Dumped the Sprinter for a NV 3500 high roof cargo

[RICK]

Just picked up my 2014 , 3500 sv to replace my 2008 sprinter with 38,000 miles.

 

Yes you heard that right, 38,000 miles barely broken in. Mainly due to dealer incompetency and outright lies. But that's a whole other story that will entertain you and frighten you anytime you go to a dealer for service.

 

My van is too valuable to be sidelined and I feel much more confident with my new NV.

 

Keep an eye out for me as I cruise along in Los Angeles, along with this forum to learn more about my new van.

 

Looking forward to sharing my story and knowledge with you.

 

Rick.

Edited January 1, 2015 by RICK

[Chris_CommercialManager]

your service experience was so bad it drove you to sell a sprinter with only 38k??!!!!!   Do I even want to ask?  

[RICK]

Sprinter dealer had the truck for 5 hours , but only looked at it for about 45 minutes. My concern was a possible transmission issue as I had an issue 3 weeks prior and needed to be towed out of a driveway ramp.

 

Transmission guy says it needs a torque converter, yet never bothered to even check the oil level in the trans. I discovered this that night when I reviewed my dash cam video that the hood was never opened. 2 days later I take it to a trans shop and its almost 2 quarts low on atf. Spoke to service manager and they believed me as I have the video. Mechanic tells the manager he did check it. My video says no as it's time stamped second by second. Tried calling another dealer and they want to keep it for 2 days to look at it. 2 other mercedes dealers dont want to mess with it.

 

Dealer wanted 2500.00 for a torque converter and will not stand behind the repair if that doesn't fix it. There are no check engine lights or codes in the computer. The only issue im having is there is no power when I park on a slope and try revving the engine. The engine won't rev past 1000 rpm. Yet I can climb hills and tow my 4000# trailer if im already moving. Engine has 75% load when im stopped at a light in drive, yet 25% load if in park or neutral.

 

Between the lack of dealers and outright thieves and lies, I decided it was time to get something new and being the end of year, my opportunity for a business expense write off was there with just 1 day remaining to act.

 

I will get it repaired once I have my new nissan fully loaded for work.

 

Between the glow plugs that were replaced 1 at a time, the wrong clamps used on my fuel filter and the multiple 30 mile trips each way to the closest dealer. It was time to find a better option. Even the independent mercedes dealers are a hassle to deal with. They either dont do sprinters as they can't lift or fit them in their shops, or they male you drop them off and wait 2 days for service. Oil changes I do myself, but 14 quarts of sythetic oil, oil and fuel filters are a large expense. 6 tires and brakes are another large expense. And honestly 12 mpg is no big savings for all the expenses and hassles of dealing with a vehicle that no one wants to fix in a reasonable time.

 

Had the nissan been around 6 years ago, I would have purchased that back then over the sprinter. I needed the high roof, not the diesel or all the headaches that come with it.

 

Now if we can make this forum come alive like the sprinter forum has, it will be good for all of us.

 

I will be contacting Dodge about my experiance with their dealership and will share the footage if they need to verify my findings.

 

Rick.

Edited January 2, 2015 by RICK

[andy_george]

Wow, what headaches. Thanks for sharing! Welcome!!

[NoEffinMini4Me]

Hi Rick,

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new Van. I am up to 21K now on a 2013 with no issues that left me stranded.

To have a Sprinter as a work vehicle and receive that level of maintenance is not good. Hope your new van treats you better.

All the sprinters here in michigan are rusted after just a few years.

I think they became popular because they were the only vehicle that size with a  diesel engine.

[RICK]

You're correct. When I bought my sprinter, there was nothing on the market with a high roof. I knew thr diesel was going to be a waste of money as my milage would never pay off, but I didn't expectit to be so troublesome.

 

In 35 years of driving, I've never been to the dealer this many times with all my other cars and trucks combined. Not to mention, the proximity to my home. Its not like I live in the country, I live in los angeles with Mercedes in literally every other driveway. There's an independent Mercedes shop 1/2 mile away that's hugh and very busy highly recommended, they don't work on them even though they have the ceiling height and lifts.

