Motorhomes on Mercedes Chassis

I only have 1 complaint and it's a huge one: price. Or specifically what you get in terms of size and ammenities for the buck. A small Class C offers much more bang for the buck. And don't think the MPG of the Mercedes is enough to offset the price; not even close.

OP...When discussing this topic with Sprinter owners, a few subjects seem to come up quite often; Fuel mileage, storage capacity and towing capacity. Fuel mileage seems to always be a "positive". Cargo capacity can be tight and towing is all about weight. By that I mean, the capacity to tow can be greatly influenced by GCWR as opposed to hitch specs.
Familiarize yourself with these as it relates to your travel expectations and you should be quite comfortable with your decision.

Gary

I've had a 2014 Pleasure Way on a Mercedes Chassis and have experienced only one problem and it was 2 wheel sensors that failed and both were replaced by Mercedes for free. I get 18 mpg as I don't push the speed limit. I drive 62 and use cruise control. I've had the unit over the Rocky Mtns. twice and never had a problem with power but had to use lower gears for downhill speed control.I have heard stories where some Mercedes Dealers really take advantage of owners with overcharging for repairs. MB has changed its.statement about using bio-fuel as it no longer voids your warranty.My insurance covers all glass damage and have had no problem with alignment.

I had a sprinter, the RV was good, Mercedes diesel with their “4-metic” tranny. Depends on where you go for maintenance, of course a Mercedes dealer is very expensive, as all dealer shops. One problem, not all Mercedes dealers would handle them, so finding warranty shop was difficult. The other problem, I thought it could have used a larger fuel tank, or an auxiliary tank. Mercedes would void your warranty if you did anything but fill the tank. The reason I got rid of it was the Conner bed. Nothing to do with the chassis but I thought I would mention it.

A member of our local Winnie club has a Minnie Winnie, V10 and a slide out the back plus the side. We also have about 5 MB's in our club and for my money I like the Minnie much better. Nicer floor plan and more convenient to use. Nearly all the Views, Vias, etc have had issues when brand new, some bad slides, bad locks, engine warnings and more. I can't speak from my own experience, I drive a class A but I've had about 5 others before this, all on Ford chassis and none have been in a shop for anything. I'll gladly pay more for gas and not have the maintenance and repair costs.

2014 with 30,000 great miles. Maintained speed on interstate mountain climbs passing diesel pushers easily. Not sure why someone else paid so much for maintenance. Replaced fuel filter easily myself for about fifty bucks. New windshield was $250. And front end alignment was $125.00 in Arizona. Never less than 14 mpg and have seen as high as 18 on a tank.

Sprinter maintenance costs are high. Serious repairs are astronomically expensive. Use the "wrong" fuel and you void the warranty.

I had a diesel class C. I'd never go back.

Gonzo42 wrote:
Our first RV, the Winnie View. Very reliable, gets 15 MPG @65 MPH.....

Gonzo42, not intending to talk you down, but I could say without stretching the truth that our 2007 Phoenix Cruiser built on a 2007 E350 chassis with V10 engine gets 12.5 MPG @65 MPH (when not towing) but such a declaration doesn't reflect a practical figure. Our "trip average" calculation is 10.5 MPG.

The engine, trans, and the rest of the chassis have been 100% trouble free.
Maintenance for us in 12+ years are just do-it-myself oil and various filter changes. In year 2020 with 40,000 miles on the chassis, I am planning on our first set of replacement tires, a brake system flush, trans fluid & filter change,and other preventative maintenance. I have the means of doing it all myself so it will all be only cost of material.

Back when our rig was new, I did initially invest in heavy duty front and rear stabilizer bars, a rear trac bar, a heavy duty steering stabilizer, and RV shocks. Last year I replaced the Koni-RV shocks (the old type red ones) with heavy duty Bilsteins. So I've had my up-front investment in getting the rig to handle to our liking, and a second set of fresh shocks more recently.

Our 2007 Ford E350 chassis with V10 engine has been the right economic choice for us. I don't see any reason to feel any different about the Chevy 3500 and 4500 chassis. But the MB Sprinter scares me. The improvement in fuel economy seems to be over-shadowed by the extensive cost of maintenance, sensitivities, and MB repair facilities.

we took our View from Tx to Alaska and back two summers ago.
Our television screen did not survive several hundred miles of gravel road, but nothing else failed.
Reliably got 15-16 mpg; we managed 400 miles on one fill-up on one lonely Alaska stretch.
Power, even in the mountains, was never a problem.
The small engine has little braking effect downhill though.
Ours is the model with a bed slide at the rear. The problem there is the slide prevents mounting bicycles on the rear hitch.
Service you can't do yourself involves finding a Mercedes or Freightliner dealer - and not all of those service Sprinters.
A delight to drive and park, but the View has less than half the living and storage space of our small fifth wheel.

I have a 2018 PleasureWay built on a Mercedes chassis which I bought new.. This is my first diesel powered rv ever. I don't want to be too wordy so I'll be brief. Never again,it was a serious mistake which I find is very costly like $500 front end alignments, $235 for a fuel filter, $1,000 for a replacement windshield, etc, etc. The worst part is when I had a check engine light come on with only having 1,500 miles while I was in Utah somewhere and I live in California, I called 3 Mercedes dealers for service and two told me they don't work on Sprinters and the third said they would service it but gave me an appointment for 3 weeks later in the month. Weeks of worry later I arrived home to find that I received a recall letter from Mercedes which addressed the check engine light issue. Another annoyance is the extremely soft and vague brake pedal. One feels like the pedal will touch the floorboard before the vehicle will stop. I'm told "they're all like that, you'll get used to it". As to the supposed "plenty of power" statements, all I can say is you must try it and then decide. This Mercedes runs out of breathe long before it reaches the top of the hill and your only salvation is to plan way ahead and downshift at the right times to even keep up with traffic. My previous rv had a Ford v10 engine and that vehicle could literally run circles around the Mercedes.My suggestion is don't take my word for it, take one out for a test drive and then decide for yourself.