2018 Forest River Forester

MDKMDK wrote:

klutchdust wrote:
Was said
" Don't fear the 3500 Sprinter chassis. You'll like the fuel economy, if nothing else. "

until you go in for repairs. Having owned and worked on vehicles that have the MB emblem on the front be prepared to pay top dollar AND search a little to get those repairs. The fuel savings will quickly be depleted once a MB mechanic gets under the hood, and parts are ridiculously costly.

A Ford V-10 can be worked on just about anywhere and costs are reasonable.

A Ford V10 mounted IN A PICKUP TRUCK can be worked on just about anywhere.
Put it in a 27 foot long, or longer, 10+ foot tall, 8+ foot wide Class A or C motorhome, and "just about anywhere" becomes a lot harder to find. I know because I owned a 27' Class A Sunstar and couldn't get it worked on by any Ford dealers or qualified service centers within 60 miles of where I live. Not even the local big truck shop could get me in, in a reasonable amount of time. Only truck stops were able to get me in and out quickly, assuming they had big truck repair shops attached.
Add the lousy fuel economy to the cost of driving the distance required for service, and the "cheaper parts" advantage gets whittled down pretty quickly, too. You might pay $40 for an oil and filter in the V10? At $2.50 a gallon for regular, you'd easily spend that much in gas, just finding and getting to a service center, if you only had to drive 100 miles round trip. That $40 oil change just doubled in price.
I've got 25,000 miles on my 3500 Sprinter and it's only had one oil/filter change. That's it.
Like I said, I've owned both, and there's no reason to fear the Sprinter. Merry Christmas.

25k and only one oil change? Good luck with that. My diesel had an oil analysis at 35k and it was recommended it be done every 6500. Now that’s a Duramax in my pickup. MB suggests that long intervals ?
There was a good post showing the cost of the diesel vs gas, you should read it .