Rusty Mercedes Sprinters

Rusty Mercedes Sprinters

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Discussion

TVR Sagaris

Original Poster:

860 posts

239 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
... Are everywhere.



Not just the older ones, but the second generation too.

At the moment every Sprinter I see has cascading lines of brown across all the body panels.

Why are they so bad?

Nickyboy

6,704 posts

241 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
Common vans, abused therefore go rusty.

Like all things, look after them and they don't go rusty

Our oldest are 55 plates and none have a hint of rust.

anonymous-user

61 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
TVR Sagaris said:
Why are they so bad?
They are built by Mercedes. Their cars are much the same, but people who buy them pretend otherwise.

MDMA .

9,207 posts

108 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
Cheap steel, thin paint. Simple smile

V8RX7

27,675 posts

270 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
Mercedes skimped on the build, galvanising and paint for many years - I must admit I thought it was sorted by 2006 (Google suggests 06/07)

At least Sprinters have always been reliable most clocking 250k+ with ease

The Vito / Viano also have always had appalling reliability yet people keep buying them.

DS197

992 posts

113 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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The alloys on that MX5 are far more shocking

njw1

2,241 posts

118 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
We had a few Sprinters at work, the shape pictured above and the later shape, they all had rust spots on them before we got rid of them when they were approaching three years old. They weren't without their faults either and consumable stuff like suspension, brakes and clutches was bibically expensive. We only run Transits now and a few Berlingos.

njw1

2,241 posts

118 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
V8RX7 said:
Mercedes skimped on the build, galvanising and paint for many years - I must admit I thought it was sorted by 2006 (Google suggests 06/07)

At least Sprinters have always been reliable most clocking 250k+ with ease

The Vito / Viano also have always had appalling reliability yet people keep buying them.


Our last one was a 58 plate and that was showing signs of rust when we got rid, a local shop bought it so I still see it about and the back doors are absolutely covered in rust now.

anonymous-user

61 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
njw1 said:


Our last one was a 58 plate and that was showing signs of rust when we got rid, a local shop bought it so I still see it about and the back doors are absolutely covered in rust now.
It really is poor quality. Ive seen 13 reg ones with rust.

DoctorX

7,541 posts

174 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
This is what always puts me off campers/motorhomes derived from these. Are they likely to be 50K rustbuckets? Having said that, there's a lot of old ones around so what's the difference?

ETA I'm talking vans in general, but Mercs appear especially bad.

finlo

3,840 posts

210 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
You would think a so called premium vehicle maker would be so ashamed /embarrassed they would buy them all back and crush them.

anonymous-user

61 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
DoctorX said:
This is what always puts me off campers/motorhomes derived from these. Are they likely to be 50K rustbuckets? Having said that, there's a lot of old ones around so what's the difference?

ETA I'm talking vans in general, but Mercs appear especially bad.
No. VW put a lot of money in towards the California giving it a proper finish. I assume/hope Merc does the same.

anonymous-user

61 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
TVR Sagaris said:
... Are everywhere.

When was this taken ?!
That Sprinter has been off the road since early 2013! SORN'ed as well.

The driver is a naughty boy..

finlo

3,840 posts

210 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
sleepera6 said:
No. VW put a lot of money in towards the California giving it a proper finish. I assume/hope Merc does the same.
I don't think the converter has a lot of input over the build quality of the base vehicle.

Johnnytheboy

24,498 posts

193 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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We've had Jumbo Transits and VW LTs (same body as that shape Sprinter).

The latter rusted much, much more.

Two Transits have been more or less faultless.

lee_erm

1,091 posts

200 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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Johnnytheboy said:
Two Transits have been more or less faultless.
MK8 Transits seem pretty bulletproof

Willy Nilly

12,511 posts

174 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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We get couriers in umpteen times every day and they don't half beat their vans to death.Some of them are spectacularly knackered with dents just about anywhere on the vehicle.

Sprinters do stand out as always being rusty, like they buy their paint from The Early Learning Centre. We bought one that was on about 250,000 when the previous owner bought it and about 350 when we inherited. It limped on to about 455,000 with most of the original components getting replaced. It went like stink though.

Brinyan

425 posts

100 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
Willy Nilly said:
We get couriers in umpteen times every day and they don't half beat their vans to death.Some of them are spectacularly knackered with dents just about anywhere on the vehicle.

Sprinters do stand out as always being rusty, like they buy their paint from The Early Learning Centre. We bought one that was on about 250,000 when the previous owner bought it and about 350 when we inherited. It limped on to about 455,000 with most of the original components getting replaced. It went like stink though.
They may well rust, but they've certainly got some go in them. Don't think there's many times I've ventured into the outside lane and not had a Sprinter appear behind me.

POORCARDEALER

8,542 posts

248 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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10 plate, light use, just had it repainted, rust

anonymous-user

61 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
quotequote all
finlo said:
sleepera6 said:
No. VW put a lot of money in towards the California giving it a proper finish. I assume/hope Merc does the same.
I don't think the converter has a lot of input over the build quality of the base vehicle.
That's because VW build the California, to their own quality specifications. As a result the build quality, sticker price and resale price is much better on a proper build than panel van conversion.