2015 MERCEDES-BENZ Sprinter

Sprinter 4x4 Family Hauler

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 2 Value Rating: 5

We sold our 2012 Mercedes Sprinter, which we loved, for a 2015 Sprinter 4x4. We needed the 4x4 as we live on a hill that gets icy and snowy in the winter. With 2wd there is so much torque coming from the turbodiesel that even with Blizzak snow tires we had trouble getting out. With the 4x4 this is a true go-anywhere vehicle! By the way, this is a 6 cylinder model, but Edmunds would give that option for writing the review. The 4x4 (which is actually an AWD system that can be engaged or disengaged) is only available with the 6 cyl engine. We have 7 children, so our family vehicle options are very limited. We drove Chevy express vans and they were horrible! This is the best van available for this size family. It is definitely far from perfect, but still the best available. Update 4/2016: We just completed another trip from Michigan to Alabama and had to leave with a freak April snow storm. We had 3 hours of pure ice highways to contend with and had to leave the 4x4/AWD system engaged on the highway all the way south to Indianapolis. It worked great even when having to pass in the ice and snow and held the van stable even though our snow tires are put away for the season. Pros: -strong, efficient motor -4x4!! -each seat has a head rest -rubber flooring that is easy to clean -comfortable impact-absorbing front seats. -the HID headlights are wonderful for night visibility -heats up quickly in the winter with the auxiliary heater. With the roof height it is ideal for getting the kids' coats off and buckled in their car seats -the crosswind assist is definitely a nice feature that has made driving this on the highway much nicer compared to our 2012 model. -decent towing capacity -good backup camera -great side mirrors with blind spot mirrors. -pass-through cabin so that a parent can get back and forth to help the kids on trips. -finally a USB connection so I can plug in my iphone -excellent gas mileage for such a large vehicle -excellent storage capacity inside the van. Carry-on luggage items fit under the seats! -You can slide large items all the way through the van under the seats (I did have to build a divider to keep our groceries from sliding all the way to the front of the van, but I love that I can fit lumber along the floor of the van even with all the kids loaded up) Cons: -the 4x4 system is quite an antiquated system. When engaged it is awesome, but very hard to get engaged unless the van is on level ground. You need to be going less than 5mph while moving before it can engage (no on-the-fly engaging really). Once engaged this is awesome and we even took this off roading to one of our favorite hikes. It made it through some incredible ruts and washouts that I was not expecting. -the brakes squeal (our 2012 model had the same issue). It is intermittent and not terrible, but still annoying. -only one intermittent setting for the wipers which is just dumb. -there are some rattles as we go down our dirt road. It sounds like a cargo van at times on our dirt road, but still much better than the Chevy did. -radio and sound quality are so-so. Better than the 2012 model. -a very sensitive traction control system. Trying to go through deep snow the van's computer wants to apply the brakes to avoid even the slightest wiggle from the rear end. I want to keep up my speed and maintain forward progress and have to fight the van to go in deep snow sometimes. Now with 4x4 this is much better, and not really an issue any more unless I leave the van in 2wd. Even when turning off traction control if there is rear slippage it will automatically re-engage. This is horribly annoying. -no automatic headlights -I still cannot remove the last row of seating, which is the one you would want to remove the most. The first 2 rows of passenger seating is easily removable with 2 people. The seats are heavy, but they come out through the large slider door well. -we have had intermittent issues of the slider door mechanism freezing in severe cold here in Michigan. It is easy to correct, but it seems like that could be improved. -dealerships are often far away unless you live in a city. The nearest dealerships to us are 1-2.5 hrs away.

Best Van Available!!

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

The Sprinter is the Best Van Available - bar none! It has a huge volume of space and runs like a top!

High price to pay for annoyance

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 2 Performance Rating: 1 Interior Rating: 1 Reliability Rating: 1 Safety Rating: 4 Technology Rating: 1 Value Rating: 1

I got this to replace the 3500 express van. I needed a reliable flexible unit. What a joke. You can't take the rear seat out unless you visit the dealer; if you take out the middle seats it requires two people and one of them had better be quite healthy. All the interior panels rattle when chilly outside and reach a horrendous crescendo when cold. The brakes squeal so bad people cover their ears and wince. The transmission has a mind of its own; 25 mph in a small town it won't shift until you speed to get the revs over 3000 then up shifts 3 times and then down shifts to where it should have been in the first place (I was told this was normal...right). DEF issues are normal for this unit - 3 tries and 20 days in the shop before I could travel any distance. Speaking of DEF problems the start countdown can not be trusted for the DEF warning it goes from 13 to 5 or where ever it wants to stop. Dealers recommendation don't shut off the van. Starting issues at times (usually inconvenient) it won't start unless you keep cycling the key (hot-cold- first start- multiple starts just whenever). I paid thousands more for less reliability and only 3 more miles to the gallon. On a plus side the seats, heated mirrors, and cruise control (when not windy) are great. Basically count on this van costing you about $2.25 per mile just to pay for the thing. Got rid of it with only 9500 on the odometer, lost 20k in cash and damaged reputation of not being able to make it. Corporate really doesn't care and one rep kind of chuckled at my dilemma. There is much more like top speed governed, but won't delve into those things now. No wonder FedEx is starting to use Transits.

