Faults:

First week, diesel fuel leaked.

New radiator/coolant tank (plastic) welded seam leaked.

Instrument cluster panel (speedo) broke down.

Tail gate handle broke; screw removal caused break off.

Rear wiper motor ceased working after 3 years.

Steering wheel plastic covering lost adhesion.

2nd radiator replaced, upper/lower part, joint leaking.

Van stopped. Fuel pump etc. required head grinding. $11600.

General Comments:

Loss of power up inclines, slow acceleration.

Front door: vinyl coverings of the door panels are receding.

Random non starting, then fine over a long period.

Had all the required services, and I am a careful driver.

The colour of the van is yellow = lemon?

P.s. not mention all the other little things early on.

Faults:

Bought the Vito van 6 months ago and it went into limp home mode. Found it really hard to find any mechanics with any experience with these, and like everyone didn't want to take it to the Merc dealer. So I bought a manual on line. I am a motorbike mechanic so figured no problems.

Have fixed the limp home mode problem; it had a hole in a intake pipe, this is a good place to start - check all rubber pipes after turbo to intake (also cheap to fix), then check all electric fittings to all the intake pipes. Runs great now and good on gas.

Also there is a few things you can do to make go way better, but will post that soon. And also how to fix door locks.

Cheers Phil 09 4145565 or you can text 0211 828 426 if in New Zealand.

General Comments:

Great van. Bogeys along and uses stuff all gas, and is way quieter than the Hiace.

Faults:

Glow plugs had to be replaced about two years after purchase.

Dashboard failed at about 40,000km, but about six month after three year warranty expired. Replacement cost was about $1,500. Mercedes agreed to cover half of it.

Radiator had to be replaced at 75,000 km in 2008.

Car is showing minor rust around door welds and rear hatch hinges.

General Comments:

This is a good looking car with a spacious interior feel, and that's why I love it.

It is a bit underpowered, especially in the city, but I love driving it in the country.

Overall, although I have had a few problems with it, it has been very cheap to run, with a service interval of around 22,500 km and a fuel consumption in the city of around 8L/100km.

Would I buy it again? Probably not this model, but I would seriously investigate the latest version.

Faults:

Control-er of the automatic transmission failed.

Dashboard speedometer/RPM unit failed.

Front-window cracks to easy.

Inner rust developed between the lower chassis front/back welding.

Roof seals dried out causing leaks.

Engine pre-heater failed.

Pneumatic pump for pneumatic springs failed.

ABS box failed.

Front-plate inner grill-plate rusty.

Leather looks plasticized after 7 years.

Inner roof lining comes down.

General Comments:

Looks like they beefed up the car from a cargo version to fast. All additional items required for this beef up failed.

Faults:

Performance was poor and exhaust fumes entering cabin along with bad fuel leak under engine from leaking fuel line. This started at 100000 miles. Engine so compact difficult to determine source of troubles.

General Comments:

Needed to strip auxillaries from top of engine. Under top rocker-cover cover was 2cm thick of substance which looked like road tar. This was caused by blowing fuel injectors and was cause of loss of power and fumes. Time consuming job, but if done carefully can be done for the cost of four washers. Secret is to scrape off the tar as best you can and then leave to soak in coca-cola for two days to loosen the remnants. Then with a bit of care the injectors can be worked free without breaking them (expensive!). Make sure debris does not fall down the threaded hole where the injector clamp was fixed as when you refit these bolts the debris can pierce the water jacket directly underneath (expensive!).Clean the injector of tar and replace the small copper washer. Refit making sure you have also wiped the seat where the washer sits in the rocker cover/cylinder head. The return of power is great. It's a pain in the bum, but worth the trouble. Mercedes are fully aware of this problem and have since changed the design. Hope this helps.