Mercedes Sprinter Van Problems: The Truth - Van Build Ep 5

Back in 2020, I bought an old Dodge Ram conversion van for $2,800 and it wasn't perfect, but it was great for me. It was my starter van and I built it out and I loved it, but I wanted something I could stand up in. So I bought a bus and it was a short bus. It was a lot of work. It was a lot of headache and I eventually wound up selling my short bus after I built it out, gutted it, started from scratch, and did a new build inside of it. It was probably the hardest project I'd ever worked on. Then I decided to sell that bus and I went and looked at this Sprinter about three hours away from me. I test drove it. It was far from perfect, but it had really low miles for a really great price, so I couldn't pass it up. Now I am taking the van to the mechanic for the second time. First time around, I had them do a once-over type of inspection, tell me what I needed to do in order to get the van in its best shape, other than the things I already knew I needed to do on it. So here we are at the Willamette Tech Fleet, aka WTF, and they're gonna take care of me. Let's talk about how much it's gonna cost. So I just dropped the van off at the mechanic and when I first bought the van, the very first thing that I wanted to make sure that I did was take it to a good mechanic and have it looked over so that they could let me know outside of what I already know what needs to be done in order to get it in tip-top shape. And basically when I bought the van, the things off the top of my head I knew needed to be addressed were the shifter was basically stuck in park and what the previous owner, however, I don't know if their mechanic did it or if their guy who drove it did it, but he from what this mechanic told me is he overrided that to where you they put a little hole in the bottom of the shifter and you stick a screwdriver in there and you can kind of push something in there down and it allows you to get out of park and you don't go in reverse or go and drive or neutral or whatever but you had to do that or else it was physically stuck. That was the first thing that I saw when I was looking at this van that I was like, I don't know how much that's gonna cost to fix and it made me really nervous but because of how low the miles were on this van and in correlation with the price, it was something that ultimately I decided I was gonna look over and get it fixed regardless of the cost and I was afraid because these Sprinter vans are Mercedes. So even though mine is branded as a Dodge Sprinter, it's still Mercedes parts and at some point at one year they're all branded as Mercedes but the older ones like mine could go one way or the other and mine is branded as a Dodge but it still costs the same as any other Sprinter and they are a little bit more expensive. So I'm gonna go over everything that I need to get done to it as well as what I've already done and how much it's all gonna cost. So basically I purchased the van itself for $11,500. Now even though that's a great deal, I took it to the mechanic and I mean you're gonna be most likely having to have some work done on it especially one that was an older van. It was a work van. They kind of beat it up a little bit. Mine wasn't too bad but I've seen them where they're pretty bad so the shifter was like the first thing that was immediate that I saw. The second thing was the glove box was broken. It won't stay shut. I see that in a lot of Sprinters and that was like the major stuff. So to me it was like that's not that bad. I can I don't know what it looks like mechanically though. So this van was three hours away from where I was and I bit the bullet and drove it back. I bought it not knowing how much I was gonna have to dump into mechanic repairs. They said that they had it maintained at their local mechanic which this was a smaller town and there was only one mechanic so that's who they took it and I personally feel like maybe this mechanic wasn't super knowledgeable when it came to Mercedes Sprinters in general and I only say that because after taking it to this mechanic for example what they were doing to have to shift they fixed it for a really decent price. I was really surprised and it was like not a big deal at all. I think it was a fuse needed to be replaced or something super simple like that and so for it to be something that simple and the other mechanic who was maintaining this van couldn't fix it. I just feel like that was the first sign for me that these guys probably know what they're doing. So that being said I took it there. I knew I needed an oil change in it. That was something that I knew up front it needed an oil change and those are more expensive in a Mercedes Sprinter than they are for most other vehicles. So I want to get into all of the prices and kind of deep dive with you into what I'm paying and like a realistic look at what it's going to be if you're deciding to purchase a any type of Mercedes Sprinter van. So we took it to the Willamette I don't think that's how you say it I'm not from here Willamette Willamette Tech Fleet which we didn't notice before but we learned today that the abbreviation for their name is WTF and they are going to be hopefully at the next Overland Expo here in Oregon that the one that we went to last year. So first things first was I told them I wanted them to look it over and let me know if there's anything that they find outside of what I found. What I found that I needed was an oil change the shifter that was stuck in park and then I had two lights on the dash that would both come on and off which were the brake light indicator and the traction control. So for the oil change it was $300 $293 to be exact that just is what it is got that done then for them to look into the shifter being stuck and then the two lights they charge $160 per hour for labor so and diagnostics so it was $160 for diagnostics and then to fix