T5 VW or Mercedes Vito?

[Karl Williams]

Hi Shane.
Personally I’d choose a Mercedes Vito over a VW anyday. I just think they drive better, look better and last longer.

Just my thoughts. 😎 😉

[John Childs]

The more professional of our customers keep very detailed records on all aspects of vehicle costs, downtime, driver satisfaction, and a bundle of other stuff.

Lots of them use T5s, but none has a Vito on the fleet. In fact, I can’t remember the last time we did any work on a Vito.

Personally, I would try to benefit from their labour, and buy a T5.

[Shane Drew]

Thanks guys, appreciate the comments.

John, what you say is what I’m hearing here too.

Fastways couriers bought a few vitos/sprinters and are having issues with them. They have T5/crafters with no issues at all.

I love my Vito, but it has been a warranty nightmare over the 3 years. 3 weeks out of warranty and my ignition system packed it in. $2200 later, and a week off the road.

I’ve been complaining about the ignition system for the last year of the warranty, but they reckon they could never fault it. Until it failed again out of warranty, then they didn’t want to know me with the claim.

That said, I’ve had an issue with my Caddy too, but VW have been pretty keen to help with any issues. Nothing is any trouble.

Could be the dealer I guess.

The Vito is with the MB Commercial division, the VW is with the VW retail division.

I guess I was wondering if this is a ‘dealer’ thing or a ‘model’ thing.

[Roy Roffey]

in my opinion id have the vw, i have had 3 t5`s in my time and also have a t4 for personal….. can`t fault any of them…

as john said, i cant remember the last time i have signwritten a vito but i do at least 4 vw`s a week, that must tell you something..

either way, good luck with what you may choose mate..

roffs

[David Rowland]

considering your mileage u do and cost saving? is there alternative fuels around u or even the best van for distance? we have 2004 vw.. cant complain

[Otto Peltonen]

Any particular reason you have narrowed your options down to these two?
I have 3 clients who have a Vito, and they are all quite fanatic Mercedes fans… so they won’t under any circumstances say a bad word of MB’s; also a friend of mine had two Vitos, first practically corroded in his hands in one year; surprisingly he bought another Vito and it turned out to be the most reliable car ever!
I also have clients who have (or had)VW’s, Transporters and Caddys mostly. Some of them have bought another mark, most still drive their VW’s, but almost all of them complain how many faults their cars have. I was quite surprised because I had always thought german cars (I mean cars made in Germany) as reliable ones.
No matter which mark you decide to buy, the good thing about buying a new car is the warranty, and now that the economical situation is what it is, it’s probably quite easy to negotiate lots of goodies with the car…? 😀

[Shane Drew]

quote Otto Peltonen:

Any particular reason you have narrowed your options down to these two?

Thanks Otto….

We don’t have a huge choice of Vans here…. I’m not too keen on the transit as they have a really bad name here. I’ve signed a few, and I’ve only had one client say he’ll buy another.

I want a van that you drive behind the wheel, rather than over the top of the drive wheel. That leaves the Hiace out of the picture.

Renault, Fiat and Citroen are not good value for money here and Iveco drives like a truck. I have the view that the van is my office, so if I’m going to be in it all day, everyday, I want to be comfortable.

The hyundai iLoad is excellent value, but the last hyundai I owned had a lousey resale value. I sold it at 3 years old, with low klm’s and I had to find a few $1000 to make up the payout. My last MB, before the vito, came in at the payout for the trade, so I didn’t have to put my hand in my pocket.

I’m a big fan of German cars. In Oz, they are considered top of the bunch. They hold their value very well here, and they, MB & VW, compete for sales at the same level.

Having had VW’s and MB’s most of my working life, I guess I don’t want to try anything else when I’m happy with both marques.

Thanks for your input though mate, I appreciate your time.

Take care
Shane

[Peter Dee]

My experience of Mercs in the UK is they rust like the old Datsuns used to in the 60’s.
Definitely made from inferior metal. Vito’s and Sprinters alike.
Mercedes cars and commercials have had quality control problems for many years now.
I run a T5 and it is more like driving a large quality car than a van.
I’ve driven all manner of customer vans and wouldn’t change.

[Shane Drew]

quote Peter Dee:

My experience of Mercs in the UK is they rust like the old Datsuns used to in the 60’s.
Definitely made from inferior metal. Vito’s and Sprinters alike.
Mercedes cars and commercials have had quality control problems for many years now.
I run a T5 and it is more like driving a large quality car than a van.
I’ve driven all manner of customer vans and wouldn’t change.

