<p style=”text-align: left;”>Lots of van threads here and I’ve not read them all by any means but those I have seem to talk vw (obviously!), transit/torneo,  Berlingo and maybe a stray mention of a vivaro.  I’ve not seen much mention of the Mercedes vito.  With my 3 kids getting bigger I am thinking about what bigger vehicle might be the future family wagon and a mate is strongly urging me to look at the vito tourer as a large mpv with all the space a van based vehicle brings.   Now he is a self employed mechanic specialising in Mercedes vans, vitos and sprinters,  so he knows a bit and I tend to think he’s worth listening to but why doesn’t the vito (be it,  tourer, crewcab or straight panel van) get mentioned much here?  Is it just overlooked or is there an obvious flaw in its design?  Any owners? Any thoughts to share?</p>

Rust Buckets ?

from what i’ve seen on the roads they rust remarkably quickly

edit – hahaha

Certainly true of the older ones. Think the paint is sorted on the newer ones?

As above, they used to be terrible for rust. Not sure if they’ve improved? Saying that, the VW vans are certainly not immune to rust going by plenty you see about.

Yeah i think after 08 they went galvenised. I had one for a little while, which ended up going back to the dealer with electrical gremlins. It was a lovely drive though, nice, pokey, comfy…. Couldn’t argue with it at all.

Didn’t have Bluetooth, but easy sorted with a new head-unit i guess.

Mine was the Auto and lots of seats… But lots of road tax too.

Smaller than a Transit, less space for 3 in the front…

Yes they are galvanised now and have been for a while.

While avidly staring over overprice T5’s, & horror story Transits, I’m occasionally distracted by the seemingly boring but more reliable Vivaro’s… was warned off Vito’s as being rusty & expensive to repair. That said a friend has had one forever & loves it

Are they still RWD? That may put some people off for driving on wet grass etc?

Unless they want to do doughnuts, then it might be a selling point 😀

Are you looking at crewcab vans or van-derived people carriers?

There’s a benefit to the former IMO, in having that separate load area out of sight.

Smaller engine variants are fwd,  the bigger 2.2l is rwd and I understood it drives much nicer.

My primary thought is for a family wagon to give us plenty of space as the 3 kids will outgrow the back seat of the octavia in a couple of years I think (currently the 3,5 and 7 yo fit OK although it’s an effort to get them in every time).  I’m thinking 3 rows of seats big comfy mpv primarily. I’m not thinking camper.

I think Mercedes has done more to damage their reputation than any other brand. Plus injector seals / cylinder heads of death, rust on older ones. The used Autotrader multi seat executive ones always look like they’ve had a few hundred thousand miles clocked off the speedo having been used on airport runs have put me off.

Perceptions linger. Interesting that the rust of early (pre-2007 ish) is still the thing people talk about. My 2007 Vito is galvanised and is the best bang-for-buck vehicle I’ve owned. The 2.1 engines are a good compromise between economy and liveliness.

My primary thought is for a family wagon to give us plenty of space as the 3 kids will outgrow the back seat of the octavia in a couple of years I think (currently the 3,5 and 7 yo fit OK although it’s an effort to get them in every time). I’m thinking 3 rows of seats big comfy mpv primarily. I’m not thinking camper.

Sounds like you are making a solid choice, but you might want to just have a look at a crew cab van. The back seats have loads of space.

If you’re not using it for biking much, then the three rows of seats may be more valuable to you though.

Just not very good vans vs. The competition? Almost never see them as work vans. Too small I guess. Not good VFM. See plenty as airport taxis etc though, so fine for ferrying people about.

See now I do think my mate has rose tinted spectacles for the vans he knows, but he is basically semi retired and just tops up his income doing services and maintenance on vitos and sprinters  (mainly) and he sings the praises of the vito for moon and back twice mileages and simple and cheap to maintain. He does own and drive them himself too (last couple at least, he picked up either flood damaged or other damage and repaired himself, then ran for another decade and moon return trip)

If I could have afforded a similar milage/aged Vito over my Expert I’d have cirtainly looked at them, but the value for money seems low.

We had one at work. Great to drive, fitted in car parks and had a 1000kg payload and rusted before our eyes. Never had a single mechanical issue with it, a really great van if you live in the Atacama desert

Sold to a traveller who kept coming to our unit insisting he wanted to buy it and we weren’t going to argue 😂

I like them, but from my limited research, they are expensive to buy and probably service. Mate had one…I think it was the 130bhp version – had nice big seats in front and a row behind then a large load space – took 4 complete bikes with very little effort all lined up and complete. Felt a nice place to be inside, but I always thought the fuel economy wasn’t great.
The rust issue was fixed years ago…I think I’d have one, but aware van-sized vehicles will have lower fuel economy and servicing costs could be reasonable. This would no doubt fall into that box much like any other van.

