Faults:

Faults due to MB:

- Central locking.

- Climate control electronics - fan speed 1 and 3 won't engage, have to tap the air conditioning panel to turn the backlights on; heat is sometimes supplied even when the coldest

temperature has been set.

- Power mirrors packed up.

- Tie rods quit easily.

- Squeaky body.

- Flooded rear light lenses, rusted the light circuits and killed off the fog lamp.

Faults on my part:

Filled up with biodiesel once. Clogged the 4 injectors ($200 each) --> engine couldn't start well --> fried the starter motor ($600 aftermarket) and killed the fuel pump ($1100).

General Comments:

Overall very happy with the vehicle. Used it as a daily commute, delivery vehicle, and it's excellent for touring! It currently gets around 7.5l/100km around town. On occasional spins in the hills, I once got 6.8.

The clutch is very stiff, and 1st and 2nd gear might be jerky if you can't balance it properly.

Acceleration is so-so, but then this car is already yesterday's technology.

The cabin is spartan, and it is hard to believe MB put an open parcel shelf as the glove box. The air conditioning does not seem to cope well, and the demister takes quite a while to clear the windscreen. Perhaps it is time to change the AC filter, which I read online that the pedals' connecting rod has to be removed to access.

The van seems to be a backyard project by MB, as the overall design flow is rather haphazard and not well thought out. Although you can see that 'euro flair' in the design, it seems to miss out on the simple reliability and practicality of the Japanese vans. (Nothing seems to fail on an albeit pig sluggish Hiace).

The engine bay is very tight, and I've heard that changing the clutch is a very major exercise. Nonetheless, I have not experienced many of the horror stories (fingers crossed) of the many posts here and maintenance (and running) costs have been quite economical. I probably only had about 2 tyre and brake changes since new, and the clutch is still holding well.

Apart from the biodiesel disaster, there have been no other major maintenance items on the van. However, the panel work is now very battered, and I would like to do it up some day!

Faults:

Run a fleet of these. Rear shocks are almost guaranteed to fail.

Electric windows.

Front suspension bushes.

General Comments:

Great highway van. Torque under 1700 RPM is too little. Very slow from stopped.

Reasonably quiet. Rear wheel drive is a great improvement on series 1.

Later series 2 has a more powerful air conditioner.

Very good turning circle for a van.

Low head height for underground car parks.

Spare wheel takes up too much room internally.

Good safe vehicle.

Longer between services means less down time.

The series 2 is nothing like the infamous series 1.

Seats a bit hard.

A lot of glass. Tinting essential.

Handles very well for a van.

Good fuel economy.

Tank is easy to fill. Can use the hi flow pump.

Seatbelts lock when cornering or on a steep slope, which can be annoying

The latter versions have also overcome the problem of the front left tyre scrubbing out.

Good fleet vehicle, as has brake wear indicator and blown lamp indicator.

Mercedes rely on the brake discs wearing as well as the pads. This means very messy wheels, and more cost to maintain the brakes.

Faults:

Bought the Vito van 6 months ago and it went into limp home mode. Found it really hard to find any mechanics with any experience with these, and like everyone didn't want to take it to the Merc dealer. So I bought a manual on line. I am a motorbike mechanic so figured no problems.

Have fixed the limp home mode problem; it had a hole in a intake pipe, this is a good place to start - check all rubber pipes after turbo to intake (also cheap to fix), then check all electric fittings to all the intake pipes. Runs great now and good on gas.

Also there is a few things you can do to make go way better, but will post that soon. And also how to fix door locks.

Cheers Phil 09 4145565 or you can text 0211 828 426 if in New Zealand.

General Comments:

Great van. Bogeys along and uses stuff all gas, and is way quieter than the Hiace.