[RichM]

I was at my local Freightliner Dealer yesterday and I noticed that they had 3 Sprinter Vans on the lot. Since there seems to be a lot of interest in this vehicle I looked one over and have to admit It would make a great B Unit. The sales guys said they were about $28,000 ,somewhat pricy I thought. I talked to the Freightliner Service Manager (whom I have known for 14 years) and he pointed out one major disadvantage .. The operator of the Sprinter CANNOT CHECK THE TRANSMISSION FLUID. You must bring the Sprinter into a Freightliner Dealer (who has purchased some special tool) in order to check the transmission fluid., I assume they would do it with no charge but you never know. The Dealer I deal with charges $74.00 per hour with a 30 minute minimum. I would hate to pay $37.00 just to have the transmission fluid checked.. Perhaps Weave with his contacts can verify this.. I imagine the warranty must include documemted transmission fluid checks,so it could be interesting if the Transmission failed..

[Weave]

I checked them out in Dec. at Freightliner of Knoxville. They quoted me $34,000 for the 2500 model I test drove (so the 28,000 doesn't sound too bad.) They have been in use in Europe since 1995. I did not notice the lack of a tranny fluid dipstick, that would be kind of silly as it has what is a fairly complex 5 speed automatic that I would hate to destroy. But, I guess it doesn't have one. I was informed that the little Mercedes diesel requires the use of synthetic oil only for warranty purposes.
I think I mentioned in a past post that while these seem to be nice vans, they are still just vans and I don't think they will yield one much more additional freight than a conventional van. And...once out of warranty I can guarantee they will be extremely expensive to maintain and repair, and nobody short of the dealers that sell them will work on it. So you wouldn't be able to bring the van to your local garage like a Ford, Chevy, or Dodge to be fixed.
I'm waiting to see what it's track record will be here in the US. While the Mercedes diesel gets better mileage than a Ford powerstroke, I don't think it will last as long in heavy duty expedite work due to it's small (2.7 liter) displacement. The powerstroke has a whopping 7.4 liters if you want to compare, and an excellent track record. Plus your local guy will work on it, it doesn't require synthetic and has a tranny dipstick.
-Weave-