Mercedes Sprinter Warranty

[Doubletap]

I have been looking at B RVs for a while and like two of them, one of which is in a Mercedes Sprinter. I live in a rural area of North Carolina and the closest Sprinter service center is two and a half hours away. It seems that there are very few Sprinter service facilities in the US. What do Sprinter owners do for warranty work?

[Davydd]

Service intervals are 20,000 miles or maybe once per year. It is not like you have to run for service all the time. If a Sprinter is your preference why sacrifice for a fear?

[jrobe]

This is a legitimate question. There are definitely far fewer Mercedes Service Centers and we are frequently using our RV's off the beaten path and away from big cities. There is also higher maintenance costs with Mercedes vehicles or at least there have been with Mercedes cars that I have owned (higher service bills, higher repair costs, more expensive parts). I have also had higher maintenance costs with diesel vehicles in general compared to their gas counterparts. I would also do the math on mileage and the price of fuel to factor into your decision to determine the total cost and hassle of ownership. I would call this wise decision making and not fear.

[mkguitar]

A chev or ford can be serviced or repaired by anyone, anywhere with parts from any autoparts store.

but specific warranty work would require a dealer - if you are in an area remote from all dealers, then you are smart to consider that in advance- will they cover a 2 hour tow into the shop in the event that a warranty item renders the vehicle dead

for other services such as oil, filters etc etc look around locally.
there is no requirement that regular services be performed by a dealer to keep your warranty in force- in fact there is long standing Federal Regulation barring manufacturers from requiring that- unless they provide those services free-of-charge
BMW Mini division was in trouble for that last year.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/pres...ly-conditioned

Mike

[avanti]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

but specific warranty work would require a dealer - if you are in an area remote from all dealers, then you are smart to consider that in advance- will they cover a 2 hour tow into the shop in the event that a warranty item renders the vehicle dead

A Sprinter that is covered by ANY OEM warranty (basic or extended) comes with free roadside assistance. They will tow the vehicle to an authorized dealer, no matter how far it is.

[Doubletap]

I found a Pleasure Way Lexor TS yesterday that is a pro master. I think this will give me more service options than the sprinter.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Doubletap

I found a Pleasure Way Lexor TS yesterday that is a pro master. I think this will give me more service options than the sprinter.

Probably. But, does anybody actually know how many dealers are equipped and trained to service these vans?

In the case of Mercedes, this percentage is pretty low.

[gregmchugh]

Not sure how a simple inquiry into the availability of places to get Sprinter warranty work was thought to indicate someone was afraid of something.

I have a Sprinter and have no fear of what will happen if I have a problem that requires towing to a qualified Sprinter service facility. There are large areas of the US and Canada where Mercedes or Freightliner Sprinter dealers are few and far between so it does have the potential to be a much more difficult endeavor than getting a van to the nearest Ford or Chevy or Chrysler dealer and that is something that is a reasonable factor is making a decision on what chassis to buy. As mentioned, the availability of RAM Promaster service may also be limited to certain Chrysler dealers.

My experience has been good with a very reliable 2008 Roadtrek Freightliner Sprinter with only a single incident where the van was not drivable. No Mercedes dealers anywhere close to Prince George BC and the local Freightliner dealer did not handle Sprinters but the local Dodge dealer could handle it since they sold Sprinters back in 2008 and could get the parts for a simple repair. Two day wait for parts and we were off again.