Yes, I know, and you're right. But there are many people who think Sprinters, all of them, new, old, doesn't matter, are expensive money pits. And that's simply not true. These new model Sprinters, many of them are money pits, and until the particulars get worked out and solved I wouldn't go near one.
It's interesting the use of the term "end of life" when talking about a Sprinter. Not you necessarily, but a lot of people still make the basic mistake of viewing a Sprinter as "just another cargo van, only more expensive." Case in point, Purgoose commented on the fact that OVM spent $12,000 for a new engine for a 10 year old Sprinter. He and a lot of people think that's insane. He even noted that he wouldn't even consider doing that with even a good running 10 year old truck (apparently not even a 10 year old Peterbuilt in excellent condition other than the motor). That's the slop bucket mindset (further reinforced with his comment that people depreciate vehicles over 5 years, as if that is supposed to mean the vehicle should be buried after 5 years because it's not longer viable or worth anything), and it's such an ingrained mindset that they cannot even see the difference between a Sprinter and a Slop Bucket. There is no difference, other than how much the Sprinter costs. It's so deeply ingrained that they can't even see that an 05 Sprinter in 2012 isn't even 10 years old. They think if it's a 2005 and it's one minute past 2010 then it's game over and it might as well be 10 years old.
The fact is, if you keep the vehicle maintained, replace parts as necessary, you can do that for the long term, including replacing transmissions and engines and suspensions and whatever else there is, for a really, really long time, and do it cheaper than getting a new truck every 5 years. Some of those UPS delivery trucks are 20 and 30 years old. They just keep them maintained, and replace whatever needs replacing. If you don't keep the entire vehicle maintained and in good working order, then a $2000 repair might not be worth it, but if it's in good shape, $16,000 to replace virtually everything in front of the firewall, like OVM did, becomes not only worth it, but a smart, cost effective move.
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Here we go. To a Fleet operator the Sprinter is just that, another Van. He puts a driver on it and expects a return on his investment. He spent more money on a Sprinter because he expects more from his higher investment. A lot of drivers don't take care of their vehicles nowadays because "It's not theirs syndrome", or they are inexperienced and don't know how. If a driver such as yourself wants to drive and older well maintained Sprinter than go for it. Most of Landstar is older well maintained vehicles. As far as comparing this with UPS, that's rediculous. Show me another company that does what their doing. I did not mean any offense to you or OVM because of what your doing. As a fleet owner you can't do that because the money's not there to support it with hired drivers. Driving your own truck and maintaining your own truck is far different than owning several trucks with several drivers. As Rocketman stated the 05-06-07 models were top of the line, but they've gone down hill ever since. I think even you stated you wouldn't have a new one.
). Conversations concerning Sprinter vans are a HUGE misrepresentation of the facts when using numbers from one of the few year models that MB produced good vans. Those vans are no longer available as new vehicles and haven't been for years.
