Mercedes Metris

I'm thinking of buying the smaller mercedes cargo van for my electric service company. Does anyone have experience with these? We do 95% residential service calls so small and maneuverable is a big plus.

My only other other options are Ford and Nissan but those both seem to give nasty ownership experiences.

The mercedes has the same drivetrain as the c class.

 

Stay away from the Ford. My friend works for Otis Elevator and that is his company vehicle and it has a lot of issues besides the color....white

 

I'd love to find one in silver but all I can find local is white...ugh

My last truck was a Ford and nothing but a money pit, I'd be hard pressed to go back.

 

Amen I hated my Ford

 

They are awesome.
I was a commercial vehicle manager at Mercedes Benz of Baton Rouge.
Most payload and towing, handles well, great power and fuel economy.
The others in the segment don’t even come close.
Silver was my favorite color.

 

I've been back and forth with the local sales guy north of atlanta. I guess sales are up enough they don't want to come far off MSRP or give decent interest rates. I'm going to save up a bit more cash and try again toward the end of the year.

I'd also like to find some real world info on longevity. I can't really find any Van's with more the 70k on the clock.

 

Seems like they're currently offering 0 interest?
https://www.mbvans.com/sprinter/sho...RkCh3bLgtSEAAYASABEgJ1dvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds.ds

 

I'm trying to go with used if I can, they came back at almost 8%.


The 0% is 36 months.

I don't know if I can justify buying new at this point. For 30k+ I can get a full size with a high top. The biggest draw on the Benz is 20mpg. I'd feel better about the Benz if I could find another tradesman that uses one but they've only been in the states a couple years.

 

Why not the Nissan? I haven't heard much bad about their commercial vans

 

They get much more than 20 mpg, closer to 27.
Preowned are few and far between, that’s why they’re not going to deal much, plus preowned has a much higher interest rate - just the way the business is.
MB commercial finance has great rates and incentives.
If you want a great guy to deal with, ask for Scott McDaniel at MB of Baton Rouge, he is the Commercial Manager, we worked together when I was there.
He usually keeps a good variety in stock. Call 225-490-3101, tell Scott that Anthony told you about him. If you need to discuss in more detail let me know and I will get you my number.

 

The Nissans are good, but the are small, have little capability, and are not very comfortable.
They are competing more on price only.

 

I'm actually going to look at those this week. I've researched them a bit and it's hard to find a bad review. I'm looking at the nv2500 not the nv200. There's one for 25k new with a 100k warranty, only bad thing is it's a v6.

 

Thanks for the lead, I'll give him a call. I'd like to chat with someone i'm not totally cold calling, it's like some of these guys smell blood in the water.

 

I like the NV2500. Keep us posted.

 

I almost like the way they look...it reminds me of a 70's style suburban.

I hate shopping for vehicles. Buying my tundra wasn't bad because I had an "in" already. I think I had a total of about 4 hours start to drive out.

 

I've heard nothing but awful things about the larger Sprinter vans, lots of engine problems(all diesels), bodies where the paint falls off and they start to rust after 3-4 years. Any sort of repairs on them are stupid expensive.

Maybe just buy a new Dodge Grand Caravan and take all the seats out. Those are like under $20,000 brand new by the time you add incentives and dicker.

Personally I'd just buy the Chevy or GMC vans. Unchanged for the last 14 years, low step in height, GM knows how to make a good V8. I'm sure they're pretty cheap at this point as well. The newer Ford Transit vans(the big ones) are a delight to drive, great ergonomics, don't know much about reliability/durability, you can get them with a N/A V6, Eco-boost V6, or a small diesel.

 

Pulled the trigger on a new nv2500 high top with a v8. Going to pick it up in the a.m.

I'm looking forward to being able to walk in and look thru all my crap. Only downside i'm finding is ladder racks. Looks like i'm going to have to drop a little bit of cash on the auto loader style

 

Sweet.
Those drop down racks are nice, very pricey though, even dealer cost is high.
Hope it works well for you.

 

Congrats on the new van! Hope its a winner.

Kind of weird, I live in Nashville, 20 miles from Nissan North America HQ, 20 miles from their huge factory in Smyrna. Still don't see the NV very much around town. Then again maybe I'm not looking, the big white van kind of blends into the automotive landscape unless it has some crazy graphics or wrap on it.

Seems like the old white Ford Econoline still rules the roost in terms of what you actually see on the roads, they sold a ton of them. Ford must of sold a ton those SOB's cheap to fleets, either that or they simply don't die, since a 1995 looks like a 2005 looks like a 2015. I've driven them quite a bit, other than the stupidly high step in height, they drive good and hold up well to abuse.

 

I'm happy with my decision. I checked with guys that drive ford.... the bigger companies drive them to 90k and send em back. Drive shaft and air conditioning issues is all they complained about.

I like gm fans and would have bought one but the brand new vans look the same as the 90's van. I want my customers to know i'm trying to keep things new and updated.

Lastley, I talked to the nissan fleet sales guy and he knew and had sold vans to 5 different people I knew. I called them and nobody complained about the dealership, fleet sales, price etc. They would all deal with him again.