My new Merc - first thoughts - so it's a van

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Hi Bill it looks very nice, hope to have news of mine today. I think you dog cages are stunning & look very well made - do they rattle much?. I intend to contact your supplier today as we have three dogs. I made the last one myself but do not have time this time. Regards Bill
 
With the rear seats and side windows mine just qualifies as a 'dual purpose vehicle' ... hence normal car speed limits apply. I say 'just' because the limit for a DPV is 2040 kg unladen, and the 3 litre Vito can go over that depending on options. M-B cust services were very helpful, and were able to confirm the total weight with the options I wanted before I put the order in.

Hi Bill; I read somewhere recently a guy who had an L200 had to pay "commercial" rate to go into Wales over the bridge; would you have to argue with them to pay a car rate?

These things worry me; saves me sleeping at night!

Rob
 
Hi Bill it looks very nice, hope to have news of mine today. I think you dog cages are stunning & look very well made - do they rattle much?. I intend to contact your supplier today as we have three dogs. I made the last one myself but do not have time this time. Regards Bill

The cages are completely rattle-free, however they were not cheap ... over £1900 fitted. We have 5 Border Collies and compete all year round with them (plus training 2-3 times a week), so good caging was a must.

Previously I've used these guys:

https://www.barjo.co.uk/

They've custom-built removeable cages with doors front and back for my previous 2 vehicles for about £500. That's fully shaped to exactly fit the vehicle interior, for maximum space.

Old picture (no Poodles any more!), but you get the idea:

alldogsincage.jpg


I've secured these to the lashing eyes in the floor, quite handy being able to remove occasionally to carry bulky items. But we needed the two levels this time so built-in caging was the only option.

Good luck with your van!
 
Hi Bill; I read somewhere recently a guy who had an L200 had to pay "commercial" rate to go into Wales over the bridge; would you have to argue with them to pay a car rate?

Hiya, no if you have windows and seats in the middle you only pay the car rate. Lots of my friends just have plain panel vans though and do have to pay the higher rate, which is even worse if you're towing a caravan (you get charged double the vehicle rate).

We don't go to Wales much, but do use the Dartford crossing fairly regularly.
 
Great piece of kit Bill and very professionally done, it looks great well done. I hope the dogs appreciate all the effort.
 
Congrats on the van hope you enjoy it as much as I have been - we have just spent the weekend driving from Cornwall to Southampton - Southampton to Manchester and back to Cornwall.Current total miles 1630 with an overall average on the trip of 27.7. Best one way figure (since start of 341 miles at an average of 63mph 30.8mpg) Bloody fantastic - Manchester to Cornwall in 5 hours so we were not pussying around. These buses are fantastic.

One thing to note - we had an emergency stop after we came off the Motorway - there must have been excess waxoyl in a pool above the exhaust - being hot and thin it sloshed out when we stopped and smelt like the whole thing was on fire - might be worth watching out for.

Fuel consumption was better after a bit of a thrash perhaps diesel is correct??

Good luck with yours.
 
Keep an eye on your EGR valve!
 
I wouldn't worry about the EGR valve, weekso has a problem which is affecting the valve and giving poor running. Yours seems Ok so no issue.
 
I've emailed the guy I know who has had a 120 Extra Long since earlier in the year. His is a works vehicle, so he should have put some mileage on it. Last I heard it was running fine, I've asked for an update though.
 
PS I've been reading the manual on the train, amazing the stuff that's in there!

My van doesn't seem to have a warning triangle and 1st aid kit though ... at least not in the front doors like it says, unless there's a very secret compartment?!

Disappointed that the trip computer can't show miles remaining ... the single most useful function on a long trip when you know you've got to refuel at some point.
 
I dont think that the manual is up to much although it does come in a rather fetching see through plastic cover - The tank is 70 litres and we had a low fuel warning on the dash come on after 410 miles mixed driving - I reckon that should give about 30 miles careful driving range on reserve.
 
I dont think that the manual is up to much although it does come in a rather fetching see through plastic cover - The tank is 70 litres and we had a low fuel warning on the dash come on after 410 miles mixed driving - I reckon that should give about 30 miles careful driving range on reserve.

From my reading on the train, the tank is 75 litres and the reserve is 9 litres. So at 25 mpg you should get 50 miles with the fuel light on.

Pretty sure I only managed to get 60 litres into mine after the light came on, presumably it triggers with more than 9 litres left if you're on the move and the fuel is sloshing about!

I still think not having miles remaining on the trip computer is a major omission :(

PS I sold a spare chrome grille for 30 kgs of dog food last night! :D
 
I've been using a 111CDi(2006) for a year now and I hate to say this, but after 28,000 miles, I wish I had my old Citroen back:eek:

Central locking has failed twice, couldn't lock it. Common problem with remotes and door contacts according to dealer.

