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Common issues and maintenance questions

27K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  Greenmanedlion  
#1 ·
Hello forum,

Our 2016 cargo van is coming off of a lease, we were only paying $426/month for a 3 year lease 12K miles a year on a 33K MSRP car with 0 zero down (tax title all included), I contacted a few dealers and for the same exact car it's now $600-$680 a month which is just insane, that's almost a 40% increase. I guess the residuals have significantly dropped and MF is pretty bad. Because of this, I'm considering buying our own since the residual is only 17K (the same van for sale is 21-22K in used market), we currently have about 36K miles on it so the warranty is about to run out.

My concern is reliability and maintenance, we haven't had any issues except the tires which did not wear properly and had to change them. We also notice the transmission sometimes jerks forward so that's a bit scary. Is a common failure transmission on these vans? are there any other major issues with 2016s? what are the maintenance intervals and costs?

Is the MB warranty worth it? I was quoted 2.8K for 7 year, considering that also.

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
Mercedes transmissions historically jerk when being shifted into and out of gear. Every automatic equipped MB I have ever owned jerked exactly the same way (79 300SD, 85 300D, 85 300TD, 95 C220, 95 E300d, 2005 ML350, and the Metris). They also sometimes clunk on certain types of up shifts. Everything but the ML350 went over a quarter million miles on their original transmissions under my watch.

the ML350 I just didn’t like and got rid of it at 178k miles; it had no trans problems,either.

you are going to be spending money on repairs with an MB, period. If it was me I’d buy it, finance it, and figure repairs into your budget like I do. Also I think you can still get the 7/120 or 7/140 extended warranty. Highly reccomend it.
 
#4 ·
Did you get the tranny fluid/filter change service done? My general consensus reading forums and groups is the Metris has not had in major related issues other than the tire wear ...nothing engine related really stands out though I have heard a few chatter about the transmission jerk from 3rd to 4th. I just had my fore-mentioned service done asked the tech and he said everything looks good at 35.9K miles.
 
#5 ·
Jimmy,
We researched long and hard for our Metris Cargo since we had the Ford Transit Connect prior to our current Van and hated it. We think we got a great van for really good deal.
In our case, we hunted around for new, old stock van/ previous model year with options we need (metal partition, utility package, double swing out doors, etc) MSRP was a bit over 31k but we got great discount of around 20% and finalized at $24,500+Tax and docs. We then financed through MBFS at 1.9% for 60 months with 0 down, we are only paying $475. We then negotiated for 100k/7Yr extended warranty (now they offer 140k too) at another dealer for $2,500. So far brought the van in for a few recalls and one incident that the our air intake tube for the turbo was cracked and loss power, but it was taken care of under warranty. We changed the tires to be Michelin Defender LTX m/S and it lasts us over 40k miles now, so far, our plan is to use the van until 100k or when we run out of warranty. Good luck!

Hello forum,

Our 2016 cargo van is coming off of a lease, we were only paying $426/month for a 3 year lease 12K miles a year on a 33K MSRP car with 0 zero down (tax title all included), I contacted a few dealers and for the same exact car it's now $600-$680 a month which is just insane, that's almost a 40% increase. I guess the residuals have significantly dropped and MF is pretty bad. Because of this, I'm considering buying our own since the residual is only 17K (the same van for sale is 21-22K in used market), we currently have about 36K miles on it so the warranty is about to run out.

My concern is reliability and maintenance, we haven't had any issues except the tires which did not wear properly and had to change them. We also notice the transmission sometimes jerks forward so that's a bit scary. Is a common failure transmission on these vans? are there any other major issues with 2016s? what are the maintenance intervals and costs?

Is the MB warranty worth it? I was quoted 2.8K for 7 year, considering that also.

Thanks!
 
#6 ·
Hello forum,

Our 2016 cargo van is coming off of a lease, we were only paying $426/month for a 3 year lease 12K miles a year on a 33K MSRP car with 0 zero down (tax title all included), I contacted a few dealers and for the same exact car it's now $600-$680 a month which is just insane, that's almost a 40% increase. I guess the residuals have significantly dropped and MF is pretty bad. Because of this, I'm considering buying our own since the residual is only 17K (the same van for sale is 21-22K in used market), we currently have about 36K miles on it so the warranty is about to run out.

My concern is reliability and maintenance, we haven't had any issues except the tires which did not wear properly and had to change them. We also notice the transmission sometimes jerks forward so that's a bit scary. Is a common failure transmission on these vans? are there any other major issues with 2016s? what are the maintenance intervals and costs?

Is the MB warranty worth it? I was quoted 2.8K for 7 year, considering that also.

Thanks!
 
#8 ·
Great credit helps.

Why the rates are higher for vans rather than cars, I don’t know either.

For sedans, MB Fin offers 1.99% and 2.99% continuously. Faster payoff gets the 1.99, longer payoff gets the 2.99. Some will be on special and carry 0. Trying to generate more sales? (E-class right now)

For vans it seems 2.99 and up for the longer terms.

Maybe there is more risk, less competition, ... ?

I am more curious about 20% off. That sounds like the real deal to me.
 
#9 ·
Great credit helps.

Why the rates are higher for vans rather than cars, I don’t know either.

For sedans, MB Fin offers 1.99% and 2.99% continuously. Faster payoff gets the 1.99, longer payoff gets the 2.99. Some will be on special and carry 0. Trying to generate more sales? (E-class right now)

For vans it seems 2.99 and up for the longer terms.

Maybe there is more risk, less competition, ... ?

I am more curious about 20% off. That sounds like the real deal to me.
Lol you’re totally right, tell me about how you got that 20% off if you don’t mind
 
#10 ·
Hello forum,

Our 2016 cargo van is coming off of a lease, we were only paying $426/month for a 3 year lease 12K miles a year on a 33K MSRP car with 0 zero down (tax title all included), I contacted a few dealers and for the same exact car it's now $600-$680 a month which is just insane, that's almost a 40% increase. I guess the residuals have significantly dropped and MF is pretty bad. Because of this, I'm considering buying our own since the residual is only 17K (the same van for sale is 21-22K in used market), we currently have about 36K miles on it so the warranty is about to run out.

My concern is reliability and maintenance, we haven't had any issues except the tires which did not wear properly and had to change them. We also notice the transmission sometimes jerks forward so that's a bit scary. Is a common failure transmission on these vans? are there any other major issues with 2016s? what are the maintenance intervals and costs?

Is the MB warranty worth it? I was quoted 2.8K for 7 year, considering that also.

Thanks!
There are a couple of factory service bulletins for the trans. 1 of them is the torque converter and honestly I do not remember what the 2nd bulletin covered. I have a 2016 cargo van and do a lot of local driving between customer locations every day, well every M-F. My transmission shifts smooth as silk 99% of the time and I run mostly in Econo mode. The thump into gear and out of gear has been tamed through these service bulletins. On the maintenance side, I am at 31,000 hard city miles and do not notice any need for additional maintenance other than Service A and B and recommended items. The first set of tires wore badly so I had a 4 wheel alignment completed then switched to Michelin Defender LTX with factory spec for size and load rating and these tires perform. Noticeably better ride and handling, excellent tire wear and grip like glue.

Hard to find a better mid sized van deal and yes MB knows that the Metris is sized to be the only platform available in the US with the ability to easily load a 4' x 8' sheet of whatever in the van. They are not giving the Metris away but you pretty much get a full sized van in a mid sized package with the turning radius of a compact car.