sprinter fuel economy/ reliability

[bdrake]

fuel ratings? brake problems?

[EdHale]

I don't know about the actual fuel economy, but I have a friend that is a paramedic and their company bought 8 for ambulance service. The fuel economy was much better than the Ford diesels they replaced, but all of the, yes I said all 8, had to have engines replaced prior to 100,000 miles. Half of the 8 were saw in town use and the other 4 spent a lot of time running flat out on the highway. Again, all 8 engines were not up to the task.

[Craig M]

Wow, 0 for 8. Not a good percentage of good engines.

[twaddle]

Hi there,
I'm surprised that all 8 engines gave trouble and major trouble at that.
The Sprinter diesel is a very popular van with the parcel delivery companies here in the UK and many see mileages up in the 300,000 miles and higher.
The Sprinters are also used as Ambulances as well.
It would be interesting to know what actually happened to the engines and what was the cause of the failures.
I have used and owned a couple of older Merc vans and pick ups with the old 2.4 diesel engines, not very fast or powerful but very very reliable.

The only thing that, as far as I'm aware, to really watch with the Sprinters which are known over here as the "Licence takers" as due to the engine torque many drivers regularly get speeding tickets.

Regards

Jim
Biggar, Scotland