Dear Tom and Ray: I bought a Ford E350 XLT SD Extended Van, a 2006 model with a 5.4-liter engine. The engine maxes out at 84 mph, and the service manager says it was made that way and all is well. I called Ford’s national customer-assistance line, and they said it was set that way from the factory, and that they do not have to disclose this fact to the public. My complaint is, I would have bought something else had I known. Question: Do I have any recourse? Or am I stuck with this $35,000 thing?
– Gary
Ray: Are you stuck with this 15-passenger van? Of course not, Gary. You can always sell it to a jury with three alternates.
Tom: What Ford says is true. They do come from the factory this way. Fifteen-passenger vans, by design, are not terribly stable vehicles. They have an unfortunate tendency to flip over. And if they do, you often have what? Fifteen casualties!
Ray: The lawyers at Ford don’t like the sound of that. So, they’ve charged Ford engineers with reducing the possibility of rollovers as much as possible – as long as the solutions don’t cost more than a nickel (just kidding, Ford!). So, in addition to providing electronic stability control, Ford limits the speed of this vehicle to 85 mph.
Tom: Now, I think you’re right – Ford ought to disclose this information to potential buyers. I mean, why not?
Ray: Ford argues that all vehicles are speed-limited. They don’t tell Ford Explorer buyers that their vehicle is limited to 110 mph. Or that the Mustang GT is limited to 140 mph.
Tom: That’s true. But most (intelligent) people never approach those speeds, so it’s never an issue. When a speed governor is set down in the 85 mph range, it’s possible that you could run up against it when passing somebody on a highway that has a 75-mph limit. Or doing something much closer to normal driving.
Ray: Now, in the interest of full disclosure, we should mention that there are people who sell replacement chips for vehicle computer systems. You may be able to find one that would allow you to tinker with the factory settings on this van. But we’d strongly urge you not to go that route. Besides voiding your warranty and taking on unknown legal liability, you need to remember that the engineers who built this vehicle don’t feel that they can guarantee its safe performance over 85 mph.
Tom: Chevy’s 15-passenger Express does not have an electronic speed governor. But Chevy says the top safe speed of its van is 90 mph, based on the ratings for the tires.
Ray: So you can trade this in for a Chevy if you want to, Gary. But you’re only going to gain 5 mph. If you’re really determined to drive faster than that, you’ll need to find another way to transport 15 people. Let’s see – for $35,000, how would you feel about four Kias?
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