Parking worries?

rtking

New member
Hi Everyone,

I'm glad there's finally a Sprinter forum. I have to admit that I don't have a Sprinter yet, but I'm very, very close to pulling the trigger on a Roadtrek RS Adventurous, especially since the LA RV Show is happening now and the dealership seems very motivated to sell now. But one thing that's holding me back is my worry about finding parking wherever I go. This would be our weekend vehicle, but I think its usefulness might be tempered by its ability to be parked anywhere - especially given its 9' height. As an example, driving to Las Vegas in our SUV, we noticed that parking at the outlet mall in Primm generally wouldn't be a problem, but parking in Las Vegas itself would be problematic since we couldn't park in parking structures and there's a lack of open parking lots near the strip.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! And I'd love to hear from people who use their Sprinters on a daily or weekend basis.

Bob
 

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kanataont2000

2005 Sprinter
Bob,

We have had a Sprinter RV (PW2005) for a year now and we don't have any real problems with parking it. It is 2 feet longer than our previuous Ford version (PW 2003) and some extra thought may be required before entering some places with short parking spots. Height is not an issue because pretty all of the class B RV's exceed most indoor parking spots.

Tim
 

BaywoodBill

pre-Yuppiedom
We have a 2005 LTV Free Spirit. You're right, the garages are out. Otherwise, we park mostly in spots where we can pull through but have found that in diagonal parking (without pull through) we usually protrude just a few inches beyond the white lines. In parallel parking we generally won't fit between two cars that are parked in adjacent spaces unless they have each parked at the opposite ends of their spaces. In San Francisco recently, out in the avenues, we drove three blocks, scanning each side of the street before we finally found our space. That was pretty lucky, though because there most everyone parks their own cars in front of the houses, the lots are narrow, and every house has a driveway.
 

Zach Woods

New member
Howdy Bob -

Just chiming in to agree with everyone. I can't speak to the extra length of a 158 (I have a 140) but I am pretty sure that most parking garages would be out even for low roof 118's.

I have taken my Westfalia to cities on my travels (Montreal, Savannah, Charleston, Orlando, to name just a few) and find that parking lots and head-in curbside parking is not a big deal. We have even parallel parked it without to much trouble (but it is not as easy as the average sized sedan).

We also use our Sprinter as an occasional back-up daily driver (my wife's Subaru was out-of-commission for a while) and it is not un-wieldy for commuting or running errands.

One thing that works really well in cities is to find the public transit or tourist transport options and park there. Then, even if we are driving our Mini, we can avoid the inner-city driving and parking hassles but still enjoy the inner-city!
 

stinkyralph

New member
My 118" shorty just fits in the parking garage at work. It fits in one garage, on certain floors, and not in the other one. I have a sticker on my dash board to remind me that the clearance is 7'10" (that's what DC says). I once tried to park in a parking garage in Cambridge, and was suckered in by a high-clearance sign at the entrance. when i got to the bottom of the ramp i had to get my co-driver to get out and navigate me by hand. it was rather scary and i was glad to get out intact. I'll be sticking to open spaces from now on. I've already removed, heated, bent and reinstalled the (lousy) little antenna so it doesn't get thwacked every time i enter the garage.

in terms of length and turning radius- i can turn on a dime and parallel park like nobody's business. it feels like it has a smaller turning radius than my honda civic.

-ralph
 

hkpierce

'02 140 Hi BlueBlk Pass
Hi Everyone,

As an example, driving to Las Vegas in our SUV, we noticed that parking at the outlet mall in Primm generally wouldn't be a problem, but parking in Las Vegas itself would be problematic since we couldn't park in parking structures and there's a lack of open parking lots near the strip.
Bob
In Las Vegas I had no problem with parking my 140 HiTop w/o AC bump in several of the parking garages associated with the hotels just west of the strip. Follow the hotels' service roads, and the first floor of the garages are often higher than the upper levels.

Also, I found some open-lot parking about 2 blocks east of the strip.

One place that really got me though was Las Vegas' McCarran Airport's Arrival road. It will not accept Sprinters - but the signage is almost nil to that effect. You have to make an emergency bail to the right into the taxi lanes. For Sprinters you have to use the hotel van pickup lanes to the left.
 

michigandon

New member
We're country folk who rarely go to any parking garages, so not many worries there. I do wish I could find an automatic car wash capable of accomodating this thing though. :(
 

michigandon

New member
We do take our motorhome through the nearby Blue Beacon quite often. They've raised their prices recently though. :(

There are also several coin-op car washes in the nighborhood that can accomodate it too, but you can't blast off the undercarriage as good as an automatic can. :(
 

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bobinyelm

Member
I just use one of those car wash brushes mounted on a telescoping aluminum tube through which you can run hose water.

I use mine w/out the hose attached, and hose the van, followed by a quick wipe w/ the brush onto which I add a few drops of car-wash soap, and a quick hose rinse.

My 158 SHC takes about 15 easy minutes to wash completely (except for the top). If I do the top, using the same brush and a step ladder, that takes an additional 15 minutes.

Bob

We're country folk who rarely go to any parking garages, so not many worries there. I do wish I could find an automatic car wash capable of accomodating this thing though. :(
 

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