Faults:

I am the 2nd owner. Bought second hand from Mercedes with 2 years warranty.

I drive really gentle because I can not afford the crazy costs.

Things that have gone wrong:

1: Lost coolant (about 50 ml/month). Mercedes diagnosed and covered it as a broken water pump seal. They replaced the whole water pump under warranty.

2: Rain water lakes up on the window controls on both sides when the windows are down. My own fault for leaving the window down, but Merc replaced both controls under warranty.

3. The engine vibrates the whole car, especially on warmer days. Merc replaced the engine mounts, but it's still the same.

4. The glovebox latch is guaranteed to fail - a very simple fix, which is on a forum when you google the problem. I recommend fixing it before the tiny pin pops out and gets lost.

5. Center cup holder is also guaranteed to fail too. I fixed it and never used it. Merc did not cover it under warranty because they "don't cover trims and doors" or general wear and tear.

6. This car goes through a set of brake pads very fast. I do carry 500 kg with me all the time, plus I am 100 kg. The whole car weigh 2000kgs so that and Sydney's traffic probably have a part in it.

7. The 25000 km service interval just seems TOO long. I take it in every 10000 even though this car swallows 9 liters of oil.

General Comments:

It is the MOST comfortable van I've driven. You can stretch your hands out and that comfort is the exact reason why I bought this over anything else.

The 116 variant is VERY powerful; I've loaded this van with 2000 kg of timber literally to the ceiling and it carried it with no problem. The chassis held up too. I did the same with my boss's Hiace and it broke its suspension or... Not sure, but I heard something snap from the rear axle of the Hiace with the same load. And also won a drag race against my friends 180sx :D.

Love how I can feed a 2.4 x 1.2 m sheet of plywood, drywall... in the van with a bit more room to spare. You could also lay them flat in between the wheel arches. I have shelves so I can't do that :/

I've never reversed out of a shopping center carpark because of a height restriction. Except for one which was 1.8m high!!!

The van is very fuel efficient. I feel like the car could save gallons more if it would shut off at traffic lights.

Refinement is written all over the van except for:

Rear door just SLAMS shut when you let go of the door.

Driver and passenger doors low inner edge rubs against the body for some weird reason. Merc assured me that that's how they all are.

The front facing air vents always blow air when the A/C is on. There is just no way around it. That's how Vitos and Vianos are just are.

Plastics still make the car look cheap.

The gear knob covers the arrow buttons of the sound system when in Park position, which is VERY annoying. (Aussies drive on right and Merc shifted the gear knob to the other side of the car... didn't think it through).

I HATE the floor pedal hand brake. Even though it works fine.

I like how you still have an oil dip stick. Even though Germans are moving away from them.

I can write for hours, but I'm sure no one would read this far...