Here's why Sprinters are the worst vans ever!

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  • Опубликовано: 21 ноя 2024
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    Cameron Davis from DC Motorwerks explains the flaws and foibles of the Mercedes Sprinter Van.
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    #VINwiki #MercedesSprinter #CarDealers

Комментарии • 1,3 тыс.

  • @ruk2023--
    @ruk2023-- Год назад +1569

    Most of these problems sound like user error to me. Fair enough if they are difficult to work on but you can't really blame Mercedes for their customers being morons.

    • @deltasixgaming
      @deltasixgaming Год назад +96

      Thats usually a Lot of Car Problems I fixed one ladies car that was filled with Vegetable Oil instead of Engine Oil and it stopped running and she said it said Low Oil so she added Oil and didn't understand why it broke down

    • @samsonian
      @samsonian Год назад +82

      Yeah…honestly, the dude gave absolutely NO evidence of what was claimed in the thumbnail’s caption. Every issue mentioned was ‘user error’ to varying degrees. I mean, I KNOW how gas would usually get into a diesel tank and how DEF (the DEvils Fluid) could conceivably find itself in a cooling system…and 99% of the time it’s because the owner is an IDIOT or made a terrible mistake or lapse in judgment. Decidedly NOT the fault of the mfgr.

    • @ruk2023--
      @ruk2023-- Год назад +20

      @@samsonian I know I called them morons myself but I did have to remind myself that it's more often that 99% of people don't care about cars, how they work or have any interest. Not so long ago a very smart entrepreneur I know broke down because she hadn't realised she needed to fill up the DEF from time to time.
      To most people the insides of a car are to them like you and me being given a scalpel and being told to do a heart bypass.

    • @Yvolve
      @Yvolve Год назад +28

      @@ruk2023-- Not an excuse. You learn how to work a computer, what breaks it and how to keep it going as well. Even if you're not into tech or don't understand it, you know spilling a glass of water on it will destroy it. It is not important why, but that it does break, and therefore you need to be careful.
      It doesn't matter if you're into cars, you need to know those basics. If not, those people are indeed morons. I'm not talking real technical stuff, just what fluid goes where and when, what kills the car and what is a must to maintain.

    • @gravyd316
      @gravyd316 Год назад +19

      They aren't hard to work on at all. They're just unreliable. There's many more problems than DEF. They break so often that I learned a lot about them. I also learned that they're damn near worthless and cost more to maintain than buying a new different brand a year after you buy them.

  • @brandonktm9
    @brandonktm9 Год назад +863

    You can’t call a vehicle unreliable and then in the next sentence blame people for putting incorrect fluids in them.
    I’ve had FedEx sprinters with 700k+ miles that drive like our new off the lot sprinters.
    As a current E350 owner you can not beat a sprinter van. Best fuel economy, reliability and quality in the van market.

    • @wingracer1614
      @wingracer1614 Год назад +62

      I drove a new one (had 700 miles on it when I started) for a dealership for 2 years. And yes it had the DEF system. I loved it, drove great. Only had one problem with it. The radio died and the boss refused to fix it for me. About 2 weeks later I went to get it to load up in the morning and it wouldn't turn over so had to use one of the old beaters. The next day it was fixed and it had a new radio in it. I thanked the boss and he said they had to replace it. Somehow the dead radio had killed the starter.

    • @cgourin
      @cgourin Год назад +42

      Sprinters are the worst vans ever because the drivers are incompetent, dishonest dummies. Kinds of remind me of the Citroen hydraulic suspension that could also be found in Rolls Royce: no amount of stickers or warnings for the specific fluid would stop a trained professional from filling it up with break fluid and call it unreliable.

    • @Emily-ou6lq
      @Emily-ou6lq Год назад +32

      @@cgourin Yea, if you put break fluid in anything it probably gonna break (if it's a good quality break fluid of course...) 🤣

    • @digitalrailroader
      @digitalrailroader Год назад +17

      I’d have to agree with that sentiment; probably the main reason these Sprinters kept failing was because it’s a German made vehicle, and unfortunately German made vehicles (actually a lot of European made vehicles in general whether they be German made, Italian made, Swedish made, British made, etc) have a much lower tolerance for neglect than American made vehicles or Japanese made vehicles.

    • @theepicricemaker6611
      @theepicricemaker6611 Год назад +6

      ​@@wingracer1614 $20 says some engineer did that on purpose because he knew your exact situation would occur and was thinking about the little guy

  • @HeliRy
    @HeliRy Год назад +690

    Weird. Every Sprinter owner I know absolutely swears by them.
    I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Mercedes that ended the contract with FedEx, since FedEx kept destroying these new vehicles almost immediately upon delivery.

    • @aarontorres5290
      @aarontorres5290 Год назад +43

      FedEx drivers don’t own the sprinters directly, I’m sure if they took care of them like they had owned it they wouldn’t be destroyed

    • @blest5132
      @blest5132 Год назад +41

      the last thing a fleet vehicle should be is complicated

    • @richsackett3423
      @richsackett3423 Год назад +43

      @@blest5132 All modern vehicles are complicated.

    • @bwofficial1776
      @bwofficial1776 Год назад +18

      @@richsackett3423 And that's the problem.

    • @RumblesBettr
      @RumblesBettr Год назад +11

      We had a fleet of them at a const company and they were great this is going back 10 years or so ago

  • @JETZcorp
    @JETZcorp Год назад +207

    I used to drive for a limo company that had a couple. Absolutely 100% mandatory to know a guy for service who isn't the dealer. If we wanted an oil change, the Mercedes dealer (which was 30mi from the airport!) would take the thing fir like 3 weeks, offer a C-class loaner, and charge hundreds of dollars. For mechanical work, oftentimes we'd need to take it back because it didn't get fixed. Or we could take it to Viktor's shop, down a dirt alley with chickens wandering around, past the food truck fabricators. Viktor only worked on Sprinters, only spoke Ukrainian, and drove a car with the same OM642 engine. He'd get us in and out same-day for a good price, and we never had to send anything back. I couldn't imagine trying to run a business with Sprinters without having someone like that. Aside from the language barrier, they were no more troublesome than a Ford, and the fuel efficiency was spectacular. I understand the company bought a 3rd one after I left.

    • @OffGridInvestor
      @OffGridInvestor Год назад +11

      Mercedes Benz is known for TERRIBLE mechanics often not fixing the problem right or only putting one screw in something with 4. This is the experience of CARS owned by civilians here in Australia.

    • @jaakko200987654321
      @jaakko200987654321 Год назад +4

      om642 very good engine if the oil cooler doesnt leak

    • @criznitty
      @criznitty Год назад +2

      @@OffGridInvestorwhat would you say the most common vehicle brand is in Australia? Toyota? Holden? Outside of big cities in America, I imagine you’d need to know “a guy” to work on European cars here as well. I live near San Francisco, and you still need to know a guy to work on Subarus, the dealers are just a step above oil changers.

    • @totorishop
      @totorishop 8 месяцев назад

      ?? Fords are horrible. Mine needed engine replacement. If they are no better than ford then sprinters are bad

    • @JETZcorp
      @JETZcorp 8 месяцев назад +2

      @totorishop Which Ford? They've made a lot of stuff, great and terrible. The company I drove for had mostly 2-valve mod motors, 4.6 V8s in Town Car stretches, and 6.8 V10s in the party buses. All a bit low on power but never failed. The only one that was ever trouble was a Navigator with a 5.4 3-valve in it... which was not their finest work.

  • @sandile4492
    @sandile4492 Год назад +250

    This is the first time I've heard of someone calling a sprinter unreliable... in South Africa these are the 2nd best selling MiniBuses clearly they last when taken care off...😂

    • @sandile4492
      @sandile4492 Год назад +3

      To think of it the way these Sprinters last some are on there third engines and gearboxes...

    • @OffGridInvestor
      @OffGridInvestor Год назад +1

      That's because south Africa has ALWAYS been buyers of European vehicles

    • @Bendejo-lm8wo
      @Bendejo-lm8wo Год назад +18

      Probably don’t have the same emissions garbage put into the exhaust system. Or it’s just removed because of no regulations there.