Ignition switch fell into the dash. Luckily I had the right sized Torx bit to remove the lower dash panel.

Ventilation is rubbish. Can't seem to get the vents to blow towards the driver.

NSF tyre wears very quickly on the outside edge. Known problem but needs specialist to rectify according to dealer.:confused:

Everything is set up for LHD i.e. Passenger has larger door bin, need to open passenger door to put fuel in, bonnet catch on passenger side.

Fuel gauge is best estimate. Fill it up when light comes on and I'm lucky if I get 60l in, but leave it sitting for a day and it will suddenly have 1/3 of a tank showing.

Drivers seat started 'baubling' after 3,000 miles, The Citroen showed no wear after 100k.

Side doors don't seem to catch very well when opening them on a hill, I lost one thumbnail already when it slid shut.

The company I work for has ~ 50 of these and the average life expectancy of a clutch is 50k.

Last but not least, the dealer is very poor e.g. not washed and oily handprints on the doorcards after service,but as it is a van I have to go to a commercial dealer and there aren't that many to choose from.

These are mostly my experiences but whenever I meet with other techs, they all have similar problems.

Good luck with yours though, hope it's better than most!
 
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Last but not least, the dealer is very poor e.g. not washed and oily handprints on the doorcards after service,but as it is a van I have to go to a commercial dealer and there aren't that many to choose from.

My local dealer never even got back to me with a quote for the van. I drove over there to see the sales guy and the office was closed (well within their opening hours). So I bought from someone else, however it took 5 or 6 attempts to get a quote that actually included everything I'd asked for. Twice they sent me quotes that literally didn't add up (the totals were wrong)! On the final bill when I collected it they charged me for a chrome grille I hadn't ordered, but didn't charge me for the tinted windows!

Rang the parts. dept at the local dealer with a query, said they would look it up - never called back. Went round there on Saturday morning and the parts dept was closed, the workshop guys said they'd decided to go home early.

But ... tried another dealership a bit further away, their parts dept was fine - looked up the new part nos, ordered the stuff for me, called me when ready, no problems.
 
weekso

Cor try the dealers in london and essex, I've had eight years of both., Nightmare!
 
Speak as I find - the whole process for me from order to delivery was excellent. I dealt with Commercial Motors in St Austell - Every time I asked for a quote on a vehicle, (I was dithering between a 150 sport and a pimped 120) I had a computerised priced print of the specification - I queried loads of stuff - generally made a nuisance of myself and took Fred's (the sales guy) advice on what was and was not good value options. Everything they said they would do was done. I had notification of the delivery date - correct to the day - notification of build and they even stayed open after hours to hand the bus over. At this moment in time I couldn't recommend them highly enough.

As far as the vehicle itself is concerned the only issue I thought I had was excessive underseal smeeching on the exhaust. This was dealt with very quickly (inside half an hour) ON A SUNDAY! using the Mercedes' call out facility (I was 300 miles from home) by a commercial fitter who was prompt, polite and I thought fair and thorough. He did not make me feel like I was wasting anyones time, assured me that the van was good to go - which it was. Top service.

The door/petrol flap thing is unusual but not a bind - and the only minor niggle for me to date is that my rear seats don't fold flat. That was my fault for not speccing the comfort option. I hope that I don't get the issues that have been mentioned but will report them if I do. I love the thing - can't drive it enough - my previous was a 140bhp swb Renault Trafic - that was virtually incident free (apart from discs and tyres) in 50,000 miles so it has a lot to live up to.
 
Speak as I find - the whole process for me from order to delivery was excellent. I dealt with Commercial Motors in St Austell -
I bought our Sprinter as a one off from commercial Motors of Exeter and again I have nothing but praise for this main dealer. The van is collected from here in Torquay, taken up to Exeter for servicing and then returned, all at no extra cost.

I definitely would NOT want it cleaned as I have visions of huge pressure washers\steam cleaners? Thanks but no thanks. :) :)

Regards
John
 
the only minor niggle for me to date is that my rear seats don't fold flat. That was my fault for not speccing the comfort option.

Pretty sure the mountings are the same, so you should be able to replace with comfort rear seats if it becomes a big issue? They are good, you can individually recline the backrests by about 30-40 degrees as well as folding either or both forward to the 'table' position. And of course flip the whole lot forward, or take out completely.

BTW when I removed the single (left hand 'easy entry') one from my Vito I was amazed how heavy it was, compared to the removeable rear seats in my Sharan (which I thought were bad enough!).
 
So the rear folding seats are pretty good then?? Those will be the ones that I have not got. The ones that will cost me £1500 to sort out. Cheers Bill;) Don't rub it in:(
 

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