Is this used W639 Vito with Faults Worth Buying?

[dunkuk2]

Hi, looking for a 2nd opinion, I looked at a used W639 yesterday and test drove it.

Its a 2013 113cdi with 100,000miles, with air con in silver, with "bodykit" side sills. Listed at £7,300

It looked good in the advert but I found the following faults when I looked at it and drove it:

Air con not blowing cold, LED light on aircon button was red.

It made an intermittent high pitched whine when turning right and sometimes when pulling from a stop. The whine sounded a lot like when you drive over the modern rumble strips on the side of a motorway. A high pitched whine. It came and went and lasted about 2 or 3 seconds each time. Sounded like it came from the passenger wheel area but could I suppose have come from the driveshaft and somehow being transmitted or echo'd forward. I found people with the same issue on forums but no-one seemed to have found a cure. It did not sound like a wheel bearing rumble, too high pitched.

It had a puncture hole right next to (just above) the passenger side sliding door lock where someone had tried to break in with a screwdriver so the handle was not quite flush with the door. The handle and door still functioned.

Needed rear brake light glass (this is about £40 to get a new one so not a big deal).

I'm wondering if its worth buying and getting all of the above repaired, and how much this might cost, it could be quite a high cost? Or walking away and keep looking, its hard to find decent Vitos for this sort of price. Maybe a white one with slightly higher miles might be better value?

Also as a side note it felt a bit floaty and the clutch was quite sudden at the bite point, I have a honda Civic which has very hard/sporty ride, are the Vitos quite soft and floaty? I wondered if its normal and if it makes people car sick. I don't have much of a frame of reference, and its of course very different to my car which is probably rock hard and I've just got used to it, not sure if other vans eg T5 are also like this?

 

[DSK]

I can’t help you with the faults but, I have an S-class and that’s soft and floaty but, does not make anyone sick, in fact the total opposite puts all occupants in a fluffy duvet and sends them to sleep.

On todays roads you want comfort ride/suspension and leave anything stiff for the track.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[curious]

Check the aircon button being red isn't the aircon off!

 

[M80]

Not floaty, hard if anything.

AC could be any one of a number. Re gas (you would be lucky if that's all , condenser, compressor, sensor.

With the whine, I would start with considering a sticking brake??

But what haven't you seen? What else is lurking in this less than cared for example?

MoT history might confirm my concern that it was 'just the van'.

 

[dunkuk2]

Thanks,
I has a C Class from around 2003 and that was very soft, I remember there was a "Sport" version which was more in line with BMW and Audi, I suppose it depends what you compare it too, the Civic is very hard I think, it keeps me awake on long journeys.

Aircon red could well be off! I will check that. I did try both on and off to compare though, could be expensive to fix, if it was cheap why wasnt it done?

The seller did say sticking brake but I checked both alloys for temperature and they were both warm, both the same, when I've had a sticking caliper before the wheel got really hot and it made a nasty groaning sound.

It could be something really simple but its an odd one as seemed to be constant pitch.

MOT history is good, but low mileage, about 4 to 5,000 a year recently, the seller was an MB enthusiast had 4 of them, and I could see the van was not being used much.

I do agree though that it seemed to have missed maintenance, it needed an oil service, only by 12 miles but a lot of people would do that themselves.

Maybe best to leave it, could end up costing thousands. Saying that its the best one I've seen so far!

 

[M80]

Remember the oil service on these can be as high as 25k ((9 litre sump). 12 miles over would be nowt, but 'an enthusiast' is likely to change at closer to 15k anyway.

A sticky caliper may not be constantly sticking. I will see if it rolls freely on a gentle incline to assess (in neutral o course).

If you can't detach from the emotion of the buy, can some one else make the judgement call?

 

[dunkuk2]

Thanks, the oil service is not an issue in itself but I'm wondering if its a sign of neglect, for example if the air con is not blowing cold and its £70 to re-gas it I wonder why it has been left. I suppose a service might be expensive if you don't DIY as I usually do so it could put the average person off doing it. The guy talked about going to Quickfit to check the noise, which is not somewhere I would go myself, so maybe he is just not very technical. There is also a backstory about him working in London and the vehicle was at his cousins place about 40 miles out of London. It does make sense as he says he isn't using it much and its not ULEZ friendly but it is all a bit strange. Also London driving is not good.

Having said that I'm doing the same with my car not putting on new tyres as I know I might be selling it soon.

I think I have got attached to the idea of getting one of these vans so am probably rushing it a bit. I could get a RAC man to check it. I'm 50minutes away from the Van so I can't easily check things on it.