@chapaking yes my mate runs crewcabs.  He’s had 2 for the last decade that I’ve known him and must have had one of those much longer.   London ulez has made him sell the older already and I think he sold it for about what he paid for it all that time ago (as said though,  he fixed a van with some problems).  The younger one is still not ulez good enough and is about to go,  to be replaced by a euro latest ulez ok crewcab again.  He loves them.  He needs to van space though. I think I’d value spacing out the 3 kids as they become bigger grumpy oiks, and I understood the nice spec ones have the seats on rails and easily removed (if you’re strong), so if on a trip where the packing space were needed I’d remove the rear row. 2nd row is a full 3 seat bench I understand.  It comes in 3 wheel base options too, the mid length would be looked at hard but the longest is there if I really really think the l2 isn’t long enough.

Great vans, probably the least van like to drive with decent reliable engines. Injector seals are a weak point but tend to be more of a problem on those with little to no service history (gosh, who’d of thought it) they’re also cheap to sort if you don’t ignore the problem, expensive if you do so consider it a stupidity tax, spares can be surprisingly cheap from MB.

Mines a 2013 113 long, 6 seater with the rear comfort seats, privacy glass with 100k miles, looks and drives like a new van as its been well looked after by the previous owner. Took a bit of finding as with any older van there’s plenty of abused examples. I’d have been happy with a transit custom (we’ve got a 2020 plate at work and it’s an ok drive) but really didn’t like the vw I tried.

Rust hasn’t been an issue for 15+ years, the only vans that didn’t rot back then were French.

26 mpg on a run when towing the caravan and the van’s full of people, 43+ mpg without the caravan. Average since I bought it is sitting around 34mpg but I don’t use it for commuting it’s used for long runs towing with either the caravan, twin axle trailer or it’s full of motorbikes and people.

Wish I’d bought one years ago.

and yes, they are all proper wheel drive 😀

(unless you buy one of the newer 447 with the little Renault engine, but who in their right mind would do that?)

There was a time when every single social media post by any MTB person (Atherton’s? Steve Peat? Danny Mac?) seemed to feature them off somewhere in their “@TheVitoSport”. It got so cringeworthy that someone (poss. a Singletrack writer I seem to remember), even set up a piss-take twitter account for adventures in their Vauxhall Vivaro.

We currently have 150 Vitos on on lease and even more sprinters at work. THey are pretty good as far as I can tell. Being phased out because the EV variants are expensive to lease v competition

I’ve got a 64 plate Viano W639 XLWB. 8 Lovely leather seats that can be removed or re-configured and well plush inside. Its a great bit of kit, and sooo nice to drive long distances. Heading down to the Pyrenees and Spain in a couple of weeks. XLWB version has a really good size boot even with all 8 seats in.

Its already fully insulated so good for occasional sleeoping in as well. I’ve got a full set of thermal window covers. The wife and I took the rear seats out and selpt in it last weekend when we went to see Pulp In Scarborough. But you can get a bed that folds out over the folded down seats, so I think we’re going to get one of those.

Lake District last year, wife and daughter in van, me and son in awning.

We all slept in it (me, wife and 2 biggish kids) slept in it on the way down to the Alpes last year. This was my daughters make shift bed! <span style=”font-size: 12.8px;”>She said it very comfortable!</span>

Don’t regret getting mine at all. My mate bought a 14 plate Caravelle about 6 months before we got our Viano, his has half the miles but was literally 10K more expensive and not as big. His also need a new engine for some reason. Well known issue apparently….

I work with someone who bought one a year ago and was singing its praises for a while about how it was a dream to drive, how superior it is to everything else he’s ever had.

Then the Gremlins started. ABS problems, traction control, autobox with a mind of its own. Thousands of pounds later in relays, modules, wires, sensors, it had all the same problems and all the local Merc specialists who took his money just shrugging their shoulders.

It’s gone now and he’s back in a T4.

Had a courtesy  Vito for a bit, it was shit. Do they still try to cram all the controls on one stalk? Also do the side doors fall off the runners a lot, or was this an unusual occurrence?
I remember it having a flat floor at the front and a nice low roofline for car parks.

I had a 59 plate Vito from new. I had it for about four years, drove nicely but rusted here there and everywhere. Lots of issues with it, too many to list. I’ve had a two Transporters since, and touch wood, no major issues. I can’t speak for the later Vito’s apart from a mate who ran a few in France and they still had problems with rust. They are better value for money certainly, and has a family vehicle you can’t beat that type of van.

Our 15 plate one is rusting on the arches but it is much nicer to drive than a custom or vivaro type.
Nearly got another to replace my Ranger but decided to get another Ranger instead.
If you need any more incentive you don’t become a part of the one life live it VW brigade with you Hawaiian flowers hanging from your mirror 🤣

Strange every single Vito owner starts off with oh yeah they sorted the rust issue out years ago.

Yet Vito’s are still always rusty.

Had a few at work from new to 150k miles. Auto gearboxes are great and have had no real issues with any. Like any vehicle once they get to 10 years old how they have been and are being looked after means more than the make of vehicle. The 2.2 engine is in every Merc going and looked after do 300k miles no problem.