    • @sandile4492
      @sandile4492 Год назад +7

      @@Bendejo-lm8wo Well we do have regulations but yeah they are not tough like the US, they are actually relaxed maybe that's why they last forever

    • @rightwingsafetysquad9872
      @rightwingsafetysquad9872 Год назад +5

      Once you're at the point of replacing the engine on a vehicle any discussion of reliability is moot. Any vehicle will last forever if you just keep replacing the broken parts. It's not whether it can be done, it's how much time and money it takes.
      If a Lexus lasts 500,000 miles with just oil changes, that's very reliable. If a Sprinter lasts as long but needed the engine replaced twice (and probably a dozen more things), that's terrible.

  • @jonesy-rh5fk
    @jonesy-rh5fk Год назад +161

    So the takeaway from this is if you can’t read don’t buy or use a Sprinter, whereas if you do service and fuel one with the right stuff it’ll work fine, as they all do this side of the pond.

    • @olliefoxx7165
      @olliefoxx7165 Год назад +9

      If you read the comments, you'll see plenty of people on our side of the pond that do maintenance and have no problem. There are irresponsible people that don't take care of their vehicles all over the world. Lesson to learn is take care of your vehicle.

    • @Hedonistic0Frog
      @Hedonistic0Frog Год назад +11

      My former ambulance company had sprinter vans with 400k miles on them. They're plenty reliable if you're not a moron putting fluids where they don't go.

    • @kfstreich4787
      @kfstreich4787 Год назад +3

      I have 240,000miles on mine

    • @largol33t12
      @largol33t12 Год назад +2

      ​@@kfstreich4787Why I believe you: have seen a Sprinter with Four Hundred thousand miles on the odometer! And it did NOT look like it was about to fall apart. This video is full of crap.

    • @timmychippy3903
      @timmychippy3903 Год назад

      Most americas cant comprehend diesel engines they just shouldn't bother

  • @Tonatar
    @Tonatar Год назад +485

    The problemm with these is utter incompetence of the operators it seems

    • @gravyd316
      @gravyd316 Год назад +5

      I had the displeasure of having to maintain 3 of these junker's. They were nothing but trouble and not a one of them made it to 20k. One got close but eventually a wiring issue in the dash caused it to become a insurance claim.

    • @rk22cc
      @rk22cc Год назад +2

      Think again! Perhaps quality issues?

    • @ChrisLoew
      @ChrisLoew Год назад +1

      Gas Stations have been known to switch their tanks on accident and leave the worries to the customers who gill up correctly but get dispensed a different product, happens many times a year

    • @gegecatlord
      @gegecatlord Год назад +3

      These things are terrible I know a lot of shops that refused to work on the diesel once they are just garbage I've had the pleasure of working on quite a few of these no fun at all

    • @michaelhite1433
      @michaelhite1433 Год назад +3

      I know several friends who still have contracts with FedEx ground who swear by their Sprinters. I’ve had 2 reach well over 250k. Until Ford brought the Transit to the US market no other van in the US market was more comfortable or and better designed to be a delivery van. The only other option back then were larger step-vans or box vans. The def system on all diesels is unreliable, including semis.

  • @kostayurchenko8434
    @kostayurchenko8434 Год назад +1391

    This man could put a speeding tweaker to sleep...

    • @DomoC93
      @DomoC93 Год назад +14

      😂😂😂

    • @jaydub5515
      @jaydub5515 Год назад +62

      Eh, he's prolly just nervous. Making in into Car Stories is a big deal for people in the automotive world. Ed is a Legend!

    • @AConcernedCitizen420
      @AConcernedCitizen420 Год назад

      😂

    • @kevinlee7263
      @kevinlee7263 Год назад +49

      He has the perfect voice for ASMR.

    • @franciscodanconia4324
      @franciscodanconia4324 Год назад +72

      Kind of reminds me of Bob Ross. “Now we’re going to sell some happy little Sprinters today”

  • @digitalrailroader
    @digitalrailroader Год назад +311

    I have a hunch that Mehai was a drug trafficker, and he used his fuel tank as his hiding place for the “product” he was trafficking (the gasoline was probably used to mask the smell of the drugs to throw off any drug sniffing dogs); which is why he threw an absolute fit when the tank was going to be replaced and the old one destroyed.

    • @cesariojpn
      @cesariojpn Год назад +58

      Sounds like Mehai also was from a country who can "recycle" car parts long after its useful life.

    • @coalieroller5663
      @coalieroller5663 Год назад +6

      he is really is hauling loads, he shouldnt be that cheap then

    • @renebarrera5286
      @renebarrera5286 Год назад +26

      Did Mehai work Texas New Mexico or Arizona? That gas tank hidey hole is well known in those regions not so elsewhere. There are logical reasons why diesels and small v6 trucks where the smugglers choice for years in the southwest and why some one may not want their tank looked at.

    • @GOLD_FEVER
      @GOLD_FEVER Год назад

      @@cesariojpn So ... Any country? America?

    • @paddymills2144
      @paddymills2144 Год назад +4

      the mask the smell thing doesn't fit, should just know

  • @Tonatar
    @Tonatar Год назад +165

    Sprinters are common everyday bus transportation in Eastern Europe, diesel ones all have 400k km and I have seen many with million km+, granted no def crap

    • @Nick_1911
      @Nick_1911 Год назад +3

      ... yeah , but they dont make new ones like the ones from 1999 - 2001 which are the definition of van (bus) in EEurope

    • @tripel7470
      @tripel7470 Год назад +14

      With the chickentax, mercedes has a local assembly line for us sprinters, highly likely that those are just lower quality than the eu ones.

    • @kd23se4
      @kd23se4 Год назад +3

      yes but the diesel in the US is not the same as in Europe

    • @marcisdzerve9558
      @marcisdzerve9558 Год назад

      400k is still a fresh one haha

    • @marcisdzerve9558
      @marcisdzerve9558 Год назад +1

      ​@@Nick_1911the early 5cyl 2.9s were bulletproof, but the newer ones are alright too

  • @gonzoprius3589
    @gonzoprius3589 Год назад +84

    Drove a Sprinter from new to over 500k miles during my time as a driver at Fedex. super reliable.

    • @Waffles11399
      @Waffles11399 Год назад +4

      Must've been an older one cause our new ones are constantly broken.

    • @sparky6086
      @sparky6086 Год назад +2

      Not sure, if this guy fully knows, what he's talking about? The 2007 & after Sprinters had problems & were unreliable, but the 2001 to 2006, the "T1N's", were also Mercedes, Freightliner, & Dodge and were really good with only a few easily remedied quirks.

  • @cvr24
    @cvr24 Год назад +94

    My brother worked for FedEx for a decade. He said FedEx took the Sprinters for a discount at a large quantity, but they would forgo the factory warranty. Sprinters for a while were built in Germany but shipped as chassis and body to the USA, "reassembled" in the USA with a USA-sourced battery to get around the Chicken Tax.

    • @iHelpSolveIt
      @iHelpSolveIt Год назад +3

      They're not a pain in the but if you're half competent 😂😂😂

    • @ajdahun
      @ajdahun Год назад +3

      The transmission was in the cargo area as well, when shipped from the fatherland

    • @chaoswarriorbr
      @chaoswarriorbr Год назад +3

      So just like the Ford service vans.
      I'll take my chances with a Sprinter over a Ford.
      Sounds like people are too lazy or stupid to read a vehicle manual, the caps of different fluids and do basic maintenance.

    • @MrJEEPJT
      @MrJEEPJT Год назад

      The “CHICKEN-TAX” screwing the American Customer since “1963” thanks “L.B.J.”

  • @xiricada7121
    @xiricada7121 Год назад +66

    Buddy had a Sprinter for his local Post Office in Brazil. That thing drove through all sorts of traffic jams, pot holes and all that you can imagine. Never had an issue with it. Most of what he described seems like user error.

    • @chaoswarriorbr
      @chaoswarriorbr Год назад +4

      Yeah,Sprinters are used all around the world in conditions far worse then 99,9% of places in the US, while regarded as the best or at least one of the best.
      100% user error, from drivers to bad maintenance management.

  • @Willheim.
    @Willheim. Год назад +143

    As a trucker we know all about the absolute horror of after treatment systems, (EGR, SCR, DPF. DEF, soot levels, regens, etc). It's every brand, too.

    • @christoferstromberg6605
      @christoferstromberg6605 Год назад +13

      A friend of mine (engineer) was involved in designing these at a big car/truck maker. He calls it a huge scam and says to never buy a vehicle with this system (regardless of brand).
      He said its known by everyone it's complete garbage, often it doesn't even do what it should so testing regulations got relaxed to such degree that they are far removed from reality just to not crash the global car market.