It would be a bit of a gamble to buy it and then fix everything, it could cost £200, regas, something sticking in the brakes, fill around the handle, or it could be worse case a new dif or dif bearing, new air con compressor, new piece of metal welding in near the door handle, could be £2000.

Oh the parking brake did not hold on a hill either, a bit odd as its just been MOTd. The reversing sensors didn't work and he said something about the wiring being damaged near the footbrake. I think on reflection there are just lots of little issues, which all seem like easy cheap things but adding them up it becomes more of an problem, it reminds me a bit of the last MB I bought which turned out to be a lemon. I should probably look for a van that has been used more even if it's higher mileage.

Thanks for peoples input its helpful.

 

[dunkuk2]

Well, just looking more at what else is available, seems most post 2010 Vito's in good condition with Air con are listed at about £8000 - £9000, a similar age VW T5 is about £10,000. So maybe £7000 + repair costs is about right. I may have to adjust my expectations of what £7000 buys, I didnt want to be spending £9000, vans seem way more expensive than cars!

So its either except that things have got expensive in the last few years and I will have to dig deeper into my funds, or get an older Vito with the rust issue. Or go back to looking at the dreaded Fords and Renault's, or do the sensible thing and get an agricultural Toyota Hiace!

 

[M80]

Well,
if you buy the Vito I'm sure you will keep us entertained for a good while to come.

Go on, life's boring otherwise.

 

[dunkuk2]

Haha, well I'm not sure that's a good reason to buy it! I'm aware I'm asking a lot of probably silly questions.

Looking again today there are some Vitos with a higher mileage eg 180,000 190,000 that are a bit cheaper, one has a dented door but I see used doors are only about £250, these higher mileage ones are more like £5,000 to £6,000 which is more what I'm after.

I decided that the silver one I looked at had a few other issues too, the windscreen side trim panels were missing and I think there was a chip in the middle of it. The owner had had it for 4 or 5 years which is usually good but in this case I think he was someone who only did the bare minimum to keep it going, and I think the low yearly mileage may have been London miles. Also I think decent tyres for the large alloys may cost a small fortune. It had Chinese tyres on which is a bit of a sign that it had not had much money spent on it.

I also think the footbrake not holding on a hill was suspicious, parking brake inefficient is an MOT failure yet it had just got an MOT with no advisories.

I will keep looking at Vitos, I cant quite bring myself to buy a Renault!

 

[M80]

Mercedes, foot operated, parking brakes are notoriously poor. Even if the MoT ignored it I tend not to worry too much about their effectiveness, being prepared to strip and adjust. But I 'spose it could indicate that the MoT isn't worth a lot regarding the inspection.

The load rated tyres tend to transmit every vibe. If suspension / steering components have any play you'll likely feel it in your back bone.
As the miles go on this is more likely with the 639 imo.

Another issue is the low rating for emissions that the om651 is likely to have. That was to reduce the tax class. It may have been erased from the VIN plate. Otherwise an MoT is near impossible to get honestly.

I've had 4 639's in various guises. I've concluded that other manufacturers must make a better multi purpose jobbo.

 

[dunkuk2]

It was only MOT'd a week or so ago so I thought it was odd about the brake, it was on a hill, I suppose it was a bit of a challenge, my car was only just ok on the handbrake.

The ride was better than my car, softer, didnt feel the road surface as much, probably as a heavier and longer vehicle mostly. I have realised MB did a Sport version of the Vito so maybe its like the cars, a soft and a harder version is available.

Interesting about emissions, it's a Euro 5, its a van though so on the gov websites shows as blank for the co2, not sure what happens in the MOT.

So are you saying other vans must be better? I have a feeling that its well made but old fashioned, vs the Transit Custom and the Trafic/Vivaro which are more modern feeling and probably drive better but are more cheaply made. Its taken a lot of thought to work out whats best to be honest, I'm more interested in reliability than anything else and the MB, VW and Toyota appear to be the most reliable, VW is almost double the price eg £10,000 for a similar example, the Toyotas are getting on a bit now, are quite basic, and use a lot of fuel, but I know are tough.

People I've met who own the W639 all have said they really like it.

 

[dunkuk2]

Well the one with the dented door sold straight away, seems that was a good deal, £4850 for a 2014 with full history. I think that could be the way to go, dents are a known quantity unlike untraceable noises.

 

[dunkuk2]

Just read up on the emissions at the MOT, I see the OM651 has a very low smoke level of something like 0.1 on the plate, I understand now about removing the plate. There are tons of these on the road though so I wonder how many people it affects.

This is a bit nuts really as the W447 smoke level is much higher even though its a newer van, I guess this is something to do with the MB emissions cheating.