The old ones had lots of issues.
The newer ones are better, but they’re just not popular.
I suspect the big issue is they’re expensive to buy new, so fleets generally avoid them, and the badge doesn’t have the same appeal as VW for private buyers.

Hmm, add with most things the Internet returns a mix of real world experiences then,  although I’m getting a general positive vibe about how they drive and how practical,  if the galvanised bodies are OK and maybe be leary of the auto box.

My Transit custom was slow, noisy and handled poorly, however it was reliable and build quality was decent.

My current Vito is quicker, quieter, handles better, however the build quality is poor and for a 55k mile, less than 4yr old van, it has many mechanical and electrical faults.

kids take up less room once they’re out of high-back boosters.. most car-based mpvs have plenty of width 3-across for teenagers, and are nicer to drive/cheaper (albeit a tad smaller in the back) compared to van-based stuff

Ignore me

Agreed 5lab, eldest 2 are now on just booster seats/bases. She hasn’t complained but eldest is tall enough that she doesn’t look comfy leg room wise in the middle but the 5yo would be OK there for a couple of years,  so I’m hoping to run the octy for another couple of years. However the 5yo currently can’t go in the middle without winding up her younger brother beside her and starting a fight.  Hope she grows up a bit,  if not the mpv becomes more pressing.  This is a driver for 3 rows to space the kids out! I’m yet to decide on large van based vs a galaxy esque, but am starting some research and I guess hoping we will get more time for ‘adventures’ and a van supports that where the luggage space on a galaxy esque is not that generous.   Early days though so no decisions made. As for mpg, no decision made on ice vs ev either.   F’ it, if I won the premium bonds I’d be ordering a lwb I’d buzz or eqv class…. not quite my budget without a win though.

If you buy a proper/full size MPV (SMax, Galaxy, Sharan) the third row of seats is still rubbish.

The benefit you get is you get three full width seats in the middle row with a shed load of legroom.

I’ve got an SMax and even with the middle row fully forward I have spare legroom at 5’10 like no conventional car I’ve ever sat in.

They’re front wheel drive so no transmission tunnel issues.

Unbelievably good long journey car too. I’d take one over a van but that’s also because I want something that is more car than van for work/not lugging bikes/not loaded to the roof stuff. The only appreciable downsides compared to the estate it replaced are it’s down 30hp, an electric handbrake and is not an auto. Oh and the mpg but still better than a van.

Just less of a scene around them in MTB I guess and not so much aftermarket accessories and tat.

I just focussed on the facelift W639 when looking for ours, most of the regular issues smoothed out by then.

Easier to find a well specced Vito than a Transporter and cheaper for similar specs. Found ours has a lot less rattly trim than parents similar age but lower mileage Caravelle.

Just avoid the lower power outputs as the diffs are lower geared which means higher revs for motorway cruising.

Indeed garage d, I can see a lot of positives to an s-max.  Stand by for a car based mpv thread.

In the meantime stupid things that put me off….smax etc oil burner power trains…..I can accept it (just) for a van based mpv but struggle with something pretending to be a car,  why not have decent petrol options!?

Sensible things that put me off.  It’s a Ford.

Second,  leg room is good in row 2 but I don’t want the eldest forever stuck separating two arguing younger siblings either side of her so a third row and one with sensible seats that work for teenagers and adults is wanted. Some car based mpvs must be OK here, but it rules out many,  especially the suv esque mpvs.

A big problem in UK is the lack of dealers. There are 100s of main dealers for the competitors, but only a handful for MB vans. They don’t sell many new, and that means not many secondhand either. Servicing can be done anywhere of course, but buying one of the limited seems hard work. Finding a good one was tough. But they’re well regarded for taxis and executive hire, so they can clearly do the miles.

I was buying in 2016, and ended up with a 2012 plate. At the time they seemed to perform very similar the T5, but were most definately cheaper on a like for like spec basis. I ended up driving from Taunton to Glasgow to buy one. I owned it 5 years, drove approx. 12k / year and trips to Hungary, Greece, Italy, Spain etc. Biggest fault was the air con compressor. Sold it before I fixed to a fellow STWer. Some rusty bolts, but not the metalwork.

Bought a 2019 plate model after that, and it just does what I want. I have the mid length ‘long’ model, and it’s still one of the only vans I have ever seen that has a full size double bed & place for bikes inside without needing a pop-top.

In the meantime stupid things that put me off….smax etc oil burner power trains…..I can accept it (just) for a van based mpv but struggle with something pretending to be a car, why not have decent petrol options!?

Sensible things that put me off. It’s a Ford.

For the first, how deep is your wallet? Because a brick shaped thing has increased consumption regardless of whether it’s a van or Mondeo floor pan.

For the second that’s the least sensible reason I’ve heard not to have a car. My Mondeo is 15 years and 170k old, needs a few things doing but otherwise still in good nick. My Focus is 5 years old and despite a sensor needing fixed when we got it has been fine otherwise.

An S Max is shorter than a Galaxy do wouldn’t write off the third row if you went bigger, we took 6 of us (only one child) up to the Orkneys last year in my C8 which is about the same size as a Galaxy.