Sprinter van versus box truck

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bobbyho

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Central Connecticut
Does anyone have an opinion on their Sprinter van? I currently have a Ford E350 with a Utilimaster body on it. LOVE IT. The gas prices and the mileage I get, I HATE. I think I get about 10 mpg on it. It's gasoline. I am looking at the 3500 140" wheelbase Sprinter. 20 to 25mpg,it's diesel,10000 miles between oil changes. Oh yeah, it's got the Mercedes 5 cylander in it. I have gone back and forth 25 times a day on this, I just test drove the Sprinter and of course loved it. I am thinking that maybe the way fuel prices and mileage economy with the Ford are that maybe I could scale back and not carry everything under the sun. The Sprinter is expensive 39000 with shelving on it. Has anyone bought one of these and regretted it or wished they still had a big box truck?
 
Drive the Sprinter with the weight you now carry. It is a DOG. No power!
Your probably test driving an empty van.
The extra 30 minutes a day you will spend driving around like Miss Daisy you could be billing out & paying for that higher gas.
Just raise your rates or charge for travel or a minimum for small stuff.
 
Just out of curiosity,77401 do you have one? I currently weigh in at about 9000 pounds fully loaded. I am thinking maybe I don't need to carry my Hitachi hammer drill, or a gazillion breakers, or 20 rolls of thhn (half to a quarter used)etc,etc etc. The few guys that I have talked to say it's the best investment they have made, but then again these are not all electricians.
 
I do not have one, yet I've seen more than a few running the roads. Personnaly they do not fit my style. I see parking as being a problem also. That's just me!
 
My test drive today, I tried out their turning radius. It turns like my Honda Civic. I am used to turning my Ford so I guess anything will seem like turning a car. I do hear that the Sprinter is not so great in the snow but this is supposed to have (positraction?) not sure if I got that right.
 
bobbyho said:
Just out of curiosity,77401 do you have one? I currently weigh in at about 9000 pounds fully loaded. I am thinking maybe I don't need to carry my Hitachi hammer drill, or a gazillion breakers, or 20 rolls of thhn (half to a quarter used)etc,etc etc. The few guys that I have talked to say it's the best investment they have made, but then again these are not all electricians.
Click to expand...

No I looked real close at them but bought another E-250.
Cleaned out the old one, reorganized the new with some drawers & threw out the stuff I don't use every week. And lowered the quantities of what I was carrying before. I now have more room than ever before. But I have to stay on top of inventory closer. If you can;t remember when you needed it you don't need to carry it.
 
77401, Thats what I was thinking, if I simplify the quantity, maybe I can actually save the cost of fuel seeing I would be doubling my mileage with a Sprinter. If I could figure how to post a picture I could show some shots of the truck I currently have so you could see what I am working with.
 
bobby
what I did was stock the van for one weeks of service. materials for big jobs or bids gets loaded on the way to the job only. I carry no pipe over 1" as I found I never need it for a service call.
But I can now see my floor & walk around, alittle.
 
How old is your van, and how much will it cost you to upgrade to the Sprinter? Then how much gas will that figure purchase.

For example if you bought a brand new E350 for around $21,000 there is a difference of $18,000. That buys a lot of gas. In how many years would you break even?

If your truck is fairly new and in good shape and you love it - keep it.

I considered a Sprinter, but the numbers just didn't make sense for me. My most recent purchase was a single wheel utility body cut away. It will go about 10K mi a year. I bought it from a friend and it was a year old and I paid $20,000. That additional $19,000 doesn't justify, IMO.
 
The current van is 3 years old and has 36000 miles. It is a dually and finally bult the way I wanted it. My thought is if I was to go another 2 years, I wouldn't have the value to trade in, THEN a $39,000 truck is REALLY expensive.
 
My cousin is a mechanic who owns his own shop. He raves about the quality of the Sprinter, but did caution me that he had one customer who needed a fuel pump. At this time there is only one shop in the entire state who could repair it under warranty. And it took over 2 weeks to get the part in! From Germany I guess. Fortunately that owner was an HVAC contractor with about 7 trucks, and was able to manage with one down.
 
I have driven a sprinter van now for the pass three years. I would never go back to a ford or chevy standard van. I like the head room the SHC. The ladder racks drop down so it is easier to unload then a conventional van. I have not had one problem with the van. A couple of recalls for minor items. Milage is over 20 mpg before the ladder racks and now down to 19.5 around town with 6500-7300 lbs. Loads of head room and a full adrian package makes up the cargo area. Frieghtliner gives a great warrenty. So I would buy another one tomorrow if the need was there.
 
We purchased a 5 year old Izuzu 16' box van, with a roll up side door with steps, a rear roll up door, and a 2 ton lift gate in the back.

I get 10 miles to the gallon, and have cut my trips to the supply house by half. I also cleared out my garage. All my tools are secure, my supplies are dry, and I have a weather protected place to work. All for $25k (the engine is rated for 300,000 miles. And it has a much tighter turning radius then my Dodge quad cab with an 8' bed.

Down side: you have to watch out for trees!
 
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