    • @MKRN98
      @MKRN98 Год назад +6

      I'm so lucky that I bought a truck with recently serviced aftertreatment system. New DPF filter, DEF pump, etc. but from time to time I get check engine light related to DEF sprayer nozzle or something like that? My mechanic told me to just ignore it as it's really not giving me any issues, I don't even have to regen. Although, if anything fails to the point I can't drive anymore, I'm not fixing it, I'm deleting it. It's such a bullshit anyway. DPF filter, yeah, maybe that's good for the environment as it traps all that soot but DEF? Now that's the biggest bullshit there is!

    • @LasOrveloz
      @LasOrveloz Год назад +8

      @@christoferstromberg6605 Problem is, many of those systems are mandated by law. especially here in europe.

    • @christoferstromberg6605
      @christoferstromberg6605 Год назад

      @@LasOrveloz yes, that's part of the scam. The agencies know it's bullshit but it keeps people from rioting. Diesel would have been banned decades ago if people knew how bad it really is.

    • @doublejslist
      @doublejslist Год назад +7

      It's becoming clear that a diesel meeting modern emissions standards is not very realistic anymore. I've loved my diesels, but my last one had a DPF, and all I did was worry about when it was going to inevitably fail. It sucks because the VW CJAA was a great engine otherwise.

  • @check4v
    @check4v Год назад +81

    This guy looks like if someone finally made Jimmy Fallon stop laughing at everything.

  • @Mr-pn2eh
    @Mr-pn2eh Год назад +76

    Toyota should really start selling commercial vans in the US. Bring the hiace (called granace), or at least sell the it under the hino brand.

    • @sjeeky278
      @sjeeky278 Год назад +8

      Hahahaha you get a PSA peugeot engine in the toyota vans 😂😂😂😂😂

    • @angelmoreno9339
      @angelmoreno9339 Год назад +3

      They do in Mexico and you only see them used as cheap people transport mostly in the south, fedex and others still prefer sprinters I do not know why

    • @imkirbo3094
      @imkirbo3094 Год назад +2

      The only Toyota van's I'm aware of are rebranded PSA shit

    • @piuthemagicman
      @piuthemagicman Год назад

      ​@@sjeeky278 That's the european Proace not the OG Hiace still sold in Asia and South America etc.

    • @angelmoreno9339
      @angelmoreno9339 Год назад

      @@imkirbo3094 it´s called Hiace they dont sell them in the US

  • @DunnDifferent
    @DunnDifferent Год назад +33

    100% that guy had some sort of smuggling compartment built into that fuel tank. No other reason why someone would freak out when told they were going to drill holes in it.

  • @RatedVideos
    @RatedVideos Год назад +78

    Worked for FedEx Europe, we had these Mercedes Sprinters, we drove the shit out of them, literally in every sense possible, they held up like tanks! I don't know how the engine, gearbox and chassi parts held up but they really did!

    • @iHelpSolveIt
      @iHelpSolveIt Год назад

      They're well built. No cure for stupid 😂😂😂

    • @boyracer3477
      @boyracer3477 Год назад +7

      This storyteller just needed a story to tell so he dressed up a few things. The things that really make no sense probably never happened.

    • @David_jdmc
      @David_jdmc Год назад +6

      I think there is also a big difference between Sprinters built in US plants and Sprinters built in Germany like with most Mercedes Benz vehicles.

    • @sparky6086
      @sparky6086 Год назад

      Not sure, if this guy fully knows, what he's talking about? The 2007 & after Sprinters had problems & were unreliable, but the 2001 to 2006, the "T1N's", were also Mercedes, Freightliner, & Dodge and were really good with only a few easily remedied quirks.

    • @TheValKBawz
      @TheValKBawz Год назад +2

      @@David_jdmcNope. Up until 2018 when the Sprinter 907 was introduced, every single Sprinter sold in the US was produced in Germany. From 2006 to 2018, those then had their drivetrain and body separated again in Germany and both were shipped separately to Charleston, where they put it back together - this was cheaper than the penalty tariffs for importing fully-built-up commercial vans. Charleston was an SKD re-assembly plant until they turned it into a proper factory for the introduction of the Sprinter 907.

  • @bastaudio
    @bastaudio Год назад +9

    Had a fleet of 2019 Mercedes Sprinter amazon vans. We had 38 of them. Biggest issue is the transmission. Every single one I've ever touched has had the transmission rebuilt/replaced because "park" will break in such a way that "park" becomes another neutral gear. Never had this issue in a Ford or Dodge van. Every single Mercedes van in my former fleet as well as every 2019 Sprinter that any other delivery contractor used had this issue at some point. Mercedes issued a "recall" that was actually just a bit of extra wiring that sets off the panic alarm if you don't pull the ebrake after you park the van and get up. Basically if you get up out of the seat while the van is running, it'll set off the alarm if the ebrake isn't engaged.
    Just before my old contactor shut down we had 5 or 6 vans that blew serpentine belts while they were WELL WITHIN their service interval.
    The seatbelt buckles themselves would snap off every 10-20K miles (braided steel cables that connected the buckle to the vehicle would get brittle and snap off).
    The rear brake light housings are so brittle after facing the heat in the US south that if you lightly tap them or bump into them, the housing will shatter.
    Every. Single. One. had electrical issues.
    Bulbs burning out every few thousand miles.
    Rear cameras and rear camera screens that would work intermittently at best.
    12V ports that would blow their fuses sometimes daily (just charging a phone and they'd blow).
    Faults with the crosswind assist/active braking that would cause the van to hard brake from 70mph down to 20-30 on the interstate for no apparent reason.
    Seat belt sensors broke every 5K miles on average.
    We were spending $5-10K a month on out of warranty maintenance. It was ridiculous. We observed every single service interval and drivers were strictly monitored by the Mentor driving app as well as Netradyne fleet cameras to ensure they aren't being rough on the vans or driving like lunatics and none of it prevented these turds from breaking every single day. We had to have 38 of these vans just to run 20 routes a day. We piled up 10-15 at a time to get fixed and we typically had maintenance people out daily working on them.

  • @PowerslideSWE
    @PowerslideSWE Год назад +30

    Sprinters ARE Mercedes from the get go, they were branded as Dodge or Freightliner and other names perhaps in the US.

    • @Adsterz20leh
      @Adsterz20leh Год назад +3

      Was looking for a comment about that 😂 it's like everything was in America first 👀

    • @SkylineFTW97
      @SkylineFTW97 Год назад +1

      They stopped the rebadging a while ago. Everyone knows they're Benzes here now. Contractors and tradesmen love them. My dad drove several in his time as a plumber and he liked everything about them except the cost.
      Funny enough, Mercedes-Benz actually supplies the USPS with RHD Metris vans now, but they removed the Mercedes badge, probably for optics. It was probably the only smaller van that could easily be obtained in RHD for postal use.

    • @TheEgg185
      @TheEgg185 Год назад

      Most people call any modern van with this basic shape a Sprinter. 🙄

    • @Petty45
      @Petty45 11 месяцев назад

      Correct, got the 5 cylinder Mercedes in my 2006 freightliner

    • @NickTaylorRickPowers
      @NickTaylorRickPowers 2 месяца назад

      Hahaha that explains so much about why he finds sprinters difficult

  • @BatCaveOz
    @BatCaveOz Год назад +72

    Sprinters are renowned for their reliability.
    They are used as ambulances in Australia and they travel huge distances with zero mechanical issues.
    I spoke to my mate who has 20+ years in fleet management... he reckons they are the most reliable van. (He ranks Ford Transit as #2)

    • @nickwheeler8231
      @nickwheeler8231 Год назад +4

      They're renowned for their unreliability, parts that are never in stock at horrendous prices, their propensity to rust and the extremely limited dealer network. That's limited because you cannot take a van into a Merc car dealer; it has to go to commercials. There are three of those in the entire county of Kent. The Sprinter ambulances here break down all the time. Transits are slightly better mechanically, cost less to buy and own, and if you don't like the local dealer there's another in the next town.

