Mercedes Vito advice

[Guest greenvanman]

Fellow shiters, I've got the chance of a bit of surfer dude van action in the shape of a cheap Vito. It's a 2.5 diesel, non-turbo, drives well, just had new driveshafts and has T&T but needs some TLC - it's generally tatty inside, the heater is bust, exhaust has fallen off, trim smashed etc. So would I be:a) spectacularly unwise to pursue thisb) an idiot to pass it up? c) somewhere inbetweenYour comments please!EDIT: I've just been looking at the Parkers Guide and it appears that there is no 2.5 version. The seller is a mate and it does not surprise me that he doesn't know the engine size of his own van, however inept that may appear

[pogweasel]

If it's cheap, grab it.

[hotford00]

These are pretty good tugs , as long as it starts well from cold, runs well when hot and doesn't make unwelcome noise when driven and the price is right get in there. There even fairly comfortable and capable of lots of miles

[Volksy]

All good with these from what i've heard, I had a couple of them on rental recently, and my only complaint was the manual gearbox coupled with a foot operated parking brake. A couple of mates have had them and highly recommend them.

[Torsten2001]

We have Viano at work and we have had the Vito, THESE ARE THE MOST HOPELESS PIECES OF CRAP, Merc dealers agree! We have switched where we can to VW's because they are just so much better built. Even new they break down in hilariously new ways, all of them, the only reason we have Vianos is that US R'n'B people insist on them. Even cheap I'd avoid like the plague. That's my advice!Hey, what do I know, I love Ladas!

[Mr Lobster]

Generally they are pretty good. We have a few Vito 9 seaters at work and they are generally ok. The stuff that goes wrong is generally random electrical faults and trim breaking / falling off. That and the mirrors are crap and shake wildly at speed. The foot operated handbrake can get to be a bit of a pain on hill starts though.But if its cheap enough and mechanically sound then it should be ok. Have to agree with Torsten that VWs are better though.

[andrew e]

I'm with Torsten these are sub-Ducato. I had a new one in 2001 and it (and the rest of the fleet) sufered repeated brake lock up. The heater might be the pollen filter blocked that lives behind most of the dash.

[Justin Case]

So would I be:a) spectacularly unwise to pursue thisb) an idiot to pass it up? c) somewhere inbetween

Definitely a), so go for it