2019 22' Ford Transit vs 2019 24' Sprinter

[Davydd]

I think I have read few comments from Sprinter owners over the choice of engine in their decision to buy. I know it did not in my decisions. I think it comes down in preferences of a lot of other reasons. Probably many Sprinter owners would welcome a gas engine choice.

[dhectorg]

Originally Posted by Phoebe3

Agree completely that your RV has to please you and you alone. Also, we all have different budgets and priorities.

However, respectfully, mileage is not a good reason to choose diesel over gas.

Here are my back-of-the-envelope calculations. Note that in the RV world a new Transit can be had for about $15K less than a new Sprinter. In fact most of the Sprinter conversions are more than $15K higher than the Transit conversions, but I don't want to pad the data so we will go with a conservative number.

Assuming (just for estimating purposes):
Gas and diesel prices are both $3/gallon (where I live diesel is higher).
Average use is 10,000 miles per year.
Ecoboost gets 15 mpg and Sprinter diesel gets 22 MPG.

Turns out that it would take 23 years to save enough money in fuel to cover the additional $15K up-front cost. Of course, if fuel prices are higher, you travel more, or if the cost of diesel is less than the cost of gas, you would recoup your up-front cost sooner. Conversely, if you paid more for your Sprinter conversion, it would take longer.

I am not including costs associated with maintenance and repair, additional insurance for a more expensive vehicle, savings associated with the longer life of a diesel engine, opportunity cost for the $15K you could have invested, etc. because those are too hard to estimate.

We began our search with Sprinter conversions, but after we looked at all of these things carefully, and considering our age, we didn't think we would be RVing long enough to make a Sprinter worthwhile.

This is a huge misconception that I constantly have to combat, but first, your calculations are WAY off. Break even for diesel vs gas is no more than 12 years, all else being equal, but there are far too many variables to debate that, so I won't. In any case, whenever the topic of fuel economy comes up, most people assume that you're primarily objective is savings money, but that's not always the case. If you keep your vehicles for many years as I do, you will definitely save money with diesel in the long run, but for me it's more about reducing my consumption and emissions. Modern diesels are costly and complicated for sure, but they're also quite clean, cleaner than gas when fitted with the latest emissions systems, and that matters a great deal to me.

Just to be clear, comparing gas and diesel emissions is definitely not apples to apples because they emit different pollutants (CO2 vs Nox, in a nutshell) but modern diesels do an excellent job of 'scrubbing' the exhaust of most of the harmful Nox and particulate matter. Of course, all that technology adds up front cost, but it's well worth it to me.

[LosAngeles]

Originally Posted by Phoebe3

Agree completely that your RV has to please you and you alone. Also, we all have different budgets and priorities.

However, respectfully, mileage is not a good reason to choose diesel over gas.

Here are my back-of-the-envelope calculations. Note that in the RV world a new Transit can be had for about $15K less than a new Sprinter. In fact most of the Sprinter conversions are more than $15K higher than the Transit conversions, but I don't want to pad the data so we will go with a conservative number.

Assuming (just for estimating purposes):
Gas and diesel prices are both $3/gallon (where I live diesel is higher).
Average use is 10,000 miles per year.
Ecoboost gets 15 mpg and Sprinter diesel gets 22 MPG.

Turns out that it would take 23 years to save enough money in fuel to cover the additional $15K up-front cost. Of course, if fuel prices are higher, you travel more, or if the cost of diesel is less than the cost of gas, you would recoup your up-front cost sooner. Conversely, if you paid more for your Sprinter conversion, it would take longer.

I am not including costs associated with maintenance and repair, additional insurance for a more expensive vehicle, savings associated with the longer life of a diesel engine, opportunity cost for the $15K you could have invested, etc. because those are too hard to estimate.

We began our search with Sprinter conversions, but after we looked at all of these things carefully, and considering our age, we didn't think we would be RVing long enough to make a Sprinter worthwhile.

The great thing is that there is a choice of van.

And everyones needs and wants and usage will be different, of course.

For us... we still havent decided.... but collecting all the data points is fun.

It does seem that the cost of parts + repairs is somewhat lower with Ford, generally, compared to MB.

For sure it is easier to find Ford parts and service near remote areas of USA... (as opposed to MB) *closer* to the places we like to camp.....

I personally dont want to deal with DEF fluid / related issues... and having to even think about where the nearest diesel fuel is for sale... so I dont even want to go diesel at all.

Nice thing is that gas is a an option for 2019 Sprinters... except info as of now indicates that it is a pretty wimpy gas engine in the 2019 Sprinter if you pick gas.

More research to do. Time will tell. I am enjoying the journey.

John