Faults:

I am the owner of a small business.

In Sept. 2003 I purchased a Mercedes Benz Vito 112 CDI.

A month later the car began giving problems. It failed to start. I called the dealership; they came out and said it was a flat battery. I was astounded; I had just bought the car. But nevertheless I paid them over a thousand rand to recharge the battery. They did this by jump starting.

Anyways, a few months after the battery incident, the real problems began. The injectors were blowing all the time. My last repair in February this year cost me a staggering R22 000.00. This was done at another dealership. When my driver picked up the vehicle, he got stuck a mere 5 km from the dealership. He called them and told them. They told him to bring vehicle back to dealership. He did so, and upon arriving there, he learnt that they forgot to put the fan belt on.

Today 2 months later my Vito refuses to start. It only starts when we push start it. I have done less than 2000km from my last repair. I am frightened to take it in to the dealership for fear of being presented with an absurd bill.

I wish to bring to your attention that the Mercedes Benz Vito is not an economical commercial vehicle. In all over the last 3 years it has cost me over R50 000 to maintain. I am at a loss for words to express my rage in believing your reviews on this vehicle.

This is what one motor car review site wrote on 21 Feb 2002. "Mercedes-Benz has launched a new compact delivery van in South Africa. Smaller than the hugely successful Sprinter, the Vito 1-ton panel van is aimed at the small business and delivery market."

I will never believe a reviews promote again. It seems they get nice kickbacks to sweet mouth crap products.

This vehicle has been a true liability and huge expense that was negative to my business and not positive.

General Comments:

Do not buy this car. My blood boils when I look at it.

If you wish to buy it. I will sell it 15% below the trade book value. Just take it from me.

Faults:

From day one the electric windows have a mind of their own, and you may have to close them several times on one journey.

The rear courtesy light falls out of the fixing, and is impossible to refit. We have brought a new unit from the dealer, but it still happens, and it's often found hanging from the wire. This is after being fitted by the main dealer.

At 30000 miles we found that when braking on a corner, the van would jump and lunge, and the traction light flash on the dash. When investigated by the dealer, they found rear wishbone had come loose, and would require a full four wheel alignment, which they did not offer. Upon completing this work, we tested the van and the same fault was present. Again back to the dealer for yet more investigation; this time we were told that the rear suspension had to be replaced. This has fixed the fault.

We are now on our fourth set of front tyres and associated full wheel alignment. This I believe is quite a common practice.

The fault this month is the gear box now jumps out of first gear, and the advice from the main dealer is we need to replace the unit. However the van is two months out of warranty, and after a fruitless and pointless conversation with Merc CUSTOMER RELATIONS, they are not prepared to assist with any of the costs.

General Comments:

This vehicle should be used for flower or pizza delivery, or to take the dogs out, and no way be used by any one who wishes to use it every day and expect many miles between services. The down time we have lost would have paid the extra cost toward a Volkswagen Transporter.