Anyone owned or can give advice on the Mercedes V-class 220cdi?

A2Steve

A2OC Donor
Wales
First of all, the A2 is not being sold.

With another baby on the way soon we might start to struggle with the A4 Avant we currently have as a family car. Although the car itself is quite big, the cabin area isn't that much bigger than an A2.

I've been looking at the T4 multivan but the prices are very high for what you actually get. £5K+ for a rusty old van :)

This has got me looking for alternatives and I've stumbled across the Mercedes V-class.

Has anyone owned one, can give any advice or has anyone got a suggestions on something other than the T4 or V-class.

Budget is around £5k and it's the space we really need rather than the extra seats.

Thanks
 
Might be wrong here Steve but I think Sarge is an authority on these. Small world maybe.
 
Have you considered the VW Touran Steve? Always thought they looked competent; plenty of space and VAG quality.
 
Have you considered the VW Touran Steve? Always thought they looked competent; plenty of space and VAG quality.

The van size of the V-class really appeals to me but we'll see how it goes. As it is I'm going to have to remove the glovebox in the A4 just to get the legroom we need so my wife can sit in the front with one of the baby seats in the rear.
 
That would be great if he is.

Yes I've text him. Had to look at a picture to confirm it was the right car. Sarge had a lovely V class for years. Sold quite recently and he was a stalwart with the owners forum. He's your man.

Agree ref the A4 and interior space. Not great for a family. I'm loosely looking at Tourans for when I moth ball the A2 after the Mrs goes back to work but 5k doesn't buy a lot of car. They hold their money and cars with pretty high miles command strong money.

Likely to be our next motor though.
 
Hi Steve, Yes I had the best of the V Class with the Ambiente version. Mine was probably the best one in UK and I had it for over 10 years from only 2 years old.

I more or less ran the V Class forum with real information on there (http://www.benzworld.org/forums/v-class/) look for me as Sarge786 on there and you will see some threads.

These cars are extremely comfortable and very easy to drive and even park (even easier than the A2!), with mine being top of the range Auto, cruise electric everything etc..

I will advise you that these vehicles although the engine can do galactic mileage, suffer from common issues some of which are:

The Automatic gearbox can become troublesome if it wasn't looked after by previous owners.

They rust badly under the door trims, under the bottom of the doors. and wheel arches.

If it has air suspension then the compressor will fail at some point and rear of the car will not lift (only rear has air suspension) and it will bounce around on the bump stops. If this happens (and it will) then its not driveable at this point. You will either need to replace compressor (or one may other components of it) to get it going. I bought some special valves (similar to tyre valves) and fixed them onto the sir lines then pumped air into them for a permanent height level fix to bypass the compressor. Others changed out the rear suspension to standard springs.

The engine suffers eventually makes a 'chuffing' sound from a leak where injectors fit into head (seals), this will cause what is referred to as the black death where there is a build up of tar like substance covering the head.
To fix this you have to remove the injectors and clean up and replace seals. A lot of people not having the correct tools damage the head, injectors or both.

If you have the injector seals done and no rust (fat chance) or prepared to de-rust and repaint the vehicle then they can be a very hard working workhorse these cars.


This was mine:


DSC01736.JPGDSC01786 - no plate.JPGDSC01791 - no plate.JPGDSC01792 - no Plate.JPGDSC01799.JPGDSC01804.JPG
 
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Thanks for that Sarge.

My main concern with one is rust. On inspection will rust issues be relatively evident I.e on the surface and therefore visible or are there hidden structural points that are susceptible to rust.

Also, do they all come with rear facing seats in the second row. This really appeals to me and would be great if all of the models had this.

Yours did look immaculate Sarge. Shame it's already been sold :)
 
Have you considered the VW Touran Steve? Always thought they looked competent; plenty of space and VAG quality.

I'd second this - our family Touran has been nothing short of outstanding for four yrs now, purchased s/hand with 90k (2.0tdi 140), now on 140k. It is without a shadow of a doubt the most reliable, versatile car I've owned, and with a Stealth remap fairly quick too :) Huge in the back, seats come out easy, kids love it (mainly for the ceiling mounted DVD player), loads of storage, and it only cost £6,700 for a five yr old car. And it's actually quite compact overall so it's easy to park...

It will be replaced with another one eventually
 
I'd second this - our family Touran has been nothing short of outstanding for four yrs now, purchased s/hand with 90k (2.0tdi 140), now on 140k. It is without a shadow of a doubt the most reliable, versatile car I've owned, and with a Stealth remap fairly quick too :) Huge in the back, seats come out easy, kids love it (mainly for the ceiling mounted DVD player), loads of storage, and it only cost £6,700 for a five yr old car. And it's actually quite compact overall so it's easy to park...

It will be replaced with another one eventually

The issue we have with cars like the Touran is that both our kids will be using rear facing seats which take up a LOT more rear seat room than conventional ones. Combine this with the fact I'm 6ft 3 and legroom quickly gets very tight even with something as big as a Touran. I do very much like the V-class but will do more research before deciding.

Thanks for everyones input so far.
 
Thanks for that Sarge.

My main concern with one is rust. On inspection will rust issues be relatively evident I.e on the surface and therefore visible or are there hidden structural points that are susceptible to rust.

Also, do they all come with rear facing seats in the second row. This really appeals to me and would be great if all of the models had this.

Yours did look immaculate Sarge. Shame it's already been sold :)


Steve, to add, if you get one earlier than a 2002 model the seats are different, the earlier ones don't look as good as well as are very much heavier than the later ones, taking them in/out car will give you a workout, also the base fittings are different therefore make sure they are the same (earlier ball, and later hook type fittings).

