Senior Member  
Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pensacola
Posts: 4,869
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I bought a new one in 2004, and I've never looked back.
The seats aren't anything to brag about, but I've sat on worse. The arm rest on mine, are actually adjustable. The drivers seat in my truck adjusts several different ways, which made up for the lack of a tilt wheel, but the passenger seat was fixed. Mercedes has a different attitude about utility trucks, it has a purpose, and it does it.
Mine has the 2.7, 5 cylinder turbo and 5 speed transmission. I love it. Before I put the backhoe on my tractor, and made it to heavy to safely pull down the highway on the trailer over 50mph, the little van would pull it down the highway in 4th at 65 mph, and never even have to slow down on the hill(my ford supercrew with a 5.4 has to downshift on the hills when its not pulling anything, or not loaded down with weight).
The tranny shifts by just bumping the shifter once its in drive. If your in traffic, and bump the shifter to third, it will operate just like a three speed in stop and go traffic, instead of staying in third.
Changing oil is a breeze on mine(once I found the filter). Fuel filters are a little trickier then the spin ons, but they last a long time. Oil changes are recommended at 10k miles, and I change the fuel filter when I do the oil.
The truck has a limp home mode, so that if there's an issue, it'll shut down and limit the rpm's.
The only issues I've had to date, have to do with the boost resonator....its a muffler for the Turbo.......it blows apart and has to be replaced...after two, I've fixed it permanently with a unit from Riordanco.com.
I pulled a 6x12 cargo trailer from illinois to here, and and back a few times, and never a problem. Not overly heavy loads, but it did a great job.
After years of working out of ford vans, this is great. Mine is the medium height model, and I can step up in it and walk around by stooping just abit(I'm 6'2"). I built cabinets and shelves in it for my tools and equipment. I've also added ladder racks to mine.
The rear doors, are great. They can be unhinged and folded back along the side of the truck, and there are magnets mounted to the truck that hold them so the wind doesn't blow the door shut. The side door slides, and works very well. If your ordering one, you can get the slider on either side or both sides. Locking the cab doors is kind of a pain because I don't have power locks, and I have to lock them with a key if I don't reach over and lock the pass. side before getting out. You can't just lock the door and close it(it keeps you from locking the key's inside).
Mine is the middle length model, and its a little shorter behind the seats to the back door, then the ford stretch vans I had before. I thought it might be top heavy, but its not. The suspension in the rear has the fords beat six ways from sunday. The truck turns extremely sharp. Its almost like turning square corners. When(if) you drive one you'll understand.
All in all, I think the van is very well thought out. They are made to be modified for all sorts of different purposes. IMO, it's the perfect 3/4 ton van.
After checking earlier today, I noticed that the new models only offer the 3.0 V6 motor. I don't know anything about those. Nor, do I know anything good or bad about the gas motors they put in some, or the 2.2 diesel that they used also. When I bought mine, it only came with the 2.7.
Unless something serious happens, this'll be the last van I'll ever have to buy.
When I was looking for mine, I talked to a distributor for BG products down here, who changed his fleet over to them. I believe he's still happy.
If you haven't found it yet, there is actually a Sprinter forum. Those who own em, love em.
I've got almost 60k miles on mine, and haven't had any problems with the breaks ...yet. I don't use dodge for service, I use a local shop. They can pull the codes etc.. Its not an aborigine, its a truck.
Just an aside, my 91 ford van nicked me almost 10 k in misc. repair stuff to get it to 100k. The 01 I bought after it, was having injector problems before I got to 30k miles. They fixed one, and another started acting up around 50k. I thank God almost everyday that the 01 ford drowned in Ivan.
Last edited by katkt; 09-17-2009 at 10:23 PM.
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