Piece of garbage on wheels...

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 2 Performance Rating: 3 Interior Rating: 1 Reliability Rating: 1 Safety Rating: 3 Technology Rating: 1 Value Rating: 1

When I bought my 2015 4x4 Sprinter, I thought it was going to be amazing. By the third day I realized I had made a mistake. The van had a very bad noise coming from the back. It got worse, then the roof leaked. I had to drive it 4 hours to the nearest dealer to get it fixed and I had not even gotten it home yet. I fought with them over a rental as it was less than a week old. Took 14 days to fix while I was stranded and unable to work. the fix's didn't work and I entered into a months long battle to get repairs done. Ultimately the Van spent most of the first 90 days in the shop with no loaner. It is legally a lemon and MB USA agreed to buy it back but that was months ago and they have said nothing since. The people who work at Corporate have no integrity to their word and they refuse to put anything in writing. I paid 55K for a van I have not been able to use. When I did use it, for it's intended purpose cross country trips I was able to get just shy of 20K on the van before the power steering went out on a mountain Switchback. That put it back in the shop for more than a month and they have no explanation for how the hose came loose, and after more than 10K in parts and expenses working on the vibration/noise from the suspension, they come to the conclusion it is natural harmonics of the van. Again, not fixed, and still vibrating and no explanation for how a clamped and secure hose came off. The dealers have drank the kool aid and will lie and back up the Manufacturer on the record. Off the record they say the guys in Germany are a bunch of jerks who won't listen and treat the mechanics Like idiots who can't get it. After being out the van so long and having such horrendous support from both the dealers and the manufacturer, I would not recommend the van. when the first few months of ownership are so bad, you would think they would want it off the road and out of your hands so as to not prove just how bad it really is. Instead, they sent me a letter saying they are going to buy it back and then did nothing. Lawyers have told me they will drag this out as long as they can to save money since their attorneys are staff and they outsource the buyback process to a third party who is commissioned by giving you the lowest price they think they can. In other words they are paid to screw you, Literally. Google highest award lemon lawsuit in history Mercedes or impartial services group. When you sum this up, it's poorly manufactured and they can't fix the problem. Even worse is europeans from sprinter chat rooms are contacting me saying they have the same problems and want to know if I found a solution. They don't love the "natural Harmonics" answer. Worse is the popularity of the ford is killing resale value so I can't even sell it for a fair price and it is a few months old. Best offer is 15K less than I paid for it. 4 months old and a 15K discount.. Pretty Sad. Update: 15k spent and 4x4 still not fixed. Mercedes sent me a buyout offer of 4K to go away knowing the new transfer case that should have been put in before the warranty expires was 6K. The power steering hose is a serious and common problem. There is no known cause. Furthermore many are reporting that biodiesel rots the fuel system and costs 6K+ in repairs. My first instance of biodiesel in Illinois caused sensor failure in the fuel system. That was another three days for repairs and I had to wait a week to get into a dealer since they were so backed up. The catalytic converters gum up and go bad and that is another 6k repair. Lots of people pissed about this. The antenna has been fixed 4 times. It is a bad design and a pain in the but to deal with. The only tech who seemed to know his stuff in the whole country is a Brit who worked on them in the uk. He is in Colorado and even he could not fix my van completely. He fixed two things and something else went wrong. The dealer support nationwide is a joke. Very few trained technicians and lots of people learning on your dime. Parts take weeks to months to get in and down time is unacceptable. I was recently in an accident and while I appreciate walking away from a sub 40 mile an hour collision, the van will be totaled because of the way it was constructed and the cost and lead time on parts. After such a terrible ownership experience, it is a fitting end. Do not buy this Van. Especially considering the the 2018 will be a fully new model with a different engine and no carry over. Meaning they are not investing in improving this model and its parts. I can go on and on about how bad this is in reality. You can google it. The best article yet came from an expeditor company whose CEO bashed the van after years of unacceptable problems failed to get resolved. Google "the fatal flaw of Mercedes Benz sprinters" linked in. I had read many negative reviews about the sprinter before I bought it. The size and 4x4 capabilities made me overlook it. It bankrupted my transportation business in 90 days.