Sprinter Vans

[2yax2go]

Anybunny in additon to McBrew tow with a Sprinter?

What are your thoughts?

We've been toying with the idea based on the mpg even so I think they're all ugly as sin. I could be persuaded to overlook that, though, considering I was also once totally against an egg. (sorry, it's true, but I was converted by a passing Casita when we were camping at Edisto State Beach (SC) over Thanksgiving.)

J of J&C

[Ed Harris]

Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder they say!

I love my Sprinter!

I get 26 m.p.g. or so around town,better on the Highway and over 20 easily while towing.
It isn't speedy towing but it is tough.
The ride is very nice as the truck is heavily suspended and the stability is good too.

Mine is the "Baby" one:short wheelbase and low roof but it still looms over the roof height of the Egg.
It is also a passenger version with windows all the way around and a more finished interior than the cargo versions.

There is enough room inside mine to fill the bed of my Tundra 4 or 5 times over and I can stand fairly well stooped over inside too.

I have made some shorter runs under 200 miles towing but have not gone any great distance yet counting instead on my Tundra which is proven to me and more comfortable for long trips.
I plan on using the Sprinter more this year.

I am on the road now in fact with the Tundra and Casita and I get under 15m.p.g. towing this way,way under!

Mine is one of the few with a factory tow setup but they are easy to add too.
They also run for a lot of miles if maintained and I just like driving it.

There are at least 2 others I know of with Sprinters but I am not sure if they hang out here or just on the Casita Club site?

Ted in K.C.
and Bobinelym

Hope this helps
Ed

[slbran]

What is the towing limit for the Sprinter vans?

Thanks,
Steve

[mcbrew]

I believe ours is 5,000 pounds non WD and 6,000 pounds with WD. I have towed our boat, which is about 6,000 on the trailer. It towed beautifully. Ours is the largest, tallest cargo version. Non dually.

[Greg H]

I'm just asking, have you priced a sprinter yet?

[Ed Harris]

They seem to be rated at 5000lbs but I have also read as high as 8000lbs so who knows?
I feel comfortable with a loaded 17' sd for sure.
The problem would be power I think not suspension?

Sprinters made thru 2006 are the T1N model sold in North America and though they are a Mercedes built machine they are not easy to confuse with a Mercedes Sedan.

From 2007 to now they are a whole different beast and to me have left behind a lot of what appeals to me on the older model.

The price is certainly part of it.

I NEVER buy new anyway though and the T1N are now available for what I consider a reasonable price considering the capabilities and competition.

I paid 1/5 of what a new one would be and it had around 100k on it at the time.
These are designed to be 500k machines and last that long or longer if maintained.
There are a few in America with 800k on them.

[2yax2go]

Originally Posted by Greg H

I'm just asking, have you priced a sprinter yet?

Yuh...'scuse me whilst I picks m'jaw up offada floor....suckers are NOT cheap even not so gently used.

Shooeee...they shore do like their van's.

Got to figure if the increased mpg would make it worth the extra buckarinos in the long haul.

More research.

UH...mcbrew....does your 13 fit IN the tug???? Thatza lot of Sprinter for the trailer.

Thanks for the feedback, I'd be interested in anything else anyone has to say about these vehicles as tow vehicles....good, bad, anything.

[Greg H]

Ok, don't get upset I just looked at 42 Sprinters on Ebay and I figure if you spend that much money on a tug you really don't need the egg, just live in the tug.

[mcbrew]

Originally Posted by Greg H

Ok, don't get upset I just looked at 42 Sprinters on Ebay and I figure if you spend that much money on a tug you really don't need the egg, just live in the tug.

For the record, I don't pull my camper with the Sprinter. I pull it with a Scion xD. The sprinter is for work and hauling Home Depot stuff. I rarely tow with it.

I bought it new I'm 2003 for around $33k. I've got 100k relatively trouble free miles on it now. Just spent about $1500 getting some things straightened out. It can do a lotore than the chevy van it replaced. There is no comparison.

Most big car companies make similar vans in Europe, including Ford. VW, Peugeot, Renault, Fiat, etc. Most of them are 4 cylinder. I rode in a 23 passenger Sprinter bus in Czech and it was a 2.2L engine with a manual trans.

[Greg H]

Well it looks like someone is thinking of maybe towing with one. Personally I think my $500.00 Toyota 4Runner will do just fine.

