Faults:

This car is real garbage. There are parts in it that are useless, impossible to maintain because you do not know they exist, but they can disable the vehicle even in the middle of driving (for example "start error") and whose repair will cost you a lot of money. The Mercedes Sprinter is the garbage I want to get rid of.

General Comments:

Extremely poor quality of the vehicle, all the quality is contained in the engine and transmission, everything else - bodywork, interior, plastic parts, rubber hoses, very poorly made of bad material. I think poor performance is planned to force you to buy a new car after 15 years of use. I am very disappointed with this famous brand and I never want to invest a penny in any Mercedes vehicle again.

Faults:

Transmission skipped after a couple of years, but fixed under warranty.

Door lock failed, warranty.

Extended warranty was useful, but didn't apply to DEF heater which failed.

General Comments:

Pros: amazingly drivable for a 3/4 ton truck! Does great through hills, actually fun in corners!! I'd love to take it to auto-cross, but I don't think they'll let me.

Mercedes have the steering, suspension and drivetrain down pat. Lots of power when you need it. Between good and very good on fuel, depending how you use it.

Simple but very nice fit and finish. The room in the rear is magnificent. Customers are always impressed when you drive up in it. If anything goes wrong it's expensive to fix, though. Only rated to tow 5000lb.

Faults:

Not much, the van was maintained by the company I worked for; as far as I'm aware just basic maintained and servicing was performed, and it got any wear and tear such as brakes and suspension parts replaced and so on.

General Comments:

The Sprinter is a fast, reliable and plenty of space type of van - you see lots of these on the roads, but not many reviews so here's my experience with one as a works van for a couple of years. It's a good van, used for work and generally not much to say about it, however it was slightly better than my previous van (a VW Crafter) which that van was apparently based on this one, so that's interesting.

The Mercedes felt better built and swallowed huge loads no problems, especially if you get the Long Wheel Base (LWB) version.

To drive the auto box was strange on a diesel van at first, but I got used to it and it actually gave pretty decent power and economy. I was on the road everyday and put serious mileage on it.

Overall I'd recommend this van to anyone; not as expensive to run as you might think for a Mercedes.

Faults:

Glow plugs seized in cylinder head ($5K).

Front leaf spring ($1K).

Rear main leaf (both sides) cracked ($1K).

Parking brake (never worked).

Ball joints (3 times, both sides) ($750).

Rear driver's side door split ($2K).

Standard consumables (brakes, tires, etc).

General Comments:

Overall it has been a great van. The cylinder head replacement was due to a previous owners neglect and the "Authorized Sprinter Service Center's" poor judgment in deciding to snap off three of the five glow plugs in trying to replace them. Therefore, requiring the head be replaced.

The front leaf is a composite transverse piece that is just not up to the task of Illinois roads, and gave up quite early. I have since replaced it with an aftermarket steel one that is doing just fine.

The rear main leaves are cracked right down the center line (across not length-wise) on both sides. This occurred at roughly the same time. I do not overload my van, although that's very easy to do given the enormous interior volume. Possibly more neglect from the P.O.

The ball joints are getting to be quite a royal pain. Every time I take the van in for an alignment (different shop each time), they claim the ball joints need replacing. Even the Sprinter service centers. They all refuse to align the van unless the ball joints are done. I will be learning how to align the van myself here soon.

Tire wear has not been great, but not the worst I have encountered either. One pair of cheap Hercules tires has lasted right at 55K miles.

The rear door was split, on the inside right by the striker bar for the other door, when I got it. This turns out to be a very common problem with the first generation vans. I had a body shop reinforce and fix it to the tune of $1993.58, because they would not seal otherwise.

The van has however done everything that has been asked of it and has never left me on the side of the road. I have used it to deliver alcohol (liquids in glass bottles are not light), move myself from state to state twice, and as a daily driver because there was nothing else. Always starts up and gets me from point A to point B. If given the chance I would buy a Ford E-350 again. Parts are easier to find, less expensive to buy, and I can do all the maintenance myself. I think that I just got a van that was already abused and at the end of its reasonable life expectancy.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong.

General Comments:

This vehicle is used by various RV manufacturers to make Class B and Class B+ motorhomes. This particular unit has seating for 7, with 4 Captain chairs in the front and a sofa in the rear.

It comes complete with enclosed bathroom, galley kitchen, fresh, gray, and black water tanks, enclosed Propane tank, auxiliary air conditioner, and a generator. There are no options for this model, just different floor plans.

Seats are quite comfortable, finished in Ultrasuede.

Driving is typical Mercedes-Benz. Everything is in the same location as in their cars. Main differences are the seats are not powered and the physical size of the vehicle, being over 10 ft tall and 24 ft long. While it holds the road quite well, driving in a cross-wind is a challenge. MPG is acceptable, around 18 MPG +/-.

Acceleration is brisk, taking around 12 seconds to 60 mph. Brakes are excellent.

Visibility is very good, the outside mirrors have large convex mirrors that show the blind spots. Backing is augmented with a back-up camera.

All windows come with covers to block external light for sleeping. This can sleep 2 adults comfortably.

Altogether a nice unit.