written by ruddlittle on 08/12/2011
I Bought a pair of 111 vans in 2009 having been very happy with a 2001 Vito 110. The new van looks the part and drives more like a car but I should have suspected something when I paid the same amount for an equivalent van after 8 years....how do they do that?....by skimping on everything, that's how. There's no temperature gauge and no warning when the washers are getting empty. The dash display panel would make a mobile phone feel cheap. The comfort seat has less padding. The metal body is made of thinner sheet and dents really easily. The radio aerial is printed on the windscreen and a) is rubbish and b) breaks almost straight away. Mercedes dealer don't have access to proper aerials to attach to the body or din plates to upgrade the radios - unlike our local hifi place that keeps them in stock - "a lot of Vito owners buy them..." I had a slight accident when someone reversed into me and we at first thought it was just the bonnet...how wrong we were. The radiator, grille, headlamps, air filter etc. etc. are plastic mouldings held in place with lugs. One tiny knock and all the lugs break off meaning you have to change all the parts!! The other car bill £250. Vito £3000. All for the sake of saving a few quid at the design stage. Vito 2 leaked from new. After 14 months and many complaints Mercedes finally tracked down the problem to a faulty body weld in the roof. I asked for some 'goodwill gesture' and was told that Mercedes (despite having not welded the car properly) had no liability - my contract was with the dealer. Unlike the humble Citroen Berlingo there is no catch to hold back the sliding doors - as I found to my cost when nearly decapitated after parking on a hill and leaning in to pick my daughter out of the back when the door self released from the lug that is meant to hold the door open but not at more than approx 5 degrees. Again, a fiver's worth of catch would make this much safer. Come the snow, borrow a VW. Unlike the old VITO this new version is RWD and drives as well in the snow as my old Ford Capri. With little weight in the back it's lethal and that goes for wet roads and corners too. My top tip. Don't be fooled by the badge. This is an expensive cheap van, not a cheap expensive one. There are far better ways to spend your money.
written by ray smith71 on 25/09/2009
purchased a Mercedes Benz VITO van from new and had nothing but problems. within the first 6 months the drivers side door had fallen off and the drivers door stay had snapped, lots of electrical faults, poor driving performance, tyre ware, ignition faults oh and not to mention the rust on every metal panel.
fitted roof rack to van and was concerned at the offset that there were no fixings to mount it on only painted plastic caps. on raising this with mercedes dealership i was told that this was normal and all i had to do was drill them. four years later i have rust eating right through the roof and in every internal seem. merc not interested, sound familiar.
Written on: 11/12/2009
i know all about rust eating through the roof,i had an 5mm hole in the roof panel and corrosion on many other areas of the vito. took it to mercedes and they tried to wriggle out of it saying because i had fitted the roof rack the warranty was void. but i had them by the balls because i produced my receipt for the supply and fitting of a genuine mercedes roof rack. the colour fading was also a terrible problem, the van had gone from red to pink in less than 4 years. also they said mercedes paintwork warranty did not cover fading paint. basically in the end they agreed to put all the corrosion right, new roof new back doors and repaired several other areas of corrosion, and a full respray of the vehicle. but i had to pay 30% of the cost which was around a £1000.00. once work had started they tried to get another £450.00 out of me, but i told them i had no more money and they relented and did the job anyway. i have got the van back after 3 weeks initially they said they would have it done in 5 days. Quiet a few minor problems after the van was put back together after respray but all sorted now.
written by simon waumsley on 09/09/2008
No Spare tyre on a van????? Had the brackets fitted by dealer to accommodate but when I inspected the work they had used a grinder on the chassis to weld to (fair enough) but failed to put any waxoil/underseal on the job when finished, did this myself to avoid returning to the idiots at mercedes. Expensive model but I do like it and it goes like stink.
written by turtleshead on 25/07/2008
I own a 4 year old Mercedes Vito traveliner. It has reativly low mileage. (52,000 miles). It has never done any commercial carrying. It has also been well looked after. However, corrosion has been a problem from early days. The first was noticed after about nine months. There was substantial rust inside the sliding doors, also inside the rear light clusters. This was taken care of by Mercedes. Last year I had substantial rust on the underside of the bonnet. This again was taken care of under warranty. I now have rust coming from inside out on the sills and on the back door around the rear wiper blade. Mercedes no longer want to honour the warranty, even though the bodywork warranty is stated to be 12 years.
There are a few other things that should not happen on a vehicle of such low milage. i.e. Two shockers and a rear spring replaced. This not good as as the heaviest item ever carried was a new washing machine.