those. I also looking at the receipt I also paid for parts finding time which was $264 and then each of those other things were $160 and then I did do the brake switch so what happened was because it was stuck in park my brake lights were stuck off or stuck on one or the other but they were out which is illegal so she was like we could fix it so they fixed the shifter and fixed the rear brake lights for $180. So this was a grand total of what I did which is all of that for $1,253.57 so that was everything that I did I went ahead and I paid for that and had that done because it was important that to me that those things got done and then I have a list here of everything else that needs to be done. So we have and also I think earlier I mentioned the traction control malfunction display like those lights that were on they just diagnosed that they didn't fix it so the brake wear indicator light was coming off intermittently that is going to cost $98 to fix. The brake lines in flush need to be done and that is $542. The drive belts um well let me let me let me reverse here um so the brake wear indicator light is $100 right there they noted confirmed the light is on all the brake metal looks good tested each sensor individually and found the left rear is bad plugged in the test sensor to test uh to test wiring and confirm suspicion of bad sensor warning light turned off with test sensor plugged in need to replace the sensor so that is just a sensor the brakes they said the brakes look fine it's just the sensor is bad and then the brake lines in fluid flush for $542.31 says front rubber brake lines starting to crack pedal squishy brake fluid dark should flush so that is one of three major expenses that I am putting into the van so that isn't something that I've done yet but that is third in line to be done so today I took the van to the mechanic for this next thing which is the drive belts the tensioner is coming apart the belt is crooked and worn so the drive belts basically she said that's one of the number one things that I need to get done because if that goes south that will ruin your whole engine so I was like okay I'm gonna do that as soon as possible and so I got everything else done a couple weeks ago and I'm doing these repairs as I can afford it so this month I am doing that so that total is $650 so that's what I'm doing today and then I'm also while it's at the mechanic I'm also having them take out the passenger's seat I have I am putting my diesel heater underneath the passenger seat hopefully and I tried to take it out but the tools that we have just aren't strong enough there are two bolts that are just completely stuck we cannot get them out so basically I told them if they can take it out take it out if it's something that is just like becoming like if you if you're gonna have to drill it out or something crazy like that don't worry about it I'll put the diesel heater somewhere else and so they might be doing that and I believe that's it just the drive belts oh and then I have a rear tail light out and so they're replacing that today so it's going to be more than $650 it's probably going to be more closer to a thousand dollars or more if they take the seat out to replace that light in the back they're going to do two and it's about a hundred dollars which is this one right here um lights no brake lights on arrival brake light bulb out so they're also doing that today which is 109 dollars and next we need to do the cabin air filter his notes were terribly filthy um may have never been changed still says mercedes-benz I thought that was funny but that's going to be 129 dollars and then the last major big expense for fixing is the transmission fluid um again that is something they said like she basically told me and by she I mean the receptionist and then the mechanic is is a he and so she basically told me that when it comes to the transmission fluid if you let it go too far to where it's like really bad she said you're basically according to mercedes themselves their suggestion is to just let it ride until your transmission goes out and replace the transmission I can only imagine how much it would cost to replace the transmission I'm sure it's much more expensive than the 586 dollars and 38 cents that it would be to just get a transmission fluid flush or whatever that they do just the transmission fluid that is dirty for them to fix that so right now I'm doing the brake line or sorry right now I'm doing the drive belt next I will be doing the transmission fluid then I will be doing the brake lines and fluid flush now those are the three major high priced things that I have to do in order to get the sprinter van in tip-top shape and as I'm doing each of these things depending on how much I can afford I'm trying to do some of the smaller things as well so like today with the drive belts I'm also doing the brake lights and then I would do something else but I really need to get that seat out so I'm having to pay them to take the seat out which depending on how long it's going to take you know they charge 160 an hour so that's kind of like your guesstimation range of how much that might cost and then the fuel filter it says top crusty may have been a while since last service that is $276 that is also a little bit more on the higher end but that's not necessarily like a huge huge deal but all of this stuff will get done in time hopefully before the end of February as I'm building out the van I'm also making this more of priority than building out the van itself because what's the point in building out a van if I'm not going to do what needs to be done to get it in tip-top shape I believe that is it that is all that needs to be done and the total for everything right now aside from the stuff I've already paid for that was the oil change and the diagnosis and all that fixing the shifter all of that was $1,253 the remaining balance to fix everything else that