payload 804kg
Load volume 3.5m3
Engine size/power 1,995cc/130hp
Gearbox 6-spd
CO2 167g/km
Click below to see previous report
5th Report
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the Transit Custom was Britain’s best-selling van in 2018 with 54,806 registrations – over 20,000 more than the next best, the Ford Transit, and over 30,000 more than the third in the list, VW’s Transporter.
Ford says around 20-30% of buyers opt for this Base model.
What attracts them?
Well, it is What Van?’s Medium Van of the Year, offering “unprecedented style, road-handling characteristics and innovative load-carrying solutions”.
The £23,210 price is a draw too, although that’s relative to other models up the range because, for example, rivals such as the What Van? Awards Highly Commended trio of the Citroen Dispatch, Peugeot Expert, Toyota Proace are all cheaper.
Finally, as with any base model, there’s the flexibility for operators to specify the options they want.
The two most popular had been the ‘partial dress up kit (front skid plate and wheel arch covers)’ for £500 and ‘engine underbody protection’ for £250 (both prices exclude VAT), which are sensible, asset-protecting choices, although a removable panel to guard against underside scrapes has now been added.
I’d pick front and rear parking sensors too (£495), but what both the amount of Base units sold and the extra kit specified show is that despite modern advancements in LCV tech, all a lot of people really need is a top-class uncomplicated load-mover.
Report Card: Desirability = 4/5
Base Custom proves you don’t have to offer the world to sell big.
Ford Transit Custom V362 MCA Transit Base 2.0TDCI 280SWB D/Cab In Van Low 130PS 6sp
Mileage 1,579
Official combined consumption 40.9mpg
Our average consumption 39.1mpg
Price (ex VAT) £23,210
Price range (ex VAT) £20,160-£31,665
Warranty 3yrs/100,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/36,000mls
Load length 1,577mm
Load width (min/max) 1,351/1,775mm
Load bay height 1,406mm
Gross payload 804kg
Load volume 3.5m3
Engine size/power 1,995cc/130hp
Gearbox 6-spd
CO2 167g/km
Click below to see previous report
4th Report
The Transit Custom is performing pretty consistently when it comes to fuel economy.
Trips around its usual diet of market town/country roads are producing figures of roughly 37-ish miles per gallon, while prolonged cruises on either M40/M25 or M40/M42/M6 journeys take that stat up to around 42mpg.
Those numbers take the average overall economy figure up to 39.1mpg, which is close to the official combined consumption quote of 40.9mpg.
The engine that is delivering real consumption figures close to the predicted ones is the 130hp 2.0-litre Ecoblue, the middle of a three-engine diesel range that also includes 105hp and 170hp outputs.
Our light commercial vehicle emits 167g/km, although there is also a 105hp Econetic engine that delivers 148g/km and 49.6mpg and comes with auto stop/start and low rolling-resistance tyres, among other features.
Meanwhile, if you want to go further with lowering pollutants, a low-emission plug-in hybrid (PHEV) derivative is due to launch next year that will feature a 1.0-litre petrol engine.
The Transit Custom meets the Euro6 emission standard, but requires the addition of AdBlue to do so.
For those who don’t know and are interested in the technical aspects of this, the Euro6 standard specifies a 55% reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions versus the previous Euro5 emissions standards.
Ford uses a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to achieve this, with AdBlue (a urea/water-based fluid) helping to convert NOx in the exhaust gas into nitrogen and water.
A particulate filter then removes more than 99% of emitted solid particulates from the vehicle’s exhaust.
Out on the road, the Custom provides a comfortable drive over any distance.
It’s not particularly sharp off the starting blocks, but there’s plenty of go when up and running.
It’s good over the bumps, too, that might otherwise blight a day’s work, while the steering is light but responds well.
Remember my Bluetooth fault? When I could hear callers but they couldn’t hear me?
I contacted two dealers for friendly advice on possible, simple solutions before booking in the Transit, but Perrys kept me on hold for 10 minutes before asking me to leave a message (I’m still waiting for the call back), while SMC Ford didn’t put me through to a service engineer but did ask me to make a booking based on the fault I’d described.
Which it looks like I’ll do because despite some recent successes when I’ve managed two-way chats, on one occassion Bluetooth didn’t connect an incoming call at all, received just after setting off. I’ll keep you posted.
Report Card: Driving experience = 4/5
Pre-facelift we said the Custom was in a class of its own for performance, handling and driveability – it still is.
Ford Transit Custom V362 MCA Transit Base 2.0TDCI 280SWB D/Cab In Van Low 130PS 6sp
Mileage 1,356
Official combined consumption 40.9mpg
Our average consumption 39.1mpg
Price (ex VAT) £23,210
Price range (ex VAT) £20,160-£31,665
Warranty 3yrs/100,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/36,000mls
Load length 1,577mm
Load width (min/max) 1,351/1,775mm
Load bay height 1,406mm
Gross payload 804kg
Load volume 3.5m3
Engine size/power 1,995cc/130hp
Gearbox 6-spd
CO2 167g/km
Click below to see previous report
Use the blue cap to add AdBlue
3rd Report
To carry an extra three individuals in a second row of seats in the Double Cab-in-Van version of the L1H1 Transit van you end up sacrificing 2.5m3 of load space in the rear, leaving you with 3.5m3 of room.