    • @sterlingodeaghaidh5086
      @sterlingodeaghaidh5086 Год назад +2

      With every vehicle, its gonna vary, in Europe they probably say that American built cars are unreliable and hard to maintain. With every vehicle you have to understand it and how to maintain it for it to be reliable. I drive a 10th gen F150, one of the least liked generations of the F series, it is a great truck, but I also take care of it too. I don't have any experience with sprinters, but they seriously cannot be that bad.

    • @andreasu.3546
      @andreasu.3546 Год назад +5

      @@sterlingodeaghaidh5086 As a European I can tell that american cars here have a reputation of being simple, realiable and easy to work on, especially the ones that are so big you can basically climb into the engine bay and stand next to the V8. On the other hand, they are also known as gas guzzlers, having shoddy interiors and can't be driven around corners at anything faster than walking speed.

    • @sterlingodeaghaidh5086
      @sterlingodeaghaidh5086 Год назад

      @@andreasu.3546 thats surprising. I would have expected the fact it’s foreign made would make parts availability and maintenance a pain. Tho most modern American vehicles youd be hard pressed to climb into the engine bay, with all the stuff inside. My 98 has an engine bay that would make a perfectionists head explode. And dont get me started on the blue system they decided to add for diesels

    • @sterlingodeaghaidh5086
      @sterlingodeaghaidh5086 Год назад

      @@andreasu.3546 i do have to agree on fuel economy, my truck aint no 40 MPG (5.88 L/100KM), but its not bad either, and handling idk how that is so bad as all the vehicles i have ever owned have been rather stable.

  • @Patty-qy8qh
    @Patty-qy8qh Год назад +36

    Funny how these said problems have nothing to do with the Sprinter itself.
    I have driven every sprinter generation and despite general problems you can have with every car of every brand they are totally fine.
    I would say their biggest issue is still rust, at least in German conditions.

    • @tylerseabook9423
      @tylerseabook9423 Год назад

      Did you clearly not watch the video. My god🤦‍♂️ the def system is a common issue on them and they are an absolute nightmare to work on. It’s like you didn’t pay attention at all 😂😂😂🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

    • @timothyjoksch
      @timothyjoksch Год назад +6

      ​@tylerseabook9423 I worked at a Mercedes-Benz dealer in Germany for three years. Most DEF problems were one sensor that was replaced in 20 minutes. I don't know what you are doing.

    • @michealyoung2777
      @michealyoung2777 Год назад

      ​@tylerseabook9423 Neither did you dumbkoff it issue was with the cooling system. THE FECKIN RADIATOR which is totally different to the DEF System which is to do with the exhaust emissions

    • @elbuggo
      @elbuggo Год назад

      @@tylerseabook9423 I bet O'Rileys Autos could have fixed 90% of the problems in an hour or two. Not so difficult if you can grasp the secrets. One secret is that the thermometer in the van also must work.

  • @clifbradley
    @clifbradley Год назад +21

    My mom had a van conversion company she started and was mainly doing Nissan NV400's. Then the Sprinters from FedEx were showing up at auction and she started working on those. She never had an issue with them except one that had some sort of engine issue where the engine would not turn off. She took it to the dealer because the custome requested her too and the dealer tech let the engine run because he didn't pay attention to why it was there, it caught on fire and all the appliances and conversion work my mom did went up in flames. The dealer tried to say it was my mom's work that caused it, but the fire investigation proved it was the engine, however the insurance wouldn't cover the conversion upgrades so the owner of the van sued the dealer for 35k in parts and labor and at that time, you couldn't find a used Sprinter anywhere, so insurance bought her a brand new one. Went right back to my mom for outfitting. The last one my mom ever did.

  • @kylem324
    @kylem324 Год назад +74

    You have to wonder what was really in his fuel tank that he was willing to walk away from $20k of covered work?

    • @boyracer3477
      @boyracer3477 Год назад +1

      No one said that he couldn't have the old tank, only that it had to be made unusable by holing it.

    • @kylem324
      @kylem324 Год назад +11

      @@boyracer3477 Or it might suggest that he was in the habit of hauling contraband in the tank and drilling a hole would reveal that.

    • @OffGridInvestor
      @OffGridInvestor Год назад

      Cocaine

    • @aus_aircon_ref_mech6671
      @aus_aircon_ref_mech6671 Год назад

      @@kylem324I was just about to say that 😂 mere speculation though 🥹🥹🥹

    • @franciscodanconia4324
      @franciscodanconia4324 Год назад +3

      @@boyracer3477I think he didn’t want holes drilled in the Colombian kilos hidden in the tank.

  • @sirmingusdewiv8325
    @sirmingusdewiv8325 Год назад +79

    Dude, 20yrs at FedEx. They suck in the snow. Although when delivering in December, the Christmas tree lights on the dash was heart warming. ❤

    • @pabo8080
      @pabo8080 Год назад +1

      100%. When i did deliveries in the winter I had to fight with my boss for him to put winter tires on the van. He would say, oh it's got new all season tires on it, it'll be fine. I had to put my foot down and tell him I wouldn't drive it without winter tires. Even with winter tires it would struggle, but at least more manageable. Breaking was the worst part, scary in the snow and ice. This goes for the transit and promasters, same thig.

    • @pabo8080
      @pabo8080 Год назад +2

      *braking

    • @sirmingusdewiv8325
      @sirmingusdewiv8325 Год назад +1

      @@pabo8080 You'd start to get momentum, then the traction control would kick. The brakes. Then you're stuck. POS.

    • @PheonixRise666
      @PheonixRise666 Год назад +1

      ​@@pabo8080you knew what they meant right?

    • @BelviGER
      @BelviGER Год назад +2

      Can't be worse than Ford Transit, cause they are fwd. Whoever decided that designing a vehicle that will have most of its weight over the rear axle as a fwd car is a massive moron. Plus they were the least comfortable vehicle I've ever driven, seating position is worse than most horse drawn carriages
      The MAN TGE is pretty dope

  • @vsaharc
    @vsaharc Год назад +35

    Had my Sprinter since 2014, bought it brand new.
    Yes, change your oils, fluids, put the right stuff in there and it still runs with no problems.
    Had it go through the mountains, 110°+ weather if Mexico and AZ. Multiple trips all over US and Mexico in heat and cold, and still love my Sprinter.
    Get this guy off the camera!

  • @Rascofresco11
    @Rascofresco11 Год назад +15

    It’s like when he’s trying to deliver a point he gets quite and almost whispers.

  • @406Steven
    @406Steven Год назад +29

    This is definitely life at a dealership. We get a lot of flack from know-it-alls on the internet but if you work for one and know the other side of the story this stuff is all too common. Subaru started using some kind of different wiring insulation (I think it's soy-based) and mice absolutely love to eat the wires, particularly fog lights and transmission sensors. When people find out that warranty doesn't cover rodent damage they absolutely go off. A replacement fog light pigtail plus labor is $20 and they eventually end up just paying for it but not until they've berated several people and slandered us on the internet. Putting the wrong fuel in, like in this video, sends people right off the falls as well. They swear up and down they'd never do that but what's in the tank doesn't lie. The most impressive thing I've seen a manufacturer do was VW when someone put gas in their diesel Touareg and had to have everything in the fuel system replaced, I swear this customer must've had a picture of Ferdinand Porsche doing the dirty with a goat or something because VW good willed it (not warranty, good will. Anyone who works at a dealership for more than 3 days knows that distinction VERY clearly). New tank, pump, lines, fittings, high pressure pump, injectors, absolutely everything got replaced on VW's dime.

    • @franciscodanconia4324
      @franciscodanconia4324 Год назад +7

      There’s a difference between operator error putting the wrong fuel in a vehicle and a manufacturing defect like soy based wiring insulation that is irresistibly tasty to rodents. That is something the manufacturer should have at least tested for during the engineering of the car. I fully understand why someone would be irate over having to pay for Subaru’s poor engineering choices.

    • @Maintenance_Mark
      @Maintenance_Mark Год назад

      Question for ya. I worked at a dealership for a few months after highschool as a grease boy and part runner trying to get some experience so I could put more than "tech center" on a resume.
      Why would the insurance company attempt to have the shop destroy customer owned parts? By law aren't these parts to be returned to the customer undamaged if they request it?
      Why would a dealership even take these unlawful commands from the insurance company to destroy these customer owned parts?
      Seems like a load of BS to me.
      Seems like the shop didn't want this rude Karen customer to keep his old parts so they made up the who story oh "the insurance company wants them destroyed".

