2014 Sprinter broken down... again!

Following our epic break-down in the centre of Bristol in July, when we had to have a new CDi ("main brain") fitted, we managed to grind to a halt yesterday at CCC Haltwhistle site- right in front of the barrier, blocking exit/entry!!! I eventually persuaded the auto gear-lever into neutral and rolled the thing out of the way.

Mercedes assistance arrived in less than 90 minutes, not bad considering where we were and he diagnosed a failed electronic fuel pump... the one which is fitted inside the fuel tank, from the top, the tank has to be drained and removed! Obviously this is not a side of the road fix. The very helpful site warden provided an extra mains hook-up lead, to add to my two, and we spent the night outside the loo block.

Rescue truck had us on board by 0930 this morning and we dropped the Stanton at Carlisle, for what they estimated to be an all day fix. Surprisingly they had a pump in stock and they've just confirmed it is ready to collect! Anticipating the worst we had arranged a hire car and suffered a nightmare journey South to Cheshire on the M6 (which was closed both ways near Leyland due to a lady threatening to jump off a bridge)... the M61/M60 was also an absolute swine and journey time was nearly four hours. I've got to go there... and back again early tomorrow.

Our warranty runs out in about five weeks, so I'm pondering what to do.

All my fuel injectors failed a few weeks out of warranty - rescued to Carlisle on 29th December Brrrrrr. Paid for by MB but dammed inconvenient as missed my Hogmanay.

The MB Specialist Fleet Sales Manager was at the NEC, a very nice chap, but I did mention that his vans weren't that good and that (where I live) the servicing is appalling.

Still a good van but now I can get the same habitation layout on Peugeot or Fiat, wouldn't buy MB again, unless the price come down a lot.

Hi Pete, sorry to hear of your woes and yes your confidence in the van will take a knock but it could now run for 100K miles without further  incident. Isolated components can fail at any time but  IMHO Mercedes have been  trading on past merits for a good few years now. 
         The Press are starting to come round to that way of thinking too judging by some reports I have read . It all started to go wrong early 90s with c and e class mercs that dissolved in the rain . Poor build quality and globalisation meaning manufacture  farmed out to plants all over the  world with some ropey build  such as Mexican built Ml class and south african C class. The competition have steadily upped their game where Mercedes have stagnated , arrogantly ignoring why customers bought Mercedes in the first place ie build quality and reliability.  Just look at some sprinters driving around with rust breaking out all over the bodywork not just the usual wheel arches etc , reminds you of 70's British Leyland! 
         I have driven 100's of thousands of miles in all models of Transits without a breakdown but admit they still rust. I am now on my 4th Peugeot  Boxer and only had trouble with the 2nd where starter failed on 2nd start after leaving dealership from new. I diagnosed the fault and the garage sent a mechanic with starter who changed it on my runway to avoid recovery.

We have also had excellent service from MB Assist (not so their dealers sadly) We had a 420GL and awoke one morning to find it very lop-sided. Called MB Assist (in Holland) and within an hour had a recovery truck arrive. 30 minutes later a new S class was delivered on loan. Turned out there was a faulty suspension valve which had been leaking and which local dealers had failed to spot at MOT a week before. Local dealers are awful, but I still love the cars! Currently driving an E230 AMg estate - lovely!! (dedicated Merc fan)

Slightly off topic I know but not what is expected from the 'Rolls Royce?' of motorhomes.  
Rich.

A friend in my bike club works in logistics for FedEx, the last time I talked to him he was moaning about the amount of downtime he gets from broken down unreliable Sprinter vans. So much so that his depot are now replacing them with the latest Transit.
Al.

bikeralw wrote:A friend in my bike club works in logistics for FedEx, the last time I talked to him he was moaning about the amount of downtime he gets from broken down unreliable Sprinter vans. So much so that his depot are now replacing them with the latest Transit.
Al.

Interesting- a bloke I know works for DHL and he too is less happy with his Sprinter than he was with his previous Tranny; he is asking for a Transit next time he changes. He does a delivery round covering Cumbria and is based at M/C Airport, so he's done a thousand miles a week before reaching his first drop-off (if that makes sense!).

I wonder why A-S do not build a van based on Ford? I would certainly be interested in a van conversion.

Pete Taylor wrote:

I wonder why A-S do not build a van based on Ford? I would certainly be interested in a van conversion.

Ford got very unreliable on chassis delivery, particularly if you wanted options like a passenger air bag and cab air conditioning - I speak from bitter experience!