[Ed Harris]

When this thread started price was not even mentioned?
Sort of assumed you already had looked around a little?

That said,exactly how are Sprinters any different than other vehicles on the road pricewise?

Every one has their own requirements in a vehicle and for me 10K for a 100k mile Sprinter did not seem too bad.

Look at used Ford vans for cheap,available brute force if that is the main criteria?

The 4runner is really a great one too,have you looked at the price of them both new and used?
I would be reluctant to tow with any $500.00 car but that is just me.

Another interesting observation for me is how my customers have reacted to my Sprinter.
I am an Electrical Contractor and every one who sees the beast remarks how much more seriously they look at me and my business now.
Clearly getting the right tool for the job!
Beauty is a lot more than skin deep too.

Over on Sprinter-source.com there are lots of conversations about these and an entire forum just for camping and conversions,a good resource.

Ed

[2yax2go]

When I started this thread I had only minimal knowledge of the Sprinters and was looking for thoughts from those who had driven/towed with them. The Mr. & I will start out using a not so very gently used workhorse of a 1995 Chevy S-10 extended cab 4x4 pick'm'up to tow our 16 footer. We will need something a mite newer and more reliable by the time we hit the road on a full time basis. (she's given her very best since we've had her & I'm most grateful she's still on the road at all) We currently pull a 450 # tenter with a loaded to the gills 2007 Pontiac Vibe that gets upward of 35 mpg empty and still gets us about 29 mpg under tow in the Blue Ridge Mts. We know we can't expect that with a heavier rig and bigger tug. Itza a nice dream...but notta reality.

We're looking for reliability, reasonable gas mileage under tow and space to carry all our "stuff" which will, by the design of being on the road for lengthy periods of time, be more than one season's worth. We don't want to overload Li'l Scamp and look to the tug to provide some of the space we will be wanting. The vehicle will not likely be new so having an idea of a manufacturer's long term reliability is important to us. Ed, like you, we are looking for rough and ready more than speedy. We intend to begin our travel headed west to the Rockies. If it can take on Pike's Peak without lugging under the load I will be one happy girl and won't worry one whit about where else it goes. The Sprinter's seem like a vehicle worth researching.

The price of the Sprinter's was surprising to me as p/u's, SuV's and such tend to lose more of their value over the years. The 2006's and older that came up had higher mileage and cost compared to trucks & SUV's of the same year. Forgetting for a moment that they are basically built as commercial vehicles I was a mite stunned. On the other hand, it is, perhaps, not such a bad thing that they do hold their price over time. It leads me to think they would tend to be very reliable vehicles at the long haul and might be worth the expense in the end. As I said....research.

Ed, your tug took me by surprise as I was not aware they made something more traditionally van-like that still had such a high towability rating. Thank you for the pictures and your experience towing with the Sprinter. I will check out the link in your last post. If we can find a 100K Sprinter for around the $10K mark...that might just be the same reasonable expense that you determined yours to be. I appreciate your thoughts.

Sorry this is so long. I wanted to clarify what we were intending and why. Y'all have been very helpful.

[Greg H]

I didn't mean to upset anyone with my $500.00 4Runner. I also have an $800.00 F150 And a $1.00 Toyota p/u Really I do and I would drive any of them anywhere. I just realized a couple of years ago that I will not be a slave to a vehicle or a home for the rest of my life. You can get rid of most of your overpriced junk and enjoy life, I do.

[2yax2go]

Originally Posted by Greg H

I didn't mean to upset anyone with my $500.00 4Runner. I also have an $800.00 F150 And a $1.00 Toyota p/u Really I do and I would drive any of them anywhere. I just realized a couple of years ago that I will not be a slave to a vehicle or a home for the rest of my life. You can get rid of most of your overpriced junk and enjoy life, I do.

Dude, if I could find a reliable rig at that price I'd drive it till it wouldn't tow any more. I'd sure be interested in the story of how you came about these little bargains.

I once owned a 1979 Toyota no model pick-up with a 30R engine innit that laid at the bottom of a lake for over a year. They drained it, cleaned it out with kerosene, put the sparks innit, hooked it up to a battery and she turned over first flip. That little truck had over 150K when I paid $500 for it and had 500K when the rear axle derusted itself from the bed of the truck on a swampy Louisiana backroad. Hubby yanked it out, scrapped the truck, tucked the engine behind the seat of his older brother's dodge van, drove it back to SC and gave the 30R to his middle brother who dropped in anudder truck. She ran 2 more years until his daughter's neglect of it's oil requirement seized the engine, melted parts of the camshaft, drizzled metal into places it din't belong and it had to go to scrap heaven.