    • @406Steven
      @406Steven Год назад +1

      @@Maintenance_Mark I'd have to watch the video again for context of destroying the old parts but anything which was replaced was to be disposed of to keep people from replacing extra parts in order to bag parts for themselves. Warranty parts would either be called to be returned to the manufacturer or we had to destroy them so they can't be re-used.

    • @franciscodanconia4324
      @franciscodanconia4324 Год назад +2

      @@Maintenance_Mark if the insurance company is paying the claim, I think legally those replaced parts belong to them. Just like your car belongs to them if they total it (which is why you have to “buy it back” after the settlement if you want to keep it).
      And the company probably didn’t want a contaminated diesel tank and fuel system making its way to another vehicle.

    • @jamesflames3419
      @jamesflames3419 2 месяца назад +1

      wiring insulation is made with peanut oil I heard - rodents love it

  • @Fabulousprofound168
    @Fabulousprofound168 Год назад +10

    I’m kinda lost with this video. I just showed it to a contractor working on our house and he showed us the odometer with over 300k mi on his old Sprinter. He said it has been almost trouble free and has never missed a day of work.

    • @Transit_my-way
      @Transit_my-way Год назад

      What year was it? If pre 2012 then yes. More reliable.

    • @Fabulousprofound168
      @Fabulousprofound168 Год назад

      @@Transit_my-way it’s been over two months now so I cannot ask, but it looked to be older than 2012

  • @ilsl04
    @ilsl04 Год назад +5

    I got gas at my local shell station and shortly after my car started smoking really bad and miss firing at idle. I couldn't figure it out. I took it to a shop and they said the engine has low compression. I didn't believe them because I did a compression check and it was fine. So I said whatever and told them to put an engine. A few minutes later I see on my news feed on Facebook that a local shell station had 91 octane contaminated with diesel fuel. I told the shop to stop and picked up my car. I called Shell they asked me for my receipt and a week later they sent me a check for 8k. I didn't fix anything I just drained the tank and its been fine ever since

  • @RadialSkid
    @RadialSkid Год назад +38

    I'm surprised he didn't mention how incredibly rust-prone they are.

    • @snoopdogie187
      @snoopdogie187 Год назад +3

      That depends on the year. Old ones, yeah, those rust terribly, I haven't seen the newer ones rust yet.

    • @neilopfer5687
      @neilopfer5687 Год назад

      Yeah, I saw the rusting in the photos here.

    • @GlennInLaguna
      @GlennInLaguna 10 месяцев назад

      Yeah, the early Dodge ones were. Newer ones no different than any other car on average

  • @MikeBehrensWX
    @MikeBehrensWX Год назад +3

    They also rust like it's their job

  • @JG54206
    @JG54206 Год назад +4

    I have no experience with Sprinter vans and I’ve heard people talk crap about them, but honestly I think most people don’t know or don’t care to allow a diesel engine with modern exhaust systems to do it’s thing. Again, no experience with Sprinters, but I’ve seen plenty of people ignore the regen process in diesel box trucks and then pull a surprised Pikachu face when the exhaust system needs to be fixed for a few thousand dollars… meanwhile it said clearly on the dash “regen in process, do not shut off engine.” I explained this to my old boss who was the owner of the company that the drivers of the truck would routinely ignore that warning, and just shut down the truck in the middle of a regen cycle, and he would reiterate to the guys that they can’t keep doing that and the small amount of diesel burnt letting the truck idle during a stop was greatly preferable to the large repair bill for an exhaust system repair. Most of the guys didn’t really seem to care. It sucks that it’s a mandatory thing now, but it is what it is and it won’t be changed any time soon, especially not by continuing to vote for people who give the EPA free reign to do whatever they want under the guise of “saving the planet”, meanwhile all those same politicians fly around on a G6 private jet and get chauffeured in Tahoe’s and Suburban’s. I do have experience with a Dodge 2500 pro master van from that same company and it didn’t seem to have a regen cycle, but it did take DEF and it didn’t really have any exhaust problems during my 4 years working for them, however it had numerous other issues. It seized the A/C compressor (twice I think), and the transmission was awful. It seemed to have an automatically operated clutch instead of a torque converter which was the dumbest thing (in my opinion) for an application like that. It shifted hard, bucked on downshifting, and if you wished to go slowly up a hill (like backing up a steep driveway for a delivery) it would just constantly slip the clutch the whole way. I once had the clutch start smoking when backing up a very steep, long driveway at about 3/4 of the way up. The dash lit up like a Christmas tree and said “transmission failure.” I parked it up and carried the stuff the rest of the way. It drove and operated fine on the way back, but in order to clear the “transmission failure” it had to go back to the dealership. There wasn’t any major damage but they had the van for about 1-2 weeks and told us there wasn’t anything they did besides just reset the fault code and that it would happen again under that same circumstance. My boss said that was ridiculous for a 2500 series commercial van designed for deliveries and the dealership basically said “it is what it is.” I thought that van, and it’s choice of a clutch instead of a torque converter was absolutely idiotic.

  • @alexchavez1011
    @alexchavez1011 Год назад +6

    We are a delivery service and we have 20 Ford transit and they are been the most reliable out of all the vans we have 20 rams and the amount of transmission and axle replacement is real at one point we had 8 at the dealer unable to be used we had one sprinters but the drivers complained about it moving a few feet after putting the transmission in park so we never got any more

  • @BRED510
    @BRED510 Год назад +10

    Generally regarded as good vans here in the UK. Main issues with them used to be rust.

  • @Craig-zq2qx
    @Craig-zq2qx Год назад +25

    Cameron is the Bob Ross of Technicians

  • @jbllc6873
    @jbllc6873 Год назад +8

    This guy sounds like he just woke up from dental surgery.

  • @CaptChang
    @CaptChang Год назад +6

    Oh, I heard of that "X times remaining" problem. Let's just say, some people interpret that message as "oh, I need to restart the van X times to get rid of that message". 😂

  • @curseofthegreat
    @curseofthegreat Год назад +4

    I was with FedEx express for several years, did my due diligence, inspecting every vehicle, every day, and learned that the first generation Mercedes 2500 sprinter with the in-line six had all of these issues, plus the turbos would fail around the 100,000 mile mark, and one of the mechanics became so proficient at replacing the turbos so quickly, he went, and did his own side hustle on weekends Replacing turbos in sprinters.

  • @thatgamingchannel95
    @thatgamingchannel95 Год назад +14

    I’ve always wanted a Sprinter van to travel with the family, i’m sure they’re as comfortable as grandma’s couch😍

    • @Nick_1911
      @Nick_1911 Год назад +2

      Just get/buy one from 1999 or 2001 they are best ones , simple , cheap and mechanical , w/o these computer and ADblue fancy nonsense ...

    • @thatgamingchannel95
      @thatgamingchannel95 Год назад +3

      @@Nick_1911 there’s nothing more reliable than a older diesel powered Mercedes Benz

    • @aarontorres5290
      @aarontorres5290 Год назад +1

      It’s 2023… maybe buy something that hasn’t had been beaten up on or abused… a lot of people don’t take care of their cars

    • @thatgamingchannel95
      @thatgamingchannel95 Год назад +1

      @@aarontorres5290 you’re absolutely right on that one… but not everybody wants a new car nowadays

    • @aarontorres5290
      @aarontorres5290 Год назад +2

      @@thatgamingchannel95 doesn’t have to be brand spankin new the same way it doesn’t have to be so damn old you know? Could be in the middle a little more newer than old. 2019 and up, you can get a great sprinter for $40k-$55k

  • @pc4189
    @pc4189 Год назад +8

    I suspect he didn't want the tank drilled cuz maybe it was altered with a hidden compartment for smuggling/customs evasion.

  • @ejkk9513
    @ejkk9513 8 месяцев назад +2

    I can tell you since my work only uses sprinters, they're fantastic if you take care of them. I work on Amazon vehicles for my job. Mainly transits and promasters. The sprinter is EASILY the best. The drivers thrash the vehicles because most people go by the mindset that if they didn't pay for it, who cares. Never judge a commercial vehicles quality unless you also own the vehicle and take care of it. These idiots who drive them destroy them. Promasters start falling apart by 60k miles or so. If they're driven super hard, they'll start falling apart at 30k miles. Transits are definitely better but not nearly as good as sprinters. Sprinters will start falling apart at 100k miles if they're thrashed. If they're not. 200k miles is not difficult to achieve.