All the V class will have ability to turn seats to make rear facing and also remove one to make a it even roomier 6 seater. Mine also had the fold away table, and the fridge its a brilliant vehicle EXCEPT for the previously mentioned problems.

The rust IS a real problem, mine was an exception but even the stone chips start rusting them quickly.

These bodies are not galvanised and therefore rust is it's arch enemy.

There is a company on eBay solely dealing with Vito/V Class and they know about the rust therefore offer a complete respray to protect it.

Mine only had one small rust area starting to come up on the drivers door under the strip and after seeing many with the said rust, at one point I was considering getting all brand new panels and getting them galvanised then fitting and painting it up as then it'd be a keeper for a long time.

The rust will be evident along the outer skin of the panels mainly on the bottom of the door edges by running your fingers along them you should be able to feel the bumps and also under the door rub strips (which are slotted in and held on with one screw at ends) remove them to check underneath for bubbling rust. The bonnet will show signs as well from rust as susceptible to stone chipping. The wheel arches again may show this. Like I said the auto box can become troublesome if not looked after and if it does will kick hard engaging into first gear then stay in first in limp mode. Other silly things can cause issues like all cars but these are the main ones.

Usually there are some low mileage and better examples of them around used/owned by disabled people, these are probably your best bet, but will likely to rust eventually but if you get a clean model then you can workout how to prevent it. I paid nearly £20k for mine!

If you want my honest opinion, don't buy a V Class unless you get it for a steal and buy one of the 2003 models (they changed shape 2004) and go for a Ambiente. It IS a very big car, (after all its Van derived) it will not lack room and its very handy in all uses, unfortunately it is subject to dings in supermarket car parks as it's wide and people are inconsiderate.
 
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Thank you for that Sarge, I very much respect your opinion. The fact that you are/were clearly a big fan of the V-class yet do not recommend buying one has put me off. (combines with the air bag suspension).

Back to the drawing board and the quest for economy space.
 
Hi Steve, Yes I had the best of the V Class with the Ambiente version. Mine was probably the best one in UK and I had it for over 10 years from only 2 years old.

I more or less ran the V Class forum with real information on there (http://www.benzworld.org/forums/v-class/) look for me as Sarge786 on there and you will see some threads.

These cars are extremely comfortable and very easy to drive and even park (even easier than the A2!), with mine being top of the range Auto, cruise electric everything etc..

I will advise you that these vehicles although the engine can do galactic mileage, suffer from common issues some of which are:

The Automatic gearbox can become troublesome if it wasn't looked after by previous owners.

They rust badly under the door trims, under the bottom of the doors. and wheel arches.

If it has air suspension then the compressor will fail at some point and rear of the car will not lift (only rear has air suspension) and it will bounce around on the bump stops. If this happens (and it will) then its not driveable at this point. You will either need to replace compressor (or one may other components of it) to get it going. I bought some special valves (similar to tyre valves) and fixed them onto the sir lines then pumped air into them for a permanent height level fix to bypass the compressor. Others changed out the rear suspension to standard springs.

The engine suffers eventually makes a 'chuffing' sound from a leak where injectors fit into head (seals), this will cause what is referred to as the black death where there is a build up of tar like substance covering the head.
To fix this you have to remove the injectors and clean up and replace seals. A lot of people not having the correct tools damage the head, injectors or both.

If you have the injector seals done and no rust (fat chance) or prepared to de-rust and repaint the vehicle then they can be a very hard working workhorse these cars.


This was mine:


View attachment 23540View attachment 23541View attachment 23542View attachment 23543View attachment 23544View attachment 23545

Sarge on a side note, did you buy that V Class with all the Pioneer AV kit and that Nokia phone etc?

It looks like one of my installs from back in the day. Did it also have a large power invertor in it?
 
Hi Buddy, yes is was fitted with the pioneer pop out head unit, Rear fold out Pioneer screen, analogue tv reception, 6 disc DVD player, voice control, wireless headphones, front and rear Nokia car phones. If you did the install I want my money back :)

Yes is had a dodgy power inverter (about 600w if I recall) under the DVD player under the drivers seat, which I fixed :)


I bought it from an executive chauffeuring company somewhere around Richmond London.



Sarge

DSC01730.JPG
 
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Yep that sounds like it the power invertor was a pain, those early ones always were. It was for the guy who owned bathstore.com if I remember rightly and he had a printer hooked up in it and all sorts. It was always chauffeur driven.

It also cost a small fortune iirc

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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Well I got it from an actual VIP chauffeuring company who had a short time and decided to go with a fleet of S Classes instead so it was very low mileage and in the ten years or so I had it, I only did 30k on it!

It didn't have any printer installed nor any fitting or wirings evident, perhaps it was a different V Class?

I might even get back all the kit fitted in it as new owner just can't work it all out to use it :)



Sarge
 
Have gone for a Mazda5 2.0 Sport (petrol). Still has sliding doors and bags of space for us but shouldn't rust as much as the V-class.

It's the first time I've bought outside of the VAG range for about 6 years and it felt like driving a water bed compared to the A4 Avant but there's not much point in owning a car you can't fit into :)
 
Happy new motor Steve. I'd no idea what a Mazda 5 was so had to look it up. Good reviews for an MPV. Sliding doors a great feature too.
 
Yes it's a break away from the zafira/scenic norm which is good, Plus we didn't fit in them anyway . I've always liked that most people haven't a clue what the A2 is and the Mazda5 is along similar lines.

Still glad I'll be driving the A2 every day though.
 
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