Hey Scotty,
A buddy of mine was looking at a cargo van, but which ones are the best cargo vans of them all, RAM Promaster, Chevy Express, GMC Savana, Nissan NV200, Ford Transit, or Mercedes Benz Sprinter?
Clarification: Best in terms of what?
Enter @mountainmanjoe
Which one is gonna last the longest, the most practical, etc. Just wanted to hear from you guys
What are you going to use it for? The RV conversion folks I know say the Mercedes is the best, but the Transit is the more affordable choice. Priorities/ranking for delivery or on-site work vans could be entirely different.
My buddy needs it for hauling construction equipment and materials. There a good amount of options, but I think the Mercedes and Nissan come close to each other and the transit is good but I heard they had some problems and the GM twins are pretty darn old.
Go for the Savanna or Express. They are simple and practical - good at everything.
My brother in law got a Savanna and he is loving it.
I would rather have reliable and "outdated" than "new" and unproven (like the pickups with AFM and other nonsense). He needs a dependable work truck, not a sporty high tech coupe.
I wouldn't touch Nissan with a 40ft pole.
The Nissan is decent because it's not a CVT or 4 cylinder. It has the 5.6 V8 or 5.0 V8 and it has RWD-based 5 or 7-speed auto transmissions which are much better than the CVTs. I am either deciding between that or the Mercedes Sprinter Van Diesel. The transits are not that great in terms of long life and the GM twins are outdated and junky
Yes I already read your copy+past responses. You are deciding for your buddy?
AVOID the RAM. the RAM is a pile of absolute total garbage it's a FIAT DUCATO - a very unreliable vehicle.
The Chevy, Ford and Mercedes are all good vans.
I'd get a used manual Ford Transit diesel, as you can get them for very cheap.
sadly no diesel or manual transit van is available here in Canada. My buddy and I are not into GM. So it's down to Mercedes or Nissan.
The Sprinter is a proper good van.
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The NV200 is a bad van,
some people do get lucky but It’s not a good van in general.
The NV200 shares its platform with the Nissan micra (Groupe Renault B platfrom)
The automatic tranny is a CVT (Or an equality terrible 4 speed auto) with either the Nissan Juke petrol engine (known to not the a super reliable engine) or a European diesel (don’t know if it was available in Canada)
You can’t compare a Nissan car based MPV thing to a proper van built by Mercedes.
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If you’re alright with a smaller work vehicle.
Personally, all work vehicles I use are Ford Focus wagons. The DuraTec manual is resonantly reliable (until about 140k miles).
I usually buy them with 50-70k miles, use them for 90-70k miles are resell them for a couple grand less.
With the rear seats folded I have a 1.75 meter long cargo space and it’s usually enough for almost anything I use my wagon for.
So if by any chance a wagon can fit your needs, it may not be a bad idea…
The Express is junky but still a decent van. The Promaster is basically a Euro Fiat badged as a Ram, I'd avoid it. The Sprinter is a good van but its a Mercedes so expect $$$$ maintenance. Transits are OK but the Sprinter diesel is the one you want in that class. Nissan could be alright for a while but won't be reliable long-term. MO its Express/Savana vs Sprinter (diesel prefered), and your budget would decide which one it is.
I was thinking of recommending the Nissan or Ther Merc. The Nissan is good because you can get an NV with the 5.6 V8 (good engine) and a 5 or 7-speed auto that is for RWD (the RWD-based 5 speed is bulletproof as Scotty says). The Merc is more versatile and gets better Gas mileage, but it's gonna cost more to maintain. The GM twins are pretty junky, old and outdated, and the Transit Van I heard had some problems, so I think I would recommend the Nissan or Mercedes to my buddy.
That sounds right. The issue I had with the Nissan is because I thought it was a FWD CVT combo which is troublesome but the RWD 7 speed has been being used in Infinitis for a while and they are pretty dependable, but its still a Nissan. I think if he has more money, a DIESEL Sprinter would be his best choice.
Here is what I know Scotty says about them from memory:
The Chevy Astro and Express vans are decent vans compared to GM's cars
The Transit is an OK van, they can be alright and some customers are happy with what they get but they do tend to have problems as they age
The Sprinter van is a good van, especially the diesels, the gasoline not so much.
The Nissan vans aren't that good, buy a Toyota Sienna as well.**
Not what Scotty says, but I'm telling you, forget about the RAM. Its just a Fiat Ducato, as a direct competitor the Sprinter and Transit are MUCH better. M family once borrowed it's brother, the Fiat Doblo (PROmaster city) and it fell apart. Its a couple years old and the door wouldn't open for gods sake.
**I think he misunderstood this one so I can't back it up, I doubt your friend wants more than 10-15 years out of a van. If so, he should go to Germany and pick up a VW Transporter because none of them will last more than that long because this is 'merca.
Depends on if he is going new or used. The best cargo van of all times is the Ford Econoline, so if he is going used then definitely get an Econoline. If he is going brand new theb it is a tossup between the Ford Transit, Chevrolet Express, and GMC Savanna.
He is going new
Do a search on this forum to see thoughts on all these vans.
