Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Sprinter Van

I have heard this elsewhere regarding Sprinter type vehicles. That would be a huge turn off.

Is that the only reason keeping you from buying?

Buy a Ford

And yet...: My parents bought a retirement property in Georgia several years back - pretty far from my sister and I and our families in Idaho. With their advanced age (in their 80's) we both committed to visit them 4 times a year each, on staggered schedules, to ensure their health and safety. She commissioned a Storylander in 2019, and my wife bought, as a present for me, a Winnebago Revel in 2020. Sis has near 40,000 miles and we have near 45,000 because we decided to buy a hunting property in the southeast that we visit more frequently.

Problems: 0
Recalls: 0

ALL maintenance at Mercedes dealerships. (I don't know where these internet truths come from!!???)


As an aside my wife and my main home is in pretty rural Idaho and we both drive AMG's as our primary vehicles with ZERO issues related to dealerships... Wanna bet there aren't too many ao's more remote than us from a dealer?

People go for them because they're the cheapest high-roof vans on the market and can sell under $5000 if you look hard enough. The 25 highway mpg is also a bonus.

I own a 2006 Sprinter and the parts aren't that expensive compared to other diesels. I've driven from NY to Key West and back, never broke down. The van is super easy to work on and an authorized mechanic is not required if you have basic mechanical skills.

Don't the American Pickers have a Sprinter van ? Never heard them complaining of frequent break downs.

I follow a couple chicks on IG that do the van life. They make it work.

Ford Transit is the best. Promaster pretty good too. Mercedes is far away the worst. Built out two Transits and 2 Promaters. Old Mercedes under Freightliner when diesel was cheap and diesel engines were not crippled by EPA, were fantastic. Today they are horrible.

We love van travel. Over 60,000 miles cross country. Promaster with front wheel drive handles like a minivan and gets same mileage. We aren’t huge people and prefer the bigger ones. No reservations. No schedule. Pull over anywhere. Transit is more substantial. Power steering sucks. Diesel makes no sense today. They have to run so hot to pass emissions is one big problem. Gucci prices another. And just [bleep] components in general for Mercedes.

The key is to not neglect maintainance and don't ignore check engine lights. Also, this van is the widest, allowing even a tall person to have a horizontal bed setup without hitting the walls.
One note: to handle rough roads require a seriously tough build. Even just rough fire roads will have you cringing at the sounds you hear from the back. For a nice build, bite the bullet and get a pro job. It's expensive and slow but unless you're a 12v electric expert, know how to do conversion kits, or an expert in upholstery and propane installation - you're gonna have a mess on your hands.

When I vacation out west, I see sprinters all over the place. Are the Ram ProMasters the same vehicle as a Sprinter?

They were the same until 2018 but then Ram and Mercedes went their own way. Very similar.

Sticka shock😵‍💫

Also the smell of the people living in them.

One of the women I work with has a sprinter thather and her husband travelled around in for a couple years. She’s back to take care of her elderly grandmother now, but is looking forward to getting back on the road.

Of course, the first time I met her, I had to ask:

If I ever with the lotto, a Unimog will be on the list. Dunno that I’d want one in camper, at least where I live. They don’t exactly do highway driving well, at least not any decent speed. I’d love it for runs to the hunt camp, though.

Buy a clean used one or a short bus and put a fire breathing Drivetrain in it

Heading west after being back home in Virginia visiting family, I took a frontage road off of I 40 west of Albuquerque in New Mexico. They had a dealer selling them there... They had several out front with the sticker price, printed large in the front window right out front. They went for $190k to $220K.

My son does volunteer work, teaching Explorer Scouts at an Ambulance Agency over in Medford... they went from the Ford Diesel Ambulances to the Mercedes ones. The Mercedes got better mileage. they keep their ambulance 200,000 to 250,000 miles, as they are on running or idling 24/7. My son was saying they were having to replace the Mercedes Diesel engines, two to 4 times during the 200 to 250K service life they give them on their books.

My opinion

There is no perfect solution

40' toy haulers do not interest me or my budget

Class A MH's at a kool $250K...nah

$150K Sprinter

My set up with a 20+ YO Lexus/Cruiser & tear drop works now for me under $50K

I can camp in BFE when needed and not a soul around for 50 miles

Definitely a certain appeal to that. Wife is not a camper, but I could get into have an over-the-road home.