Car and Driver looks at 2020 Transit

[battleborn]

Over the last few years I have run into several former MB Sprinter owners now driving Transits.

 

[Graphite Dave]

Over the last few years I have run into several former MB Sprinter owners now driving Transits.

There are a lot of us on the Transit site. Very common.

 

[126v8]

Buyers remorse..no doubt. Absolutely. ...I have bought over 100 vehicles in my life. This one is by far the worst...Its close between the 1986 Trans AM with the 305 and automatic I bought back then...Out of the 100+ cars...those are the two that caused buyers remorse.

You keep bemoaning about this your “crap” van.Why don’t you just take that Transit and move on?Just consider the loss as the price to be rid of the crap van and relish your freedom

 

[Tom Tint]

This van will be a 2 year suffer. I can't justify a 20K hit to dump it after a few months of ownership. Certainly won't own it out of warranty. Somewhere in one of my past posts I mentioned that I drove a Transit for 1800 miles over 2 weeks when we were working in CO. Truck was nice but Im 6-2" and there is nowhere to put my left leg that is comfortable for long drives. The front wheel hump is in the floor where your foot would normally go. This means your leg is either bent at a uncomfortable angle, your foot is back toward the seat base, or you have to put your left foot behind and under the brake pedal to stretch your leg. I drive quite a bit. Had this not been a big deal for me, I would have bought one. Comfort wise the 2020 Sprinter power seats are night and day better than my last 14 and 16 Sprinters. I can easily do several hundred miles at a time comfortably. The only van close in comfort IMO is the Nissan NV with a power seat.

 

[126v8]

This van will be a 2 year suffer. I can't justify a 20K hit to dump it after a few months of ownership. Certainly won't own it out of warranty. Somewhere in one of my past posts I mentioned that I drove a Transit for 1800 miles over 2 weeks when we were working in CO. Truck was nice but Im 6-2" and there is nowhere to put my left leg that is comfortable for long drives. The front wheel hump is in the floor where your foot would normally go. This means your leg is either bent at a uncomfortable angle, your foot is back toward the seat base, or you have to put your left foot behind and under the brake pedal to stretch your leg. I drive quite a bit. Had this not been a big deal for me, I would have bought one. Comfort wise the 2020 Sprinter power seats are night and day better than my last 14 and 16 Sprinters. I can easily do several hundred miles at a time comfortably. The only van close in comfort IMO is the Nissan NV with a power seat.

Frankly comfort IS why I like the Sprinter.That hump in the Ford sucks.Mercedes power seats are the bomb.You can sit waay back and low.Love it

 

[Tom Tint]

Frankly comfort IS why I like the Sprinter.That hump in the Ford sucks.Mercedes power seats are the bomb.You can sit waay back and low.Love it

I agree. The 14 and 16 were no way near as comfortable. The 2020 is night and day better. ...The Transit seat and overall ergonomics are also very nice, and had it not been for that wheel hump I would have had one of them

 

[Ski Trip]

I love my 2017 144 low roof 4x4 Sprinter, but when the time comes for a new one, I would have to consider a Transit AWD. the Sprinter does not fit in parking garages, can be high maintenance in the winter with the diesel (with no real need for me to have deisel), and is even too tall for certain parkways. it's a little overkill for my needs but i've been very lucky with it, always plan ahead for those situations, and have had loads of fun. I may drive a Transit and hate it, who knows. but the Transit specs are much more in line with my needs...everything i need, nothing i don't. I will say this, the Transit is not cheap. And my 4X4 Sprinter came with a 5 year/100,000 mile factory warrantee. the Ford does not come anywhere close to that. Taking the warrantee into account, together with the sticker price of the Transit, I am way ahead on the Mercedes.

 

[2021_3500_LowRoof]

I just left the Ford dealer about a hour ago...Hopefully I can dump this VS30 ...I drove a 2021 AWD 2500 crew Transit...What a difference in refinement and overall quality control. Its shameful how MB pushed these things out for retail sale.