Of course, that’s a result of load space length being reduced, from 2,554mm to 1,577mm, up to the bulkhead, while, naturally, load space width (1,775mm) and height (1,406mm) remain unchanged.
(You also lose the use of a side door and some flexibility, although you could argue it’s not as necessary due to a shorter length.)
That leaves you with a sort of squarish load bay, which isn’t so good for 2m-long sections of a second-hand dismantled cupboard being brought to the house for the first time (and which had to go in the family’s Nissan Qashqai), but perfectly decent for some trips to the local tip when emptying the mother-in-law’s garage.
It’s also good for chucking in a picnic and kids’ bikes for a day trip around Windsor Great Park.
So despite the curtailed length, it’s still a very practical and useful area to have access to, plus you have the second row of seats for colleagues during the week and the family at weekends.
Report Card: Load bay = 3/5
Not as much as the all-out van but something has to give if you want to carry a crew too.
Ford Transit Custom V362 MCA Transit Base 2.0TDCI 280SWB D/Cab In Van Low 130PS 6sp
Mileage 3,809
Official combined consumption 40.9mpg
Our average consumption 38.9mpg
Price (ex VAT) £23,210
Price range (ex VAT) £20,160-£31,665
Warranty 3yrs/100,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/36,000mls
Load length 1,577mm
Load width (min/max) 1,351/1,775mm
Load bay height 1,406mm
Gross payload 804kg
Load volume 3.5m3
Engine size/power 1,995cc/130hp
Gearbox 6-spd
CO2 167g/km
Click below to see previous report
2nd Report
In terms of nice in-cab kit, our base model Ford Transit Custom doesn’t have much.
There’s no DAB, satnav or reversing sensors/camera, although there is a USB slot for i-this and i-that, and I’ve been using the drinks holder in the corner of the dash to hold my mobile while I use its Google nav capability.
Bluetooth, too, is included, so you’d think there’s not much that could go wrong. But you’d be wrong. While the Bluetooth does allow me to connect my phone and listen to friends/family/colleagues speaking, unfortunately, they can’t hear me.
The only solution seems to be to pull over, turn off the engine and pull out key and open/close the van thinks I’ve left, and hold the handset to my ear in the conventional manner.
This works when, as in one example, I was at Gatwick Airport trying to arrange a place to pick up my parents who’d just flown in, but doesn’t work when, as in another example, I’m on the M25 trying to take a work call. It’s very frustrating. Google says there are a few things I could try to reset the system, including, as one friend suggested, unplugging a fuse.
I’ll give them a go. If they don’t work, then it’s down to the dealer we go.
Report Card: Technology = 2/5
There’s not much of it, and what there is isn’t all working.
Ford Transit Custom V362 MCA Transit Base 2.0TDCI 280SWB D/Cab In Van Low 130PS 6sp
Mileage 2,796
Official combined consumption 40.9mpg
Our average consumption 39.4mpg
Price (ex VAT) £23,210
Price range (ex VAT) £20,160-£31,665
Warranty 3yrs/100,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/36,000mls
Load length 1,577mm
Load width (min/max) 1,351/1,775mm
Load bay height 1,406mm
Gross payload 804kg
Load volume 3.5m3
Engine size/power 1,995cc/130hp
Gearbox 6-spd
CO2 167g/km
Click below to see previous report
1st Report
Those that have been paying attention in class will notice that this is the second Ford Transit Custom DCiV (double-cab in van) we’ve had on the What Van? fleet this year, and while the fact it’s the UK’s most popular LCV might justify such regular coverage on our long-term test pages, the actual reason we’ve landed another model is because this is the new facelifted version.
As you can see, we’ve gone for (Frozen) ‘White van man’ with the colour, while this is the base L1 H1 model of the range, equipped with a 130PS 2.0-litre diesel engine. Ford says It’s capable of an official combined fuel economy figure of 40.9mpg, which we’ll put to the test, while CO2 output is quoted at 167g/km.
Among the changes the facelift delivers is a front-end that now sports a new three-bar grille and slimmed-down headlamps, which together give the Custom a more handsome visage.
Meanwhile, having the familiar second row of seats courtesy of the double-cab layout will make the vehicle useful for transporting a family of five, while, of course, the bodystyle is well suited for van operators who have to get workers as well as equipment or materials to and from site.
We have this Transit Custom for six months. There were some faults with the pre-facelift version that Ford has attempted to address with this model. We’ll see if they’ve done so successfully, and whether there’s anything else that still needs tweaking for future updates.
Report Card: Exterior looks = 4/5
Tick! Front end new look is a winner, but not much has changed at the back.
Ford Transit Custom V362 MCA Transit Base 2.0TDCI 280SWB D/Cab In Van Low 130PS 6sp
Mileage 1,356
Official combined consumption 40.9mpg
Our average consumption n/a
Price (ex VAT) £23,210
Price range (ex VAT) £20,160-£31,665
Warranty 3yrs/100,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/36,000mls
Load length 1,577mm
Load width (min/max) 1,351/1,775mm
Load bay height 1,406mm
Gross payload 804kg
Load volume 3.5m3
Engine size/power 1,995cc/130hp
Gearbox 6-spd
CO2 167g/km