Anyone had similar warranty issues with Mercedes? I intend to persue the matter.
written by on 18/07/2008
I would not have another Mercedes Benz Vito unless they can rectify rusting. I could live with the other problems: 2 water leaks from loose hose clips, front tyres scrubbing- now fixed, seat splitting for second time, seat belt sticking, sliding door dropped, window cable snapped, failed turbo sensor, alarm problems-returned 7 times in first 2 months, enginner from Germany investigated problems twice, missing heater part (could not prove whose fault as I had sat nav fitted elsewhere), gears stiff, little sluggish when setting off from cold. I wished I had bought the VW Transporter, which was 2k cheaper and had a more powerful engine.
written by Mr bishi on 14/07/2007
Electric window buttons on my Mercedes-Benz VITO are worn out already. They won't replace the buttons because they say it's the tile adhesive that I use in my job that is wearing them down. My hands are clean the whole time! Water in the fuel filter, but they tell me petrol stations have too much water in their tanks. Not so. It only happens when it rains. Just today I had to drain the fuel filter 25 times in the space of 2 hours. It's fine when it's dry. They have already replaced the injectors, high pressure, pump, fuel filter and the water level censor in the filter too. The back wiper also has a mind of itself. Any time I'd turn off the traction control, put on the rear demister, lock the back doors or turn on the light in the back, the wiper would come on! I asked them to fix this and they just disconnected it. Experienced bad service from my dealer too; Frank Hogan in Limerick.
written by Dubster20 on 20/01/2007
Since owning this van as a company vehicle, it has been nothing but trouble and has been back to the dealer several times. The build quality is very poor, rust appears as soon as the paint is chipped and gets worse very quickly. The van has been returned to the dealer on 3 occasions for noisy front suspension the strut rubber mounts were replaced first, then a day to track and set up the suspension. The second time the struts and the mounts were replaced and another day off the road to set up suspension. Third time it went back to the dealer they found a missing exhaust bracket, set up and replaced all suspension again, and replaced worn track rod end.
The dealership still refuses to admit there is a problem with the vehicle suspension, it also wears tyres very quickly, and has since developed a crack about 10 inches long in the centre of the windscreen.
All this when it was under 20000 miles !!!
Very poor quality van, very poor after sales service.
written by Jeremy James on 13/01/2006
Poor after sales service upsets me the most. Things were much better when Mercedes Benz car dealers looked after light commercials but MB know best!
The front tyres scrub out on the edge due to the tyres folding under when turning on a full lock. You can almost feel the rubber rolling off, which is due to poor steering geometry design. I have improved mine by fitting springs from the people carrier which has lowered the suspension and increased the negative camber. The side loading door hinge has colapsed, I have had two new sets of number plate lamps, and now I have to address the rust problem.
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Powerclocks's Response to ruddlittle's Review
Written on: 20/03/2014
I fell for the name also, The three Pointed Star, Mercedes should Share the emblem with the Proctologists Guild.
I can say without a doubt my 1999 108cdi Vito Van was one of the Best to Drive vans I have ever Driven (I have to qualify that comment, that is when it was running) This is the Great Deceit. You think, Drives Great, Sucker!!!
So Far I have Replaced the Glow Plugs, Glow Plug Relay, Full Set of Injectors, Fuel Lines and Now the Computer, it continues to go into limp home mode, (who devised that scheme to keep you coming back to the workshop) all this after the previous owner replaced the motor at 140,000k, It has rust in the roof and 90% of mechanics politely say, "I don't not want to work on it, take it somewhere else!" Way to go Mercedes, product Recognition in the Industry!
Grand total so far $5500.00 in six months not including the motor swap done by the previous owner, I removed the Water Bottle to get at some hoses and when I applied just a little pressure to the Water Bottle it crumbled in my hand, Bio-Degradable Plastic? looks like Mercedes are on to something? made to last 10 years then crumble to dust!
p.s The computer had a faulty capacitor, it leaked and burned the case and motherboard, Mercedes takes no responsibility, just put out the hand for $3000.00 for a new one, I had a second hand one cloned to match mine (against their advise) and had them refit it, this is still being done as we speak so I cant add that cost yet to the tally, so it's $5500.00 + Motor (second hand $4500.00) $250.00 for a replacement computer + $300.00 for reprogramming + whatever Mercedes Charge me, probably another $1000.00 knowing how they operate.
I should have known after I saw no end of Mercedes Vito Vans on e-Bay selling for under $1000.00, all around 10 years - 14 years old and only around 240,000ks Is that pathetic or what? Even 2007 Vans can be snapped up for around $4500.00, Tax Losses Galore! Someone needs to get a Class Action Going against Mercedes, tell them to stop pouring mega millions into F1 and start making quality product again. Is it any wonder Kia, Hyundai and Renault are expanding their market at Mercedes expense. Mercedes 100 Years Gone! Learned Nothing. Once comedians get a hold on them and the Champagne set go somewhere else for their Glitz Fix it will be Sionara Mercedes and Good Riddance!
Jeff-Of-Vito's Response to ruddlittle's Review
Written on: 26/01/2015
You are so right !!