Ugh almost everyone does

 

[2021_3500_LowRoof]

Truck was $62500.00 MSRP.. Then another 1500/2K worth of crap added on... Hitch, brake controller, van rug interior, OEM crew van headliner. ..a few other things I'm forgetting. So lets call it 64K. Thats actually a 17K hit for 5K miles on a 2020 truck. I don't know of any dealer or other who offers unsecured financing on vehicles so I have no idea what you are talking about. As far as crossing the dealer line...Dealers bank trades they don't want with other dealers or wholesalers. The best offer they got ( presumably from a MB dealer ) was 47K.. So these things are certainly not the hot item the MB dealer tells you they are... Probably due to the overwhelmingly poor build quality of them.

So how did this turn out. Probably got a decent price for it now

 

[2021_3500_LowRoof]

This van will be a 2 year suffer. I can't justify a 20K hit to dump it after a few months of ownership. Certainly won't own it out of warranty. Somewhere in one of my past posts I mentioned that I drove a Transit for 1800 miles over 2 weeks when we were working in CO. Truck was nice but Im 6-2" and there is nowhere to put my left leg that is comfortable for long drives. The front wheel hump is in the floor where your foot would normally go. This means your leg is either bent at a uncomfortable angle, your foot is back toward the seat base, or you have to put your left foot behind and under the brake pedal to stretch your leg. I drive quite a bit. Had this not been a big deal for me, I would have bought one. Comfort wise the 2020 Sprinter power seats are night and day better than my last 14 and 16 Sprinters. I can easily do several hundred miles at a time comfortably. The only van close in comfort IMO is the Nissan NV with a power seat.

Which will shortly be discontinued...

 

[Flagster]

I'm seriously considering an awd Transit to replace our '15 4x4 144" WB NCV3.
Our sprinter has been great but it is getting to the point where I either keep it long term or divest while there is still good value...

I don't like the Transits' long overhang in extended format and the seats are the best part of the sprinter so I would have to drive a Transit first to make sure the comfort is there...

 

[2021_3500_LowRoof]

What’s the resale on transits... at this point everything is bringing in good money so it’s hard to tell

 

[126v8]

I'm seriously considering an awd Transit to replace our '15 4x4 144" WB NCV3.
Our sprinter has been great but it is getting to the point where I either keep it long term or divest while there is still good value...

I don't like the Transits' long overhang in extended format and the seats are the best part of the sprinter so I would have to drive a Transit first to make sure the comfort is there...

The long overhang and the seats are why I don’t really like the Transit.And the hump near your left foot.
Otherwise the Transit would be the bomb.Over 300hp and over 350lb ft torque.......,,,,

 

[T town]

I'm seriously considering an awd Transit to replace our '15 4x4 144" WB NCV3.
Our sprinter has been great but it is getting to the point where I either keep it long term or divest while there is still good value...

I don't like the Transits' long overhang in extended format and the seats are the best part of the sprinter so I would have to drive a Transit first to make sure the comfort is there...

Some feel the overhang is an asset. Better turning radius, check it yourself I haven’t, and you can back up over a curb in a parking lot to shorten your overall length.
But yes, the overhang will impact departure angle greatly. Air springs can be added to help mitigate this and also slightly bigger tires. Get a tow hitch and the angle lessens more.
I’m still going long and tall on my Transit because I need it to fit 4 guys and 4 bikes inside and not feel like it’s totally cramped.

 

[bajadog]

This van will be a 2 year suffer. I can't justify a 20K hit to dump it after a few months of ownership. Certainly won't own it out of warranty. Somewhere in one of my past posts I mentioned that I drove a Transit for 1800 miles over 2 weeks when we were working in CO. Truck was nice but Im 6-2" and there is nowhere to put my left leg that is comfortable for long drives. The front wheel hump is in the floor where your foot would normally go. This means your leg is either bent at a uncomfortable angle, your foot is back toward the seat base, or you have to put your left foot behind and under the brake pedal to stretch your leg. I drive quite a bit. Had this not been a big deal for me, I would have bought one. Comfort wise the 2020 Sprinter power seats are night and day better than my last 14 and 16 Sprinters. I can easily do several hundred miles at a time comfortably. The only van close in comfort IMO is the Nissan NV with a power seat.

So did you sell it? How much? Sprinter prices are high so I’m guessing you didn’t lose much?