  • @natec599
    @natec599 Год назад +5

    People saying “DEF fluid” drives me nuts it’s already “diesel exhaust fluid” but that pales in comparison to how I feel about the EPA…

  • @anthonysmalawipredators8794
    @anthonysmalawipredators8794 Год назад +2

    Kind of sucks you think you're making a good choice by purchasing the newest van you can afford meanwhile they're 10 times worse than one built a decade ago

  • @barron204
    @barron204 Год назад +2

    I disagree with this video. As someone who has worked on hundreds of Sprinters for a company that owned thousands of the Mercedes Sprinters, they are very reliable vans.

  • @fastrace14
    @fastrace14 Год назад +3

    The main issue I have heard from some owners of these, at least here in Europe is that a few of them bought brand new ones and they were rusting pretty badly from factory and the paint started to bubble up.

  • @alistairhowat8949
    @alistairhowat8949 Год назад +2

    I've worked on sprinters for 17 years, this guy has no clue what he's talking about. Driver error is not the fault of the manufacturer. Sprinters are the most reliable van on the road.

  • @tcbgarage2845
    @tcbgarage2845 Год назад +3

    Where I work we have a fleet of 40 sprinters in all different specs. We have many heading toward 700,000 miles and some past. I've out about 500,000 miles on myself.
    You then blame user error which doesn't sound like the Sprinter is to blame.

  • @glen7463
    @glen7463 Год назад +2

    The reason so many came in is because there was so many of them every vehicle will have problems driver or parts failure but if there is millions of sprinters and only 100’s of another you will see sprinter in the shop more then the others but apart from rust issues. I would say only the engine is Mercedes

  • @luclaan8165
    @luclaan8165 Год назад +8

    When I worked at DHL in the Netherlands we had sprinters. Those sprinters just kept on trucking till 500.000 and they where still fine. We also had Renaults which all broke before 100.000km. Never had any real problems with the sprinters, I love them.

  • @cornovii3012
    @cornovii3012 Год назад +6

    Nearly every non English corner shop has a Sprinter, either in white or blue 🤣

  • @JDM_Cars..
    @JDM_Cars.. Год назад +4

    My dad bought a 06 sprinter and it had a lot of rust but it was cheap and he bought it for 7k and he has gone through 2 engines and he has spent 17k on that dumb van. That’s how you get in to a rabid whole…

  • @MakeEverything
    @MakeEverything 10 месяцев назад

    Regarding the coolant DEF mixup, that can even be a dealer level mistake. I had a sprinter with a bad DEF sensor early on in its life. I took it across the country and the CEL came on in LA. Took it to MB Beverly Hills because they sold and services sprinters. They “fixed” the problem and when the sprinter service manager gave me back the car he opened the hood and pointed at the coolant reservoir. It’s a plastic ball looking tub with pink fluid in it. He said “you see that there? See how it’s not full? You gotta keep it full with DEF or you’ll have problems with this van” I knew he was completely wrong but also wanted to be as far away from them as possible so I left. The van had more DEF sensor issues until they were replaced, after that it was perfect. Moral of the story, half of the people working on sprinters don’t know how, and salesman and service managers don’t know a thing, even if they are wearing the sprinter service name tag!

  • @nikolasbishop7955
    @nikolasbishop7955 Год назад +5

    Would love to see a Vinwiki episode like this only for ProMaster vans

  • @lukemurphy7209
    @lukemurphy7209 7 месяцев назад +1

    I listened to this guy before bedtime and had the best nights sleep ever.

  • @defekticon
    @defekticon Год назад +5

    Sprinter owner (hopefully soon to be a transit owner) - can confirm. The emissions system kills these engines. Which is great for the environment when you need to constantly install re manufactured engines. Lets see, I've burned a hole in a piston, replaced oil cooler seals, seized swirl valves, transmission valve body replaced, torque converter... all at 120k miles now. Alignments have to be done at a mercedes dealer.

  • @bluemeanie6395
    @bluemeanie6395 Год назад +2

    My Sprinter is now 10 years old. Ex DHL, no problems and no rust. We don't salt our roads in Australia. It doesn't use adblue, but I'm sure it's not hard to keep a few spare bottles at home. And only an imbecile would put petrol in a diesel car.

  • @wolfsatyr
    @wolfsatyr Год назад +3

    this guy's sultry vocal fry is absolutely captivating. He should do ASMR videos on the side, just have him read an old Haynes manual.

  • @andrewhopkins6870
    @andrewhopkins6870 Год назад +2

    Dad was a GM for a local Honda dealer and was using the dealer's parts van, which was a Sprinter. Kept driving it until it was "1 start remaining" and had to borrow my car a few times to run errands because it was a long weekend and the dealer was closed.

  • @ltsgarage7898
    @ltsgarage7898 Год назад +5

    I purchase a Dodge Sprinter van in 2008 brand new off the lot. I serviced it every 3 to 5000 miles. Around 30,000 miles it started having Swirl valve issues.
    I kept driving it even though the swirl valve had problems & the check engine light kept coming on and going off. I kept getting lucky and getting it smogged every two years. The cost of new head were just insane plus the labor.
    I loved the size, long wheel base and the high roof. When I purchased it, it got really good mileage. About 3 months later I got a noticed in the mail saying that the computer needed a reflash. When I took it in it was getting 22-mpg. I could not get it smogged or licensed if I did not get the reflash.
    I took it back to Dodge and they took care of it. I started checking my mileage again. It went from 22- mpg to 13-mpg. I started to complain about the mileage. The Dodge dealer told me to bring it back and they will check everything and re- 13:46 flash it again. I got it back again & Started checking mileage once again. It was to my surprise it had dropped yet again. Now it’s 10-mpg. I never took it to a dealership again. I drove this pile until 2022. That’s when I got water in my fuel. I took it to a couple of different shops and I kept getting it back and being told they couldn’t fix it. I finally took it back to the Mercedes Benz dealer and they gave me a price to completely repair the problems. But they said they had to replace the heads and all because of the swirl valves and completely replace the fuel system from the water damage.
    The complete charge was going to be $18,995.00. I took it home to put it in my shop yard to be a planter box.
    While it was there a guy stopped by and wanted to buy it. I told him everything that was wrong with it but he didn’t care. I sold it for $6,000.00 dollars.
    I went out a purchased a Ford mini van Transit-connect. It gets better mileage than my diesel Dodge.
    That’s just some of my story. Never ever buy a DODGE SPRINTER !!!

  • @franknedobity2757
    @franknedobity2757 Год назад +1

    We had one at work, 2014 freightliner with the diesel. 258k miles and the intake runner flaps were sticking. It was a good van but kept getting erroneous ecm shutdowns and loss of communication. First the pins were replaced in the connector, next a special spray for the connector was used. Before that it had two recalls for the exhaust manifold pressure sensors, the entire emissions part of the exhaust, and the NOx sensors. Transmission was serviced regularly, went through some brakes and was picky about tires. It really liked the Michelins. 2wd in the winter it was pretty good. High top van with no windows, towing a 12’ trailer and hauling lawnmowers, bulk parts and goods. 17mpg empty, 14mpg loaded.

  • @Iskelderon
    @Iskelderon Год назад +6

    Never had problems beyond the usual with the VW Crafters (basically identical to the 2012 Spinter since that generation was a co-production between the two corps). Almost our entire fleet was Audi and VW vehicles. Though we're in Europe, maybe the US market ones are of lower quailty.

    • @armbot1000
      @armbot1000 Год назад +6

      The operators are of lower quality not the vans

  • @jackriley1989
    @jackriley1989 Год назад +2

    This man brings the intensity I expect from someone brought in to talk about vans

  • @hitardo
    @hitardo Год назад +4

    0:37 This may be true to American dealers.
    The Sprinter van is sold since 1995 in Europe.
    Moreover, Sprinter is a product developed and produced mainly by Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner.
    It was only in 2002 that it started producing Sprinter vans in the USA.
    Sprinters were sold as:
    - Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (1995-present)
    - Freightliner Sprinter (2001-2021)
    - Dodge Sprinter (2003-2009)
    - Volkswagen LT (1997-2006)
    - Volkswagen Crafter (2006-2018)

  • @MrPlowboy66
    @MrPlowboy66 Год назад +1

    In short Sprinters suck because owners don't know DEF from antifreeze or gas from diesel,plus the fact that they're hard for mechanics to work on.

