New Member with 2010 Vito 111 LWB

[Rowsley]

Hi i took delivery of my new Vito Traveliner 2 months ago, its been a rocky start with the vehicle, it was delivered from the factory with an out of alignment propshaft (fixed) then both sliding doors were out of alignment and the paint started to rub off the bottom doors (into the paint shop with 400 miles on the clock but hey the dealer realigned, repainted and fixed)

The gear box is causing me massive problems though and the dealer after various "tinkering" has said "its the best you are going to get out of a vito gearbox"

The problem lies with the gearchange "snatching" from 1st to 2nd and "clunking" from 2nd to 3rd all in all a very ropey gearbox (before the Vito I had a VW T5 transporter so i'm used to vans and know that they are commercial vehicles and are nothing like cars). The problem seems worse from cold and when pulling off from traffic lights or joining a motorway i.e. getting the revs up .... can't put my finger on it ... it seems that the clutch release bearing is slower to react when the revs are high

I was wondering if this is common with the Vito? I mean whilst mine was in for the other repairs i did have the dealers demo Vito and I must say their gearbox was better than mine, it wasn't magnificent

I was just wondering what other Vito drivers experiences of the gearbox is

Cheers

Gary

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I've had a couple of 639 Vitos and 1st to 2nd gear was stiff, to say the least.
My friend works for Mercedes Commercial and said that it is nothing to worry about. In fact, it's probably why the gearboxes last so long- being made from Granite

 

[BTB 500]

No problems with my gearbox ... but then it's the 5-speed auto

 

[Rowsley]

I know what you mean BTB, i wish I bought the 5 speed auto now .. i was wondering when the guy from Mercedes Benz said go for the 115 with autobox its the best combination ... trouble is budget wouldnt allow am i kicking myself now

 

[BTB 500]

Nah ... the 3.0 V6 with auto gearbox is the best combination

(if you can afford the fuel consumption)

 

[CRASH67]

gota say 120 with auto good combo my Dad is runniing one with 250 bhp very spritley lol
and have just seen his new 122

 

[rizzer]

How did he get it to 250bhp. Has he had any problems with it since the power increase. Interested to know as would like to increase power on my 120. Will he be upping the power again on his new 122, would be interesting to know if he could achieve the same power increase. Thaanks.

 

[gazzafira]

I have had my 05 111cdi for about 3 weeks, it has done 55,000 miles and the gearbox is difficult between 1st & 2nd. All other gear changes are very positive. I have found it is better if you are slow and deliberate between the first two gears, if I try to rush it it gets a bit clunky. Taking comfort from earlier reply that usually the gearboxes are robust enough to handle the problem.

 

[CRASH67]

i think it was chipped but done by a specialist ie a brabus or AMG id imagin as its company owned plus in warranty.
gazza be weary of that issue rebuilds on vito gearboxes are rare but have been done some times it can be as simple as a cable adjustment just keep tabs on it

 

[Rowsley]

Just a quick update on my vito guys, Mercedes have been quite good on my Vito and they have agreed to swap it for a brand new "facelift" Vito 113 with an Autobox

I have to pay an extra £900.00 but considering i have used the old one and the auto option is £1,200 I think its a more than reasonable deal

Got to wait till early January for it though as new shapes have not started filtering through the dealers yet, I will post some photos when i get delivery

I notice on the new one, Mercedes have gone back to metal wings instead of plastic ones, other than the lights at the front, it does look pretty much the same

 

[trapperjohn]

Sounds like a very good deal. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[BTB 500]

An excellent result!

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Just a quick update on my vito guys, Mercedes have been quite good on my Vito and they have agreed to swap it for a brand new "facelift" Vito 113 with an Autobox

I have to pay an extra £900.00 but considering i have used the old one and the auto option is £1,200 I think its a more than reasonable deal

Got to wait till early January for it though as new shapes have not started filtering through the dealers yet, I will post some photos when i get delivery

I notice on the new one, Mercedes have gone back to metal wings instead of plastic ones, other than the lights at the front, it does look pretty much the same

Is it the front wheel or rear wheel drive?

 

[BTB 500]

All UK Vitos since 2003 (639 model) are RWD.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Some of the new ones are front wheel drive, so I am told by a friend who is a mercedes commercial mechanic

 

[BTB 500]

I believe there's an electric version in the pipeline which may be FWD, but I'm 99% sure all the normal ones are still going to be RWD here (you can get 4WD, but only in LHD)

 

[CRASH67]

ive never seen a FWD Vito and work for a Dealer as said the has been a E-cell version in devlopment in the pre and post 09 facelift these maybe fwd

 

[CRASH67]

http://www.carsession.com/car-news/2011-mercedes-vito-e-cell.html

confirms the E-cell is FWD

 

[BTB 500]

Withthe exception of a few suspension components adopted from the Vito 4x4,the front-wheel drive system was specially developed for the Vito E-CELL.

That would seem to confim there is no existing FWD version of the 639, too.

 

[Rowsley]

Hi Sweetpea, the only new Vito that's front wheel drive is the new E-Cell van (the electric one) the rest are rear wheel drive as before

I saw one today at one of my converter customers, looks nice in Black, I will try to upload a photo