19th Jul 2010, 08:33
2 ECU failures in 2 months, £300 to put right each time. Rear suspension collapse, £1500 to put right. Heavy corrosion. Water ingress around windscreen. very noisy from road and wind. Basically a transit van with seats and Merc badge.
5th Jun 2026, 17:04
We had a couple of vans in our workplace from this time period, can confirm the problems were the same. Overrated vans, Mercedes in the early 2000's were terrible.
10th Jun 2026, 11:03
I agree. We've had several V-class/Vito from the first generation. The running gear is generally good, especially diesel in combination with the manual transmission, but the rest of the van is a complete joke. Rust proofing and paint quality is very poor. Build quality is shoddy at best. Interior falls apart after 4-5 years, squeaks and rattles, endless electrical problems. But probably not very relevant by now, these sh@t boxes have all rusted to pieces by now. Haven't seen a first gen Vito in years.
23rd Sep 2008, 15:28
I bought my 99 T reg V-Class 220 CDI because I owned a perfect C-Class. It only had 40200 miles on the clock, but it really let me down on the first day I had it.
The car was so loud, the dealer checked it and found alternator was faulty. It cost me 580 pounds to put it right in independent garage (Mercedes dealer would charge me over 750 pounds).
Then the air suspension didn't work. I was told the parts cost more than 1000 pounds. What I was advised to do was just leave the air compressor, and use a foot-pump to pump my lovely V-Class up every 4-5 days.
I used it to travel from Scotland to Manchester, and on the way home noise came out from underneath. Mercedes charged me 67 pounds and couldn't trace the problem.
I have spent over 2000 pounds in it within two months. Very, very disappointed!