Thanks Peter,

Taking the wife down on wednesday for a test drive of the T5, end of the day, she will not let go of her Caddy Life if she doesn’t like the alternatives 😉

[Robert Lambie]

cant fault the mercs to be honest… we have had various vans but always went back to mercs. have two right now…

i honestly think its down to the user when it comes to vans, machines etc
keep them clean and maintained and they will do you proud.

[Raymond Wiedenhof]

I’m a T5 man,got a mate who had nothing but trouble with his high spec Vito Traveliner.just my twopennerth!

[Shane Drew]

thanks guys…. appreciate all your comments.

[Gary Birch]

Shane
I had the old Vito (2002) until last June and wasn’t a great fan of it to be honest and vowed not to have one again. Until I went to see the guy who I get them from who convinced me to look at the new shape. I ended up with the Vito Dualiner(the half van half minibus one) and have to say I love it.

Having said that I know people with the VW and haven`t heard a bad word.

Cheers

Gary

[Shane Drew]

quote Gary Birch:

Shane
I had the old Vito (2002) until last June and wasn’t a great fan of it to be honest and vowed not to have one again. Until I went to see the guy who I get them from who convinced me to look at the new shape. I ended up with the Vito Dualiner(the half van half minibus one) and have to say I love it.

Having said that I know people with the VW and haven`t heard a bad word.

Cheers

Gary

Thanks Gary.

Must confess, I love my crew cab too, even though I have had some issues with the dealer.

At this point in time, looks like I’m going with two Vito’s again, for no other reason than they have offered me the best deal by a long shot.

That said, the wife and I are thinking of holding off for a few months, as I think they’ll be more interested in a deal for an 08 model a few months in to 09.

We are not in a rush, so will probably keep an eye on the situation. MB has been the most interested all the way thru though.

VW have not let us test drive a T5 yet. We went down on Wednesday for a test drive, and they had none that we could drive. They also wanted us to commit to purchasing one, before they would arrange getting a test drive organized. MB let us test drive the new models, without even discussing our trade-in price yet.

[Brian Hays]

quote Shane Drew:

quote Gary Birch:

Shane
I had the old Vito (2002) until last June and wasn’t a great fan of it to be honest and vowed not to have one again. Until I went to see the guy who I get them from who convinced me to look at the new shape. I ended up with the Vito Dualiner(the half van half minibus one) and have to say I love it.

Having said that I know people with the VW and haven`t heard a bad word.

Cheers

Gary

Thanks Gary.

Must confess, I love my crew cab too, even though I have had some issues with the dealer.

At this point in time, looks like I’m going with two Vito’s again, for no other reason than they have offered me the best deal by a long shot.

That said, the wife and I are thinking of holding off for a few months, as I think they’ll be more interested in a deal for an 08 model a few months in to 09.

We are not in a rush, so will probably keep an eye on the situation. MB has been the most interested all the way thru though.

VW have not let us test drive a T5 yet. We went down on Wednesday for a test drive, and they had none that we could drive. They also wanted us to commit to purchasing one, before they would arrange getting a test drive organized. MB let us test drive the new models, without even discussing our trade-in price yet.

Shane they expect you to order one before you have even taken one for a test drive?! 😮

Is that unusual over there? if that were a VW dealer in the UK they wouldn’t last 5 minutes. 😕

[Otto Peltonen]

quote Shane Drew:

VW have not let us test drive a T5 yet. We went down on Wednesday for a test drive, and they had none that we could drive. They also wanted us to commit to purchasing one, before they would arrange getting a test drive organized. MB let us test drive the new models, without even discussing our trade-in price yet.

A bit unusual way to make business… can’t wait to tell this to our local vw-salesman, just want to see his face… 😀

[Shane Drew]

It surprised me too….

Been to two VW dealers, one being the dealer we purchased the caddy from iniyially, and neither were keen to arrange a demo drive at all. Made it perfectly clear to my wife and I that they wanted to talk ‘deals’ before we went to the test drive stage.

We wouldn’t ‘commit’ so they didn’t go any further.

The MB sales guy people threw us the keys as soon as we asked if we could look at the new models. Told us to come back when we were finished putting it through its paces. We just left him the key to our car, and took off with the new vehicle.

I suggest it is a dealer thing though. When I was looking to buy the Vito originally, I checked out the VW then too, and the sales guy wouldn’t let me take it for a spin without a company rep with me.

When I wouldn’t sign on the dotted line when we got back, I never heard from them again. Interestingly they lost the dealership about 6 months later.

I can’t work out if VW don’t have enough cars to sell, or they want top dollar.

I’d have thought a test drive would have been a perfect opportunity for the vehicle to sell itself…..