  • @b2lamborgini
    @b2lamborgini Год назад +3

    I actually still regularly see fed ex sprinters where i am in Canada, both the current and last generation. That being said my company has a lot of 12-15 sprinters in our fleet and they are plagued with issues

  • @b34rdy
    @b34rdy Год назад +2

    Drove them for 10 years at a large courier in the uk, never had an issue with the engines other than a check engine light that stayed on constantly (yet would somehow disappear when the garage looked at it and couldnt find any faults)
    The biggest issue we had with sprinters was the side doors either not working or the side door falling off the runners (these doors could be opening thousands of times a week so its kinda understandable)
    But i was never left stranded anywhere even when they "broke down" i even drove 100 miles home on limp mode because recovery was 3 hours (and recovery was somebody coming in a van to go "oh yea its fucked let me call a flatbed"....and then have to wait another 3 hours for that)

  • @mentalmetalist
    @mentalmetalist Год назад +4

    This guy huffs model glue

  • @pinkace
    @pinkace Год назад +1

    Some nights when I can’t sleep I put a video with this guy talking and I’m out in 5 minutes.

  • @drummaboi93
    @drummaboi93 Год назад +4

    Sounds like “Meehi” was moving illegal things in his gas tank

  • @soundseeker63
    @soundseeker63 Год назад +1

    These problems sound like every other modern-day diesel vehicle out there. They are all highly-strung and fragile devices with a ton of electronics to deal with. Plus when you take account of the fact they get ragged everywhere all day everyday, mostly by people who don't care at all, it's no big surprise they develop faults. That example of putting DEF in the coolant, although stupid, gives a good example of how these vehicles get treated in the real world. I think in reality they are no better or worse than any other modern vehicle, they just live exceedingly hard lives, like most vans do.

  • @rickszabo4312
    @rickszabo4312 Год назад +8

    My favorite Sprinter story is that if you bought one with dual wheels on the rear to carry more weight ,the inside of the van was now too narrow to accept a full sized pallet.

    • @abreakwell
      @abreakwell Год назад +3

      Depends on the type of pallet. Euro pallets fit with no issue, they are rectangle not square. But a U.S. pallet does not fit. We put blocks between the wheel wells to deal with this issue.

  • @timLoder
    @timLoder Год назад +1

    Since when do you lose an oil pump by putting gas in a diesel? Replacing a fuel tank just because I had gasoline in it??? I think half of his repair work was bullshit. I would’ve risk simply emptying it and filling it back up with diesel but what can I say?

  • @mark_kulakov
    @mark_kulakov Год назад +3

    You’re telling me it took you a couple weeks to realize he gasoline inside his diesel powered vehicle 😂

  • @tomasrubinos7322
    @tomasrubinos7322 Год назад +1

    I can hear Scotty Kilmer Laughing so hard

  • @thersanothersidetome
    @thersanothersidetome Год назад +6

    Wish Toyota would bring over some hi-Aces as cargo cans or pop their Camry or Sienna hybrid power train in a van body to compete with the Promaster City or Transit Connect. They would sell like hotcakes. Such a tragedy that as many cargo vans as we use and need in the US, there aren’t many good options

  • @tripolex2015
    @tripolex2015 10 месяцев назад

    The best Mercedes sprinter came was in 2002 2004 Those are the best best Mercedes-Benz came on the market

  • @zinussan50
    @zinussan50 Год назад +5

    Hehe. 🤭The reason why mihai won't let anyone touch the fuel tank because that was his cargo bay.
    The gasoline will masked it from dog smells the "delivery package"

  • @thomasburke7995
    @thomasburke7995 Год назад

    Backstory to FRIEGHTLINER/Mercedes with FEDEX EXPRESS.
    MERCEDES was looking to expand thier FRIEGHTLINE division in America. FEDEX had purchased several hundred semi tractors 5 years earlier. So the two companies agreed to a deal that both regretted 5 years later. The contract was for 10 years . FedEx would purchase all necessary units exclusively from Mercedes. This included transmissions and engines expect for the Semi's in exchange Mercedes would warranty all parts expect the semi's engine and transmission for 10 year . Mercedes needed actual fleet data so as to improve the quality and reliability of the SPRINTER. In Europe these two chassis , sprinter and the Ford transit dominat thier class for delivery vehicles.
    Within 5 years the deal had gone sour. One emission part alone for the sprinter cost 5,000.00 dollars because it was designed to be a replacement not a re-newable. MERCEDES did not expect FedEx to have 300k miles on a unit in 2 years. Most of the original first order Dodge Sprinters suffered sever rusting and or B pillar deformation with in 3 years. These SPRINTERS ARE UNIBODIES design. I know first hand if the sprinter was T-boned, automatic complete write off.
    I can write pages of just how bad they are for the AMERICAN market.. so anyone outside of the USA, think what you want but remember the SPRINTER was and still is manufactured in AMERICA with design specific requirements and domestic sourced materials dictated by MERCEDES. Only the engine and transmission is imported for final assembly.

  • @gadgetguy99
    @gadgetguy99 Год назад +5

    My 2011 sprinter, long bed tall box has been a complete lemon. I can't think of something that has not broken on it, currently dealing with electrical gremlins but really just ready to scrap it and get a Ford transit since it seems my friends have had better luck with them.

    • @davebrown9725
      @davebrown9725 Год назад

      Could be the Chrysler sourced infotainment system if they are still using them. Unreliable, bad internal connections, faulty software, etc. etc.

  • @helpingudrive4031
    @helpingudrive4031 Год назад +2

    Exactly right, I'm much more inclined to help someone being rational and cooperative than someone being irrational and uncooperative. I recently got threatened to be punched in the face twice by a customer who claimed we sold a battery to them for $50-$75 (it was a terminal end). Needless to say the police were involved and they were banned

  • @michelinman8592
    @michelinman8592 Год назад +3

    To me, it's not the engines that make Sprinter vans horrible, it's the devastating cancerous RUST that eats these things alive. Here in Michigan I see ones that are branded 'Dodge' _STILL_ running around, and those are from ~2003-2005! Albeit, they are about ready to split in 1/2 from rust... Even my local Amazon hub's set of Sprinters are rusty (they're not even 2 years old!!!) Explain to me how that's possible, even with the Amazon blue wrap on them???

    • @1978garfield
      @1978garfield Год назад +1

      I wish I knew what paint Fiat Chrysler uses so I can make sure I never buy any of it.
      All their vehicles seem to rust out faster than others.
      Jeeps, Ram trucks, the old and new Sprinters (seems Mercedes and Fiat use the same paint) all have paint that turns chalky and falls off.

  • @megatijger100
    @megatijger100 Год назад +1

    Drove with multiple sprinters over the last 14years never had a single problem !!!
    Drive a new model ATM very statisfied!!!
    If you let the maintenance be done bij certified mercedes dealer/technicians like you should you will never have problems

  • @ShootingAir
    @ShootingAir Год назад +7

    Had an '03 Sprinter (diy camper van, was never a commercial vehicle), it was a maintenance Nightmare. I'm saying this as mechanic with factory training/certification (not Mercedes, but still, I know vehicles). As soon as I could justify it and make it happen, I swapped to a Ford Transit ~ night and day difference in terms of reliability. I can think of about 3 owners over on Sprinter-Source who didn't really have many issues, all were original owners who did Ample preventative maintenance. The 2 best known members of the forum were $200/hour mechanics......
    You couldn't make me drive another Sprinter. Maybe the newer ones drive better, but those T1N's were sketchy above about 65~70... add in ANY kind of cross-wind or buffeting from a semi and it was white-knuckle driving. This was even after all new bushings, shocks, tie-rods, etc... If you *think* you want a Sprinter, trust me, drive a Transit (or if you can get past the looks, the Nissan NV ~ they drive Great!) for comparison. Then think about maintenance... how often do you see Mercedes dealers vs Ford? Skip the Fiat/Dodge though... Dodge will ruin that relationship, just like they did with the Sprinter, and 100% drop all support and leave you looking for parts from outside the US.

    • @aarontorres5290
      @aarontorres5290 Год назад +1

      The newer sprinters are amazing, definitely not the same world as what you’ve described.

