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Sprinter van, I am so confused!

golfournut

golfournut

Veteran Expediter
There has been a lot of comparison lately on here of other manufactures to a Sprinter. Yet none of the other manufactures offer the same 4-44" skid capacity or 15.3 cargo bed. So why not just buy a Sprinter? What am I missing here? Please help me to understand this. I am in the market and was going to buy a Sprinter, but now.... There seems to be very little cost difference, maybe 3 to 4k, on some of the other manufactures.

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EnglishLady

EnglishLady

Veteran Expediter
golfournut said:
There has been a lot of comparison lately on here of other manufactures to a Sprinter. Yet none of the other manufactures offer the same 4-44" skid capacity or 15.3 cargo bed. So why not just buy a Sprinter? What am I missing here? Please help me to understand this. I am in the market and was going to buy a Sprinter, but now.... There seems to be very little cost difference, maybe 3 to 4k, on some of the other manufactures.

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App
Click to expand...


Possibly the maintenance costs of the Sprinter as opposed to the other makes :(
 
chefdennis

chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
Maintainance cost, availability and cost of replacement parts for the newer (09-10) vans...price wise a left over 2010 can be had for 38-40,000 a new 2011 is going to get to the 42 area...

Now call dispatch an ask how often they are putting 4 skids in a sprinter....3 skids happen, but is not the norm by ant means..I think you will start seeing more 3 kid loads IF the new HOS for big trucks happens, but right now, its more about the available HEIGHT, not weight or # of skids...
 
EnglishLady

EnglishLady

Veteran Expediter
As Dennis has said - schedule maintenance and replacement parts - cost of and no stock of - so waiting time getting parts in.
 
chefdennis

chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
after TJP had the accident with the 2010 sprinter, between the lack of parts in this country and 3 dealers screwing up, 5 payments were made with no money coming in....
 
golfournut

golfournut

Veteran Expediter
chefdennis said:
after TJP had the accident with the 2010 sprinter, between the lack of parts in this country and 3 dealers screwing up, 5 payments were made with no money coming in....
Click to expand...

Geez, that is really bad plus lost income.


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chefdennis

chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
don't get it wrong, sprinters are good van, but yoi can't treat it like a Ford or GM...they requirer alot of attention and they ar expensive to operate,,call a MB dealer and get a price for a oil change... and they require a "special oil"....not just a bottle of regular 10-40 stuff....you have to pay attention and go trictly by the book....
 
golfournut

golfournut

Veteran Expediter
greg334 said:
Boy it seems none of you read the threads here, do you?
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Just for your info, I have read a ton of threads here on a lot of these issues over the last 6 months. Perhaps you should read the title of this thread. It does say "confused". If you don't want to help end the confusion, then don't reply. This ain't my 1st rodeo cowboy! Since when did you become the Marshall of this town?

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ChrisGa23

ChrisGa23

Expert Expediter
Chef , Going with that. I think you made the right decision with the cargomax with the parts availability probably out weights the sprinter times 10

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greg334

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Golf, this wasn't directed to you. BUT seeing you did read all of the threads, then consider that the fuel economy of the vehicle can offset the cost of higher cost of maintenance, while the Ford and GM also have similar problems with parts at times (depending on the location of the dealer you are using) - IT all seems to work out in the long run.

Outside of a few issues with EO members, one situation which was abnormal to say the least, many of the sprinters running on the road seem to be doing alright.

The best one's to ask are the present owners of sprinters, like Turtle, et al. who have been playing the sprinter game for a while.
 
highway star

highway star

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
If someone gets a new Sprinter the fuel economy advantage is gone. I know of another case where a Sprinter was down an unreasonable amount of time due to a part not being available, and have heard stories of others. It's just unacceptable to have to deal with something like that when you've laid down the big bucks for a high end name like Mercedes.
 
greg334

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Well Highway I understand if there were no parts in the warehouse or at another dealer, then yep you're screwed BUT a lot of times the person can do more than accept the "we can't get it here until X" type of answer.

I ran into this problem with my pickup, being stuck in BFE Iowa and told that I have a five day wait for parts wasn't acceptable. I called my dealer, who located the parts and had them drop shipped from LA FedEx next day. The cost of the parts were more than if I had waited but the overall costs were a lot less because the thing was moving down the road. The dealer where the work was being done at wasn't happy but I told the manager so what, I'm still paying the labor.

The absolutely amazing thing that I find within this community and especially this industry is the lack of help. I mean if I was headed say to Indy and someone needed a part to get back on the road from a dealer up here or even a little bit out of my way, do you think I wouldn't offer to get the part to them? The Carriers are just as much to blame because they seem not to care either.
 
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