PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum (http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/)
-   Diesel Discussion (http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/)
-   -   New FEDEX trucks... they are all MB Sprinters (http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/301902-new-fedex-trucks-they-all-mb-sprinters.html)

w123fanman 07-14-2011 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daman858 (Post 2752174)
Those Printers are nice...air conditioned

Yea the AC blows cold air... Sometimes it gets too cold in them

vstech 07-14-2011 10:26 PM

I've seen the sprinters for years, but they were always badged freightliner, lately, I've seen all badged MB... several sprinters with the MB STAR on them.

Aquaticedge 07-15-2011 12:15 AM

now if they only rebadged the semi's...

w123fanman 07-15-2011 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquaticedge (Post 2752283)
now if they only rebadged the semi's...

Some people would freak out to know they were not American trucks... Well some people are still oblivious to the fact Chrysler was owned by Daimler up until recently and is now owned by Fiat... Not really an American brand

dirtcurt 07-15-2011 01:23 AM

I have been driving them for Big Brown since 2004 and Fed Ex had them a year before us. Ours are all tagged as Dodges. The windows are all that are MB tagged. The first ones we got were not very good. They blew hoses and blew up as well. Turbos and electronics were terrible. We got five in our area in 2004. One of our girls drove one into a ditch at 75mph when the truck had 1800 miles on it! She came out with a black eye and beat up in the face a bit. I was pissed! We were coming out of non-power steering manual trucks with 800k-1mil miles and 25 years in service. After that we convinced management to keep rookies out of them and they did. They are the best vans we have ever had as far as driving them. I love mine to this day and will not drive any other van other than another Sprinter. The first were single rear wheels and they flat hauled the mail. I have a mountain route and it got 23mpg checked daily. My other truck with a vortec v-6 would get 8-10mpg on the same route. Now I'm in a dually Sprinter with a box. It gets 18-20mpg checked daily. I can't believe it and I check it every day. Both were 5 cylinders with no air conditioning. They also handle like a sports car. Like my F-350 PSD they don't seem to care how much weight is in them they run hard either way. I notice that I can't turn as fast but power is the same even at high altitude. They suck without AC and are hot inside with terrible venting. Since I have to run with the windows down the bees sting me about 5 times a year. They fly though the windows knocked out then wake up and sting me in the lap, butt or back. In the winter my body roasts but feet freeze.

I love these Vans so much I bought my 300 because of them, and my wife about had a cow when we went to go test drive one for me(she said their FUGLY). That hurt. In final I give them a 8.5 as far as a vehicle. I can drive them 10-14 hours a day and get out feeling pretty good. The latest one has over 108K and no problems yet.

Stretch 07-15-2011 01:26 AM

Not such great praise here

http://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8568

dirtcurt 07-15-2011 02:07 AM

Well I will say our mechanics hate them. . Our first ones were not so good. There were some problems with service intervals. If you ran the filters too long they would suck it through into the turbo and then blow the engine. I used to carry duct tape and zip ties to fix blown rubber turbo hoses. UPS wanted 15k oil changes and PMIs were saying 10k on the oil but the air filters would not make 10k then fail.

What I have found is that they are not heavy service trucks like our other custom made trucks are. They are delicate and need care like a car. You have to close the doors carefully and just act like it is yours and not theirs. The guys who beat them damage them unlike our indestructable Grummans which have ballistic aluminium and are really hard to hurt.

Because UPS opted not to put the computer override switch in the car, they can get stuck in low traction situations if your not careful. Below 5mph watch out, after 5 hammerdown and love the traction control/stability control. Black Ice, snow whatever it will keep things staight and level. It's actually boring. I got the manuals for one and i remember it said " stability control cannot defy physics" that stuck with me. It's close to being able to do that though. After about 8" of snow your done even with chains on. The computer sees rear wheels spinning and pulls the power and you get slower and slower till you stop foot on the floor at idle. That does suck.

w123fanman 07-15-2011 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Army (Post 2752339)

Ouch... Well I can say they are not the world's most reliable vehicle. The 2003 we have has 130K miles on it and both the fuel pump and the alternator have had to been replaced. With the fuel pump I suspect the addition of water to diesel fuel (some stations do that unfortunately) could have played a role in it's demise, and it failed @ 100k when my dad was working on a house of ours down in Florida when that volcano went of in Europe and all the flights were canceled, so my dad had to wait 3 weeks to get a replacement fuel pump put in (first they tried salvaging the dead pump, then they tried taking the pump out of the infamous NFL player Micheal Vick's Sprinter (which had been repossessed by the police and had been left sitting in the rain for several years so it was rusted out), then they were able to find a rebuilt one in Miami). Next was the alternator which just shredded one day @ 120K as my dad was starting the van, at the same house in Florida, was replaced withing 24 hours. Both cost over $1000 to do. Other problems are the doors rattle (probably not their fault) and the back door leaks (probably not their fault either).


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:53 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Peach Parts or Pelican Parts Website