we have here is $2,427.50 I have it written down and I am basically going through this and fixing everything as I can so they also printed out this sheet for me which is it has this little x um a little caution and a little smiley face a caution and an x and what those mean are basically like good and then the cautionary is like not not like super bad right now but um keep an eye on it and then the x the x is priority um so basically like the top three were the the drive belts the brakes and the fuel filter so those are my top top priority ones and the other ones would be the lights which I'm fixing today the dash warning lights um I'm not doing that today but hopefully soon and then the cabin air filter is a priority transmission fluid sorry the drive the drive belts the brakes and the transmission are the top priority and then the fuel filter cabin air filter and I think that's it so I only have a couple more things that I need to do but that's a realistic look of of how much it cost me personally to buy the van for $1,100 or $11,500 and then immediately taking it to the mechanic I paid you know over $1,200 with 20 about $2,500 left to fix it and get it in tip-top shape so that's you know well over three thousand dollars to do what I need to do to make sure that I'm probably not going to have any issues on the road once that's done it's super important to keep up on your maintenance one thing I really like about this particular Sprinter van is it is a t1n and those engines on the t1ns in particular are known to go a million miles if you maintain it and keep up with it so I was told regular oil changes depending on how hard you drive her between 7,500 miles and 10,000 miles and then other than that like keep make sure that your transmission fluid is good and just on regular maintenance just make sure that you're taking it in and you're taking care of what needs to be taken care of and that sucker will go to you know are known to go to a million miles as far as the glove box that was broken when I bought it I did buy from t1nparts.com a new glove box door but I've realized that the part that's broken is the latch on the inside so I'm going to reach out to them that was a hundred dollars just for that glove box door so I'm going to reach out to them and see if maybe I can send it back or you know get the correct piece for that and so that you know is basically how much I've spent so so far plus what I still have left to pay and then after today like I said I still owe two thousand over two twenty four hundred dollars and after today that'll probably go down by a thousand dollars so it seems like a lot but if you any vehicle you buy you want to make sure that you're taking it to the mechanic you're getting it looked over and you're doing what you need to do to keep it up and running because new engines for a mercedes is mine in particular I think can be like over thirteen thousand dollars that's more than I paid for the van itself so it's just really important to keep up with all the maintenance and make sure that you'd really take care of it but I just wanted to kind of be really transparent here and and let you know like this is what it looks like to to have a mercedes sprinter van and take it to a mechanic it's gonna be a little more pricey these are foreign parts and it just that's the reality of it I know some people are have commented you don't need to let us know how much money you're spending and this and that and that's not the point that I'm trying to make here my point than it that I'm trying to relate to you is just to be transparent and and kind of give you an idea like if if you're thinking about getting a mercedes sprinter van versus like a pro master or even like a conversion van it's gonna vary the the mechanic prices are gonna vary it's not gonna cost as much to take a pro master to a mechanic but on that side I just had a friend tell me that he has had three different transmissions put into his or put into his pro master so it's just best to do your research and so that's what I'm trying to give anyone watching who's thinking about doing a sprinter a little bit more insight if you don't know already that it's gonna cost a little more and I just want to share the knowledge knowledge is power and I just want people to be aware if you're watching me build this van because you want to build this same or similar van that's what I'm here for I'm just kind of taking you all along for the for the ride in every aspect of the way so that's what this is about that's what this van builds about and so I hope that you know I could help you or at least give you a little bit more knowledge um or to entertain you whatever that might be so I just want to thank you so much for watching and if you are planning on building a van I'm sending you all the van life love and how exciting is that that we are doing this together um if you haven't already please consider subscribing and liking this video if it helped you out I appreciate it and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and and just reading through the comments for whatever you feel like commenting again I took my van to the Willamette Tech Fleet and this is in Springfield Oregon and I have had an I have had amazing like an amazing experience with them so far I really really like them and honestly I will probably never take my van to as long as they exist I'll never take my van to another mechanic if I can help it so I highly recommend them if you want to go check out their website feel free I'll link their information in the description below a huge huge huge shout out to them they're they've been amazing they do great work and they specialize in Mercedes Sprinter vans and they've been they've been around for the last seven years so again thank you so much for watching and I will see you guys on the next video where we will dive back into the van build itself when we get it back from the mechanic