Buying a Mercedes Vito

[jscareyuk]

Hi all out there,

Buying a Mercedes Vito and wondering if you have any tips of what to look out for and what to steer clear of apart from the obvious. I am told that the Vito's are built in Spain and of course Germany and that the Vito's coming from the later country have a far superior build quality than those built in Spain. So, my question is - is this true? If so how can you tell? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks

 

[cubicincubi]

how old is it? how much you got to play with?

I had a 2001 'Y' reg 110 cdi for 18 months and couldnt fault it as a work horse. I put 20K miles on it and serviced it twice. it had the factory glass in both sliding doors and a twin seat in the back aswell with the bouble bench in the passenger front. servicing is extended and not at all costly. Never had a single problem with it whatsoever. bought it at 70K miles with one previous commercial owner. it still had a years warranty.

Excellent engines with good pulling power. the 110 (2.2) CDI is rapid, the 108 is a bit slower with a full load. 112 is overkill unless you need to pull weight or do long motorway journeys.

The only draw back was its handling, felt very light on corners and in general. I also owned at the time a 2000 'X' VW transporter which when I chose to let one of them go I kept and still own. In my opinion the T4 Transporter far outperforms the Vito. My old 94 transit held the road better.

FMBSH is a must. Rust is a big problem even on 3 year old vehicles. check arches and sills. bonnet slam pan will probs be rusty. bonnet picks up lots of chips. look for overworked vans which have been over laden. steer clear of vans used for light work around town which have been used constantly unless they have been maintained well.

if you find a self employed owner you might get a no vat deal and the van will have been looked after as its a life line.

but if you want my honest opinion - get a 2.5 tdi transporter!

 

[Daggle]

I had one of these as a company van for two years, having previously had Ford transits. When I was told that we would be getting Merc's I was over the moon, but this soon wore off after they arrived. The vans were 1 year old ex MB lease vehicles 15,000 miles approx, 108cdi spec. They are very basic, no central locking, electric windows, alarms, heated or electric mirrors in fact all they had was power steering. They are fairly quick to drive but wheelspin badly in the wet and the handling is awful in any conditions. After a further 30,000 miles the gearbox was replaced, tyres only seem to last 20,000 miles and it used to consume various bulbs at an alarming rate. The bonnet and barn doors were starting to rust and the front slam panel was falling to pieces due to corrosion. Overall a very disapointing experience and I certainly do not recommend them, nice cars (got 2 ) but not the Vito.

 

[vito dazza]

Don't know what they are talking about, i have owned a 108cdi vito for 18 months with out it blowing a bulb, came with elecy windows & mirrors, central locking. Tows any thing (mate fetched a vw transporter from Birmingham to Yorkshire on a trailer) As for the handling stick some alloys on it, (17's 225/45/17) and no van will stay with you in the twistys. Stick a plug in chip on it and another 30hp!

 

[cubicincubi]

no offence meant. I do know what I'm talking about. I've been driving commerical vehicles for 15 years.

list includes land rovers. sherpa's. ford transits. vauxhall. citroen. mercedes. volkswagen. renault.

adding 17" wheels will not do it any justice at all.

mine had central door locking and didnt blow many bulbs but this had nothing to do with the handling - electric windows certainly don't make it handle better either. I can think of a multitude of commerical vehicles that would catch it in the twisties with or without alloy wheels.

I would also refrain from plugging in a £30 chip. if you want more power get the 110cdi. chipping the 108 is reckless imho.

with reference to alloys and a performance chip I suspect dazza would also fit a bodykit to a escort van to make it go fast. lol.