Back in 2011 we were renting Ford Vans to get our band and equipment around the Southeast USA. It took 2 van, a passenger and an equipment van, both burning gas, tools and rental fees. We looked into purchasing a van and found it would be vastly cheaper, even though we would need a trailer for equipment. (Remember: Almost all rentals prohibit towing a trailer, hence 2 vans)
We test drove the Fords and the Chevys but were not really happy with either. Lots of road noise, a fight to keep driving straight in any wind, and really poor gas milage. We were driving past a Mercedes dealership and saw the Sprinters out front. They were closed (Sunday) so we looked expecting the price to be way out of our range. BIG surprise...they were only $8,000 more than the other vans, were bigger and had enough room (in the 170) for passengers and equipment. Win, Win! We ended up with a 2012 2500 170 12-Passenger van off the lot and got a decent deal. It worked perfectly for our needs and served us well for 8 years.
We felt it was time to upgrade before the van might start exhibiting any problems (we need total reliability) and found lots of new vans have been released since our last purchase. The Ford Transits, Nissans and the 2019 Sprinter. All were far better than the old Fords and Chevys we had tried before. Out of all of them, the Passenger Sprinter still provided the highest quality feel, tightness and least road noise. The bonus was the addition of the MBUX system and all the high-tech features like adaptive-cruise, lane assist, and many more. Add our experience with the 2012 with almost zero issues sold me. Unfortunately, Amazon ordered over 20,000 vans and getting one would prove to be a challenge. Especially a custom order. Last January, we put a deposit down on a 2019 2500 170 15-passenger Sprinter fully loaded with the exception of the 4x4. In June, we finally got a build date, in August. Right before it was built, we got word the red metallic color we wanted was not available so we changed to the Tenorite Grey Metallic. They also removed the electric sliding door and LED lighing due to technical issues. It was built the first week of August and finally delivered just before October.
The color is actually really nice and I don't know what I am missing with the LED lights. I really do miss the electric sliding door as it is very hard to close consistantly and get the electric step to retract.
The Driver's door was difficult to close so the dealer adjusted it and it works fine now. I had an issue with the MercedesPRO account on the MBUX system but it was a configuration error on their end that was fixed once they figured it out.
Other than that, we have really enjoyed the van. I removed a 3-seat row of seats in the back and moved the 4-row seat up a row. (now a 12 passenger). I added a shelf over the driver/co-driver, shelves down the driver's side of the van over the windows and added a partition behind the rear seats and covered the windows with a cage to keep the equipment in the back. Added L-Track to the walls in the back to strap in the equipment. A few little additions like adding mirrors to some of the head-rest backs so the girls can apply makeup during the trip and hooks on the passenger side of the partition for hanging clothes. They hang behind the rear seats in the 5" gap between the partition and the seats.
The Sprinter works perfectly for our needs. One consideration we had was our instruments need to stay in the climate controlled part of the van. Violins, Cellos and upright Bass don;t live long in a trailer so the 170 Sprinter eliminates the need for a trailer. We did add a hitch to the van, just in case we ever do need more equipment space.
My wife is always complaining about the horns in the vans. She thinks they should be louder and scarier, being a huge van and all. I removed the front grille and replaced the 'wimpy' horn with a 150db train horn. My wife loves it. Other cars stop in their tracks when we blow it at them for pulling out in front of us. Sounds like death is imminent.
We also negotiated the first 4 service intervals in the price. We have purchased 9 vehicles from this dealership group so they take care of us. We got the van for several thousand dollars off MSRP and we got the 2.9% financing special MB was offering.
The last thing I have planned for it at this time are floor mats for the Driver and co-driver. WeatherTech just released to mats for the cargo van, but said the Passenger van mats will be coming soon.
If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them. I didn't spend enough time test driving the other makes to really comment on them beyond my specific needs, but I pretty much know the 2019 Passenger van inside and out.