Aren't the f series and e series essentially the same platform with a different chassis?
I was looking into the express, couldn't find anything that I liked in my price range, so I went with the e series. If you can get a jump on the rust fords will last just as long as anything, just gotta stay on your toes. The frame on this van has some sort of undercoating on it which seems to have helped. I looked at an 01 before I bought this, it's was toast, the a arms were starting to delaminate, and it was just he generally rotten everywhere.
In the winter I take my 09 in to the car wash once or twice a week to spray the salt off it.
When I started looking 10 years ago the econolines had engine issues and the cargo space wasn't quite the same. Plus you can't kill them. It's not uncommon for them to get 300k plus miles out of them.
Don't get me wrong, even though I grew up in a Chevy plant town, I would buy a Chevy truck. The F series beat Chevy hands down. F250 is in my near future.