Mercedes bus

Tabnabs

A mate of mine is thinking of buying his Mrs and the three small kids a new family car, he wants an MPV with a boot to take prams, shopping, junk etc. He's threatening to buy one of these; :eek:



Someone please tell me there's something else that fits the bill instead of this bus!

HelterSkelter

doesn't look like it has much of a boot

Tabnabs

Two back seats come down/out or something, supposed to be roomy. Can you use a bus lane with this thing?

ninty9er

ffs that's a bit extreme, but not much bigger than the MPV's with no boot out there.

He's probably better of with an executive saloon with a cavernous boot (A6, Skoda Superb)and room for 3 baby seats...provided there aren't any more on the way!!

Captain Slow IRL

toyota corolla/avensis verso - they'll give a hell of a lot less bother
or is he just interested in the badge?

the merchant

That Merc looks to be based on the Vito which is renowned as a heap of siht. He should get a car and not a van with seats - there's no comfort in vans.

peasant

While no beauty queens, all these van based MPV's are immensly practical.
The likes of Kangoos or Berlingos with two sliding doors and massive boots (on the continent you also van buy MPV versions of the Caddy, Combo and Transit connect) or one size bigger the VW Caravelle, Fiat Scudo and Citroen/Peugeot derivatives or the above mentioned Mercedes which offer shedloads of room.

But Ireland as a conservative car buying nation is still very much clinging to the old three box design (i.e. saloon car), so these kind of vehicles don't meet with the kind of acceptance that they get elswhere.

Having said all that ...that vito yoke really doesn't have the best of reputations (or looks for that matter)

ninty9er

peasant wrote:

The likes of Kangoos or Berlingos with two sliding doors and massive boots (on the continent you also van buy MPV versions of the Caddy, Combo and Transit connect)

You can get them here too: Caddy. And it's by no means an ugly van while no showstopper either

colm_mcm

The VW Caravelle is a much better option than the Viano.

Tabnabs

For all the knocking it's getting, I'm struggling to find a bad in depth review of the vito.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/vans/reviews/Review.aspx?model=1014

A few "some anonymous bloke said this and that" type things but nothing reliable so far. Some of it may just be reverse badge snobbery :rolleyes:

Is the caravelle a good alternative?

colm_mcm

My experience of Vitos is that ABs and traction control gives trouble, interior trim is fairly brittle and not up to the standard of passenger cars. Colleague was talking to a Viano owner yesterday who wanted to trade theirs after a few months because it was so troublesome, and the interior was falling apart.

The interior of the Caravelle is quite high quality, and the fit and finish is far better than the Viano. Also it looks a whole lot better. Some nice options available including electric sliding doors, centre table and v.smooth 6 speed auto.

E92

That Mercs predecessor had the honour of having second from the bottom in the JD power survey of 2001. Now I know that that was a long time ago, but I'm led to believe that things havent changed much since then. Anyway the quality of a modern Merc sucks(all the reliability surveys show this to be true), in particular compared to how wonderful they used to be, I remember being in Portugal a year ago on holiday and I got to go in a load of Mercs(because of course Mercs are the taxis favourite), the new ones had messages in Portugese and I dont know what they were but they certainly werent telling you the cars mileage or the radio station, actually I was in an E-class(the one that came out in 03) with only 120000 kms and it squeaked over bumps and the breaks made the noise that a Volvo makes when a Volvo needs new break pads, and I travelled in a few other C and E classes(late 80s to late 90s versions) and they were as solid as a rock including one C class with 727,000 km and not even so much as the slightest squeak over a bump and engine sounding as good as it did when new. They dont build Mercs or VAG cars(with the honourable exception of Skoda so I'm told) anywhere like as good as they used to.(VW and Merc very guilty of this in particular)

colm_mcm

Wouldn't Skoda "building them like they used to" be a bad thing?

Esel

Dyflin wrote:

For all the knocking it's getting, I'm struggling to find a bad in depth review of the vito.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/vans/reviews/Review.aspx?model=1014

A few "some anonymous bloke said this and that" type things but nothing reliable so far. Some of it may just be reverse badge snobbery :rolleyes:

Is the caravelle a good alternative?

Check what Honest John has to say:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm

From what I remember, he advises against. Put me off a UK 'bargain' anyway.

E92

colm_mcm wrote:

Wouldn't Skoda "building them like they used to" be a bad thing?

yes you're completely right, I didnt mean Skoda, though I realise that that was the implication of what I said yesterday(that Skoda were included)

optiplexgx270

Tell him to look at a Merc E class estate, they have a cavern of a boot in them. But it's only 3 kids a Zafira / or the like would do unless they are still at it like bunnies.

Tabnabs

esel wrote:

Check what Honest John has to say:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm

From what I remember, he advises against. Put me off a UK 'bargain' anyway.

"What's Bad
Too soon to say.
What to Watch Out For
Too soon to say."

hmmmmmmmmm

Esel

Honest John on 96-03 MB V-Class ('People Carrier'):

What's Bad

V' stands for Vito van with rear side windows, but can't really stand the move up-market and loses buckets of value over the first two years. Many only had 6 seats. Bits drop off. Sliding side door mechanism fails. Van-like to drive. Rear air suspension prone to failure and when this happens the shock can shatter the rear tailgate window. (New compressor alone is £1,000.) S and T platers 2nd from bottom in 2001 Top Gear / J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Survey.

What to Watch Out For

Dings and dents. Check all trim carefully inside and out. Watch for signs of hard usage. Drive-shaft boots prone to failure (MOT failure point, but worth checking or the UJs will lose their lubrication and replacement drive-shafts are expensive).

Enough to put me off a later model too!

[edit] That Parker's review you linked to is for the van, not the people carrier! Apples and oranges tbh.

depadz

afaik, since these are basically converted vans, there are no curtain air bags etc in the back so not great for the kids..