 

Very frustrating and the dash cam just proved what others never could.

 

Rick.

[radin2son]

Although this blog, Vitafamiliae, was posted in May, 2012 and compares their new NV passenger vs their Sprinter, it still has relevance if considering a NV no matter how it is configured.

 

To get to this blog, you will have to search for Nissan NV passenger van blogs. It is a good read, particularly for those with large families. Click on the author's link to get to why they dumped the "Beast."

 

I tried posting a direct link but it will bring you up to date on baby Finn and the center bin. You will just have to read the blog to get this...

Edited January 2, 2015 by radin2son

[beesigner]

Sprinter dealer had the truck for 5 hours , but only looked at it for about 45 minutes. My concern was a possible transmission issue as I had an issue 3 weeks prior and needed to be towed out of a driveway ramp.

 

Transmission guy says it needs a torque converter, yet never bothered to even check the oil level in the trans. I discovered this that night when I reviewed my dash cam video that the hood was never opened. 2 days later I take it to a trans shop and its almost 2 quarts low on atf. Spoke to service manager and they believed me as I have the video. Mechanic tells the manager he did check it. My video says no as it's time stamped second by second. Tried calling another dealer and they want to keep it for 2 days to look at it. 2 other mercedes dealers dont want to mess with it.

 

Dealer wanted 2500.00 for a torque converter and will not stand behind the repair if that doesn't fix it. There are no check engine lights or codes in the computer. The only issue im having is there is no power when I park on a slope and try revving the engine. The engine won't rev past 1000 rpm. Yet I can climb hills and tow my 4000# trailer if im already moving. Engine has 75% load when im stopped at a light in drive, yet 25% load if in park or neutral.

 

Between the lack of dealers and outright thieves and lies, I decided it was time to get something new and being the end of year, my opportunity for a business expense write off was there with just 1 day remaining to act.

 

I will get it repaired once I have my new nissan fully loaded for work.

 

Between the glow plugs that were replaced 1 at a time, the wrong clamps used on my fuel filter and the multiple 30 mile trips each way to the closest dealer. It was time to find a better option. Even the independent mercedes dealers are a hassle to deal with. They either dont do sprinters as they can't lift or fit them in their shops, or they male you drop them off and wait 2 days for service. Oil changes I do myself, but 14 quarts of sythetic oil, oil and fuel filters are a large expense. 6 tires and brakes are another large expense. And honestly 12 mpg is no big savings for all the expenses and hassles of dealing with a vehicle that no one wants to fix in a reasonable time.

 

Had the nissan been around 6 years ago, I would have purchased that back then over the sprinter. I needed the high roof, not the diesel or all the headaches that come with it.

 

Now if we can make this forum come alive like the sprinter forum has, it will be good for all of us.

 

I will be contacting Dodge about my experiance with their dealership and will share the footage if they need to verify my findings.

 

Rick.

Hi Rick,

Congrats on the new NV and thanks for the insight on your Sprinter experience.

I am also a brand new NV owner. Bought my 2014 NV Passenger NV3500 HD 3500 V6 SV Van yesterday at a year closing event . Did a lot of research on Sprinter and the new Ford Transit but the sprinter frightened me after reading lots of the issues and very costly experiences others had. I really wanted a new Ford Transit but they are still hard to find in the configuration I wanted, plus the diesel is a 9K upgrade and Ford does not have any offers to make that purchase affordable! When I saw the NV, that I had already considered over the last 3 years, for almost 10 K down because the dealer needed to get it of the lot, I couldn't say NO.

 

Now its time to work on getting it converted to a VW like "weekender" van. We will use it partially for business, toy hauler and family trips to the coas. In the long run looking into something between - Roadmaster NV6 - Sportsmobile NV and Euorvan Pop Up Camper. 

 

Best from NOLA.