    • @1978garfield
      @1978garfield Год назад

      I was hoping Nissan would offer the 5 liter Cummins v8 in the NV.
      Instead they discontinued it.
      The NV is really a Panel Truck instead of a van.
      That big truck nose should give access to the engine for maintenance.
      Then again most new trucks require the shop to remove the cab to work on the engine so I don't know how much of an advantage it will be.

  • @AConcernedCitizen420
    @AConcernedCitizen420 Год назад +1

    OMG!
    VINwiki! You need to up your recording volumes!!
    WTF?!

  • @pageperrineracing
    @pageperrineracing Год назад +3

    The company I work for bought around 200 of these in 2015-2017. We have 3 left. Total junk compared to the other trucks we use now. Around 100k miles they started living at the dealer.

  • @Major_K_2
    @Major_K_2 Год назад +1

    I am an advisor for a smaller Mercedes-Benz dealer in MN. Currently we are building a dedicated shop for Sprinter and Metris. I hate these things, some of them are bullet proof and some have nothing but problems. I will say it is remarkable to me how many people mess up the gas in diesel thing, 20k out the door just like that and we have had 3 in less than a month. I just do not understand the allure to a non-commercial customer. AND THEY ALL BELIEVE EVERYTHING SHOULD BE COVERED! Drives me nuts, thankfully the other advisor i work with love those things so I just handle the cars most of the time.

  • @TheNismo777
    @TheNismo777 Год назад +3

    This persons lvl of negativity is unreal. Been having first gen sprinter and 2017 model with 0 problems. When ppl lack service, nothing works for sure.

  • @imkirbo3094
    @imkirbo3094 Год назад +1

    I don't usually comment but what the hell is he talking about? He's discussing how Sprinters were new to the Mercedes brand, when in reality the Sprinter is and always has been a Mercedes product, since the first generation in the 1990s. Ignoring the fact that it was only ever sold as a Mercedes in every other country bedies the US, it was rebadged as Dodge for the US, but it was a Mercedes made vehicle. His next point is that when people use incorrect Adblue or don't use enough of it, the van goes into limp mode. Sooo, user error causes an issue which is legally required to happen, and according to this man that's a reliability issue with the van? I don't follow the logic there. These vans are considered to be one of the best on the market elsehwere in the world, so how does he explain that if what he's saying is true? I can't watch the rest because it's obviously a waste of time but the point is that VINwiki need to start sifting their interviewees better, because this guy's clearly someone who has no idea what he's talking about and just wants to tell ill-informed stories online which isn't what we subscribe for.

  • @inferior650riderhd6
    @inferior650riderhd6 Год назад +2

    Dunno about unreliable cos I've never driven one but have never seen a sprinter older than 2 years with no rust on it 🤷🏾‍♂️ just saying (UK but still!)

  • @JohnnyWishbone85
    @JohnnyWishbone85 Год назад +2

    Drove Sprinter ambulances for a while. They were, by far, the best van-based ambulances I've ever used. Transits are nice enough, but you cannot beat a Sprinter. They rode well, handled well, were smooth, quiet, and the ride in the back was far better than any other van.

  • @davidg2590
    @davidg2590 Год назад +2

    I work at a shop called Sprinter Expert, and what was said here is a user error. I agree that they are slightly more sensitive, but I have seen hundreds of 300k+ mile sprinters. We get a lot of FedEx vans, and most of those are good, only small things that would occur on any car. I'm afraid I have to disagree with the general statement that Sprinters are "the worst van ever." It all depends on the competence of the driver.
    A bit of a rant, but I am slightly qualified to talk about them.

  • @georgemccune2923
    @georgemccune2923 Год назад +1

    Some crucial advice, but before I am a Diesel tech here, 20+ years exp with continued education thru out to stay up to date and current, as well as went with various engineering teams for the major manufacturers on lessons on troubleshooting procedures , currently in diagnostics also assisting identifix with reviewing and publishing diagnostic procedures. treat every vehicle like Dr. House does, everybody lies. Nobody wants to admit thier simple mistake cost them 20 grand. I can't count the number of times the "customer states" info is in direct conflict with what "I can see in front of me" in this case with the fuel if I suspected it was gas I'm taking a fuel sample immediately to send off if it comes down to that then it never hurts look in the console, look in the glove box, the door pockets. If it's gas odds are they haven't made it too far from where they put it in so the receipt is probably real close. Mention it to the service writer and the angle to play is the tech found the receipt while checking for X,Y or Z. That was what led them to check the fuel. That way you are not coming across as you thought they were dumb and then check the fuel. Yes it's a lie but it softens the blow. As far as all other diagnostics hundreds of times customer states just started acting up only to find dozens of receipt is from other shops. Take those receipts and look at what parts have been thrown at it and if it can be done quickly make sure the last tech didn't accidentally not get something right. If that's the case customer can pay you to fix or take back to the other place hopefully under warranty. Never assume the other tech did the job right. I know it sounds bad and also never rule out the new parts even if its a new part you just put on. Just because it's new doesn't mean it's good and sometimes you have to run diag on a new part and find out it's bad. I don't know if they still do but take Ford for example on let's say the 6.0 oil cooler. You buy it from them and put it on and do it right and the new one fails Ford will replace it and pay up to 500 of the labor or you can take the truck to them and they will put the new cooler in and cover the entire cost. Don't know if they still do as that was a number of years ago but not a lot of people knew that and they didn't advertise it. Anyway hope this helps

  • @_miffy96_77
    @_miffy96_77 Год назад +1

    Love this vid as I had a sprinter before it got stolen. Bought it to start a small buisness with a few buddies when we were off from our normal day jobs. Work was steady and it was good. However on one occasion when it was parked outside my freinds house (due to the size of the thing I couldn't park it on my small narrow street) I hopped in it to head to a job I had booked when I noticed some of the trim panels were out of place near the ignition. Unusual and my freind knew nothing of it as it was correct when it was parked. Skip a few weeks and few completed jobs I went back in the van for another job and noticed this time thise panels that were out of place in the past were now on the floor and the ignition was completely missing. Had a new ignition and a set of keys made at a cost of 1000 bucks and then a few months after the van was completely stolen from its usual parking location. Was told by the police they are common here in the uk to be stolen and when it was recovered all valuable interior parts were stripped. It was targeted and I lost a great deal of buisness. Funny end to it is that before it got stolen there was about a ton and a half of wooden decking boards which was pricey at the time and we managed to get every piece of it back 😂 love to get another sprinter soon might be a recovery truck variant this time round and not a panel van like before with some good security.

  • @centralvalleygrower1106
    @centralvalleygrower1106 Год назад +1

    I almost bought a sprinter but bought a cheap ford econoline 350 from offer up best vans you could ever buy. We have 2 now

  • @nicholasdouglas9781
    @nicholasdouglas9781 Год назад +44

    Somebody give this guy a personality

    • @paulcarmi8130
      @paulcarmi8130 Год назад +1

      I wish I had something to add to that. You summed it up perfectly 😂

    • @Llamacowking99
      @Llamacowking99 Год назад

      I loved that I read this as the video was loading. I can't blame him for not being the most exciting person to tell stories here but he could talk less like a whisper.

    • @tydondero16
      @tydondero16 Год назад +1

      Sounds like Bob Ross service drive man.

    • @oatlord
      @oatlord Год назад

      He was making me kind of angry while watching. The way he stutters the speed of what he's saying while also trying to channel Bob Ross just infuriates me for some reason.

    • @nicholasdouglas9781
      @nicholasdouglas9781 Год назад +1

      @@oatlord he the world's most boring man

  • @danielmarshall4587
    @danielmarshall4587 Год назад +2

    Great story/insight, I DO NOT work in the automotive industry, I do work as a machine operator however. What this genlteman says about operators of machines is very true, GOOD LUCK to all emlpoyers who don't care who they get to operate the machines they have/use for their buisness.

  • @klausschwab9507
    @klausschwab9507 Год назад +1

    We have 7 at work there on the road 6 days a week. They all have done a minimum of 300,000 miles without any major issues.

  • @mplewp
    @mplewp Год назад +1

    i have no idea where you found this guy but mercedes vito / sprinters are godlike in terms of reliability xD .

  • @roibrycker8897
    @roibrycker8897 Год назад

    He sounds like the person that is so calm because he knows one thing goes left when he’s done talking and he’s doing something he can’t come back from