Vito any good?

[luke2152]

Hello im new here. Looking to buy a van and i quite fancy a vito. Looking to spend about £4K. So in all likelihood an 06ish one with medium milage. Needs to be able to fit my bike and tools in the back and tow my fun car to trackdays. But mostly it will just be my everyday 'car'. Have heard early ones rot but later ones are galvanised. Any idea when they started doing that? I heard the 111 does quite well with a remap as has same engine as 115 so thats probably the one I'd look at. I reckon the rwd could be fun on wet roundabouts too. Are there any common mechanical faults and/or expensive service items i need to be aware of? Is the clutch fairly straight forward to change (in the event that a remap on a higer milage one kills the clutch). Any advice graciously accepted!

 

[BIG UN]

Right where do I start? If you want something for your bikes go for LWB the best compromise imho, the galvanising started from 06, if you find one that's been well serviced that will help but drop links & tracking are common but be careful for BLACK DEATH.. the RWD on roundabouts thing doesn't happen as traction control cuts in 1st.. the clutch should be fine in a 111, which is a good van by the way. Hope that helps

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[luke2152]

Will a swb not fit a bike? I thought they were still fairly large (never looked at one up close). Just prefer smaller when its doing everyday car duty.

 

[BIG UN]

Depends whether you only want a van or a DPV? If only a van then yes more than likely, DPV I doubt in SWB unless u take the seats out

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[luke2152]

Dpv is the one with side doors? I wont be needing back seats. Are there 2 seats up front or 3?

 

[BIG UN]

Depends

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[BTB 500]

Dpv is the one with side doors? I wont be needing back seats. Are there 2 seats up front or 3?

DPV (dual purpose vehicle) is the 'Dualiner' version with windows in the side doors and a second row of seats. Normal car speed limits apply, which is not the case with a van.

2 or 3 front seats, depending on what was ordered when new.

2006 will be galvanised - check for 12 year bodywork warranty stuff in with the handbook (the earlier ones don't have this). The front wings are plastic anyway (to to the 2010 facelift).

There are 3 Vito sizes: Compact, Long and Extra Long. The first two have the same wheelbase, so only the Extra Long is actually LWB. But a lot of Longs are (wrongly) advertised as LWB.

The Compact doesn't have room for an under-slung spare wheel carrier behind the back axle so you need to have the spare mounted inside somewhere. The Long generally makes most sense - it's not an awful lot bigger. The Extra Long looks odd but is big!

We run a Long as everyday transport for us & dogs & kids ... goes under height barriers and into multi-stories, which is a plus. Parktronic (parking sensors) does help in car parks though.

 

[luke2152]

Ok thanks for the advice. Some strange terminology there so good to know what it means.

 

[wu56Shoozz]

...And he forgot to say " Yes they are good"

 

[wu56Shoozz]

Here's a thread that may help also :

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general-discussion/221360-talk-me-about-vitos.html

 

[BIG UN]

They are brilliant IMHO, I won't be swapping mine any time soon as I have a bit too much in it!! Lol

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[StMarks]

Good trackday transpotation tool IMHO Luke.
As pointed out, ASR reduces the drifting round roundabouts, but they're still not bad as an everyday runabout.
When trying to identify the later galvanised versions against an older late registered pre-galvanised one.; They changed the layout of the Dash clocks (around?) the same time. The older ones seem to have one large rev gauge central, where the later ones (like mine) have two separate main dials, with the speedo & revs divided by the orange rectangular vertical LCD screen.
What's the funday wheels please Luke.?

 

[luke2152]

Regarding black death is it easy to see (pull plastic covers off engine without tools?) If im viewing one. Are the injectors accessable if they need to be pulled out or are some under the bulkhead

 

[luke2152]

Stmarks - bike is bandit 1200 turbo project. Not decided if it will be road bike or pure track toy but either way it will be getting on track!

 

[StMarks]

Regarding black death is it easy to see (pull plastic covers off engine without tools?) If im viewing one. Are the injectors accessable if they need to be pulled out or are some under the bulkhead

Removing the plastic engine cover when viewing a van for sale is not really viable IMHO. It is fairly straightforward (albeit not much clearance), but not a 10 min job. The leaking injectors can usually be heard "chuffing", and the leaked diesel is very apparent in the engine bay with the motor running.
The term "Black Death" sounds bad, but whilst it is a very annoying fault it is by no means an engine damaging issue.

I guess I must have mistaken your OP, and felt that you had a trackday car.?

 

[luke2152]

Do have a gbs zero kit car which i will sometimes tow to trackdays although its road going as well. 225bhp with 620kg makes for lots of fun.

 

[StMarks]

Do have a gbs zero kit car which i will sometimes tow to trackdays although its road going as well. 225bhp with 620kg makes for lots of fun.

WOW, I just had to google it to know what one was. Very nice mate, very nice indeed. Did you build it yourself.?

Fwiw a friend of mine was given an original Ford Cosworth engine in the mid 80's, and so he brought a Caterham Kit & made himself a Seven.

Wonder what sort of laptimes can you get in a GBS Zero round Cadwell.?

 

[luke2152]

Yep built it myself. Used an mx5 as the main donor car for most the major components and turbo off a wrx.

 

[KoFidee]

My R6 fits in the back of my
compact sport (swb)
or 3 Marins easily!

 

[rf065]

Don't believe the galvanising myth, plenty of recent MB's which were fully galvanised still rust, mine included. I've seen rusty MB's from 2008 to 2012 models, all galvanised with rust patches usually at the bottom of the doors or around wheel arches.

Worst examples of the lot are sprinters, vianos etc. which can rust on almost every panel. Mercedes paint prep in the factory must be abysmal on some examples.

Russ