As for my junk...well...the house junk goes but the good camping stuff stays...hence the need for storage.

[Ed Harris]

I am not upset about this?
Your comments just make it seem like price is all that matters after some discusiion where price was not part of it?

We all have different needs and ideas which is partly why I like this forum the way it is.
The fact is we were talking about the suitability of Sprinters for towing and then took a turn down the money road.

A Sprinter is not the cheapest way to go to be sure.
I do feel though that you can get a lot of value for the money from one and my favorite feature of mine is its versatility.

[Greg H]

Well I know that we have gotten off topic but the bargains go like this, the p/u is a 93 my dad bought it when it was 1 yr old with 10,000 miles on it,when my mother passed away in 04 I bought it from him for $1.00, today it only has 63,000 miles on it. The F150 was bought on Ebay, nobody else bid on it and I won it for $800.00,The 4Runner is interesting, it sat for 4yrs my buddy bought it to get the wheels off it then I bought it for $500.00 it's a 95 sr5 limited all power all leather 172,000 miles and you know thats nothing for a yota. It's not all about the price, I had a 07 bighorn ram 3500 with all the bells and whistles and a $1,000.00 payment every month, it sat in the drive most of it's life. I realize the Sprinter is a very capable unit,I just don't think anyone needs that much truck to tow an egg. No hard feelings, I love this site and don't want any bad relationships.

[2yax2go]

Let me just say that as the OP of this thread I'm getting what I hoped for...lively discussion on the pros and cons of the Sprinter Vans. (even the segue into Greg's Bargain Beauties...thanks for the explanation, BTW) I am absolutely not put off by courteous disagreement. What a bore it would be if we all thought the same. No bad feelings here.

Admittedly, I was hoping that there might be a few more who actually towed with one to have a rounded view of the capabilities of this vehicle...particularly chugging up mountains. Ed's posts are valuable to me because he has used this as a tug even so it's only been short hauls. I look forward to hearing about his future adventures with the Sprinter on longer trips.

The posts regarding the costs are valuable because I hadn't looked at that before I asked the questions not wanting to be biased at the outset (OK...other than my thinking they're ugly as sin, but I think that about most vans anyway.) But, it's something to consider as we do have a budget in making this dream come true. A gently used Sprinter that falls within our budget will have serious contention among the others we have considered but not yet tested.

Is a Sprinter overkill for a 16 footer? Who knows? We carry a good bit of camping stuff as well as our 14 1/2 foot touring kayaks and gear. There are folks mightily happy pulling their eggs with their diesel dually's. And, we may, over the next 2 years discover that a 16 footer is too small for us old farts to spend living in and out of over the next how ever many years this adventure lasts.

At any rate, there's a Sprinter dealer the next town over and we intend in the very near future to go kick a few tires and drag a salesman on his most unexpected test drive ever.

Thank you all so much for your input. I welcome any other thoughts that you may have.

Josie

[mcbrew]

A Sprinter might be overkill for a 16 footer... and so is a full size pickup for towing a 13 footer, but plenty of people do it!

I just wish the 2.2 liter version of the Sprinter engine was available in a midsize pickup or SUV here in the US. I was a bit disappointed when I found that they put some gasoline engine in the Ford Transit Connect. Like the full size Transit, they are all diesels overseas. Ford Duratorque diesels are nice performing engines.

[2yax2go]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

I just wish the 2.2 liter version of the Sprinter engine was available in a midsize pickup or SUV here in the US. I was a bit disappointed when I found that they put some gasoline engine in the Ford Transit Connect. Like the full size Transit, they are all diesels overseas. Ford Duratorque diesels are nice performing engines.

I was disappointed by that as well. There do not seem to a lot of diesel options out there. Too bad it would be so expensive to buy one over there, bring it back here and wait for the EPA permitting in order to legally drive it.

[Mike Magee]

I had a thought today... buy an old gasser, drive it into Mexico to a shop with inexpensive labor, have a diesel engine installed, drive it back. I wonder if it would be at all practical?