Merc V Class - cheap bus or trouble?

[Dino D]

Looking at family buses and wife has finally agreed to a proper bus. Came accross the old V Class with the 6 captain chairs and table inside. Looks a great way for a family to travel, picnic, watch Motorsport events, go the beach etc.
I know it's a van and will drive like ins and have no issue with that.

Normally I use honest John as a source of good reviews but in this case it seems like some Top Gear wkers have written the review with comments like 'bits fall off'.

Looking elsewhere reviews are hate it or love it with mention of rust, electrical issues and air suspension failures.

Looking at automatic 230 petrols most likely in 2-4k price range. Would love a newer Viano but that is 10k and out for now.

Just wondering if any phers have experience of the V Class?

[mobile chicane22]

I had a 2002 merc vito van ( which I believe the v class is based on )

one word AVOID

I had it as a company van ( not owned by me ) and in 100k miles from new to me leaving the company it was a total heap.

It ate injectors at £200 each.

The central locking would unlock itself due to a known fault with the switches in the lock assemblys.

It was very easy to break into.

Tin worm was an issue after just 3 years.

A jap import toyota hiace may be a better bet as I had sevral of these as company vans and apart from one dead alternator they never went wrong

[Dino D]

Ouch. That sounds bad...
The seating is awesome in there though.
Have looked at Jap buses and an a big Honda fan but can't live with the image of a Hiace, Previa etc. a Honda Odessy just maybe as it has captain chairs and looks sort of like Voyager when you squint but man, the colours are crap!

[anonymous-user]

I see these regularly and always notice them because they are riddled with 1970s Vauxhall levels of rust most of the time, which stands out a mile in this day and age. Often rust in the middle if door panels and other unlikely places.

[All that jazz]

There was a thread on a similar topic only a couple of weeks back. I'll mention it again in case you missed it but there's a 2008 minibus style one across the road from me and many of the panels on it have very visible rust of them already which is shocking for a 4 year old vehicle. I don't know any more about it but you'd think that Merc have some sort of long anti-corrosion guarantee on their vehicles like most other manufacturers these days so why it's in that state at that young age I don't know. It's certainly not a one off as most Vito vans you see have the outer 4" of the panels totally eaten away by the tin worms.

[47p2]

Bought one new in 1999 and ran it for 11 years and 225k miles, the only time it let me down was when the air suspension compressor packed in, changed it to springs and never had any more problems. Get one that has been looked after and they are a good vehicle for moving lots of bodies around, but there is a lot of old dogs out there and they can be expensive to repair.

[davepoth]

47p2 said:

Bought one new in 1999 and ran it for 11 years and 225k miles, the only time it let me down was when the air suspension compressor packed in, changed it to springs and never had any more problems. Get one that has been looked after and they are a good vehicle for moving lots of bodies around, but there is a lot of old dogs out there and they can be expensive to repair.

I expect a great many of them would have been bought new for minicabbing, so would have a very hard life. Previous owners would be key here. I'd be inclined to look out for a Sprinter in a similar spec, they do pop up from time to time.

[surveyor]

All that jazz said:

There was a thread on a similar topic only a couple of weeks back. I'll mention it again in case you missed it but there's a 2008 minibus style one across the road from me and many of the panels on it have very visible rust of them already which is shocking for a 4 year old vehicle. I don't know any more about it but you'd think that Merc have some sort of long anti-corrosion guarantee on their vehicles like most other manufacturers these days so why it's in that state at that young age I don't know. It's certainly not a one off as most Vito vans you see have the outer 4" of the panels totally eaten away by the tin worms.

It's a commercial Merc, rust is the norm.

MB do have rust warranties, but good luck ever getting them to honor one.