Recently, on one of our family trips up to Portland I dropped our Sprinter off at Mercedes Benz of Wilsonville to have the driver's airbag replaced (for the airbag recall) and I decided to also have a small water leak investigated and repaired.
The airbag was replaced on day one, however the small leak, that showed up under the passenger floor mat was still a mystery when it was time for us to return home, after a couple of days. I decided to pull the plug on the leak investigation, as I really wanted my Sprinter back and I was informed that the technician who was working on it was out sick. So we returned on our five hour trip back to our coastal home in our Sprinter.
To the dealer's credit, they did give us a fairly new Metris passenger Van to drive around while our Sprinter was in the shop. However, keeping the Sprinter in the shop any longer meant I would be driving from home on an eight to ten hour round trip, to do the eventual exchange, not good.
I learned quite bit about the Metris during its brief two day's time with my family. My hunch was confirmed, that the Metris drove like a good German car ought to. It took the corners with confidence and the ride was smooth, while feeling heavy and secure on the freeway. I also liked the shape of the steering wheel. It was comfortable and provided very good grip for my hands, unlike any manufacturer OE steering wheel I can recall. The seats also seemed very comfortable, as Mercedes seats are known to be. Lastly, the interior was quiet in town and on the freeway, the premium, gasoline fed engine, proved to be adequate in its power output.
On the downside, I’d say that my wife and I were left unimpressed with how bleak the dash first appeared. There were no contrasting colors or great textures to make you feel like you were in a Mercedes, just rather sparse, black blandness. This rig is all about business and the interior (and the exterior) will remind you of that, but done so with German efficiency.
My biggest gripe however is that the there was, to my surprise No telescopic steering adjustment. Due to that huge omission, I was never as comfortable with the driving position as I thought I should be. The more I thought about that ridiculous design blunder, the more frustrated I felt.
The rear row seats first appeared to be more user friendly than the Sprinter's. I was mistaken, as I accidentally discovered how easy they would come out, with a light touch to the release lever. They were a bear to reinstall. In fact I was just looking for a place to attach a bungee cord to, while securing my son's wheelchair in the back cargo section, then the seat released. Fortunately, I was still at the dealership service garage when this happened. I tried, in desperation for another five minutes to reinstall the seat before three, young male employees took over for me. A good twenty minutes later they about had this brain puzzle figured out, but it certainly wasn't intuitive, as it first appeared it would be. I discovered that Mercedes engineers still have yet to make a rear passenger seat that is easy to install and remove. My 2015 Sprinter's rear benchseat is a huge pain to remove but is fairly simple to install, the Metris is the opposite, easy (almost too easy) to remove, but apparently a royal pain to reinstall.
If the question was ever raised to me if I would buy this Metris Van, I'd have to say no. The reasons are simple. First, this little van runs on 91 octane, not diesel. I'm really only interested in diesel powered vehicles. Secondly, the lack of telescopic steering in a modern day car, especially a German car is unforgivable, and the steering wheel is too close to the dash for my longer legs to ever be truly comfortable without. As far as the rear seats go, I'd probably learn a fix for that, as I have with the Sprinter's rear row seats. The van did have dual powered sliding doors. If they offered a diesel option, like the Sprinter and offered telescopic steering, than I could live with it, but not to replace my Sprinter.
The airbag was replaced on day one, however the small leak, that showed up under the passenger floor mat was still a mystery when it was time for us to return home, after a couple of days. I decided to pull the plug on the leak investigation, as I really wanted my Sprinter back and I was informed that the technician who was working on it was out sick. So we returned on our five hour trip back to our coastal home in our Sprinter.
To the dealer's credit, they did give us a fairly new Metris passenger Van to drive around while our Sprinter was in the shop. However, keeping the Sprinter in the shop any longer meant I would be driving from home on an eight to ten hour round trip, to do the eventual exchange, not good.
I learned quite bit about the Metris during its brief two day's time with my family. My hunch was confirmed, that the Metris drove like a good German car ought to. It took the corners with confidence and the ride was smooth, while feeling heavy and secure on the freeway. I also liked the shape of the steering wheel. It was comfortable and provided very good grip for my hands, unlike any manufacturer OE steering wheel I can recall. The seats also seemed very comfortable, as Mercedes seats are known to be. Lastly, the interior was quiet in town and on the freeway, the premium, gasoline fed engine, proved to be adequate in its power output.
On the downside, I’d say that my wife and I were left unimpressed with how bleak the dash first appeared. There were no contrasting colors or great textures to make you feel like you were in a Mercedes, just rather sparse, black blandness. This rig is all about business and the interior (and the exterior) will remind you of that, but done so with German efficiency.
My biggest gripe however is that the there was, to my surprise No telescopic steering adjustment. Due to that huge omission, I was never as comfortable with the driving position as I thought I should be. The more I thought about that ridiculous design blunder, the more frustrated I felt.
The rear row seats first appeared to be more user friendly than the Sprinter's. I was mistaken, as I accidentally discovered how easy they would come out, with a light touch to the release lever. They were a bear to reinstall. In fact I was just looking for a place to attach a bungee cord to, while securing my son's wheelchair in the back cargo section, then the seat released. Fortunately, I was still at the dealership service garage when this happened. I tried, in desperation for another five minutes to reinstall the seat before three, young male employees took over for me. A good twenty minutes later they about had this brain puzzle figured out, but it certainly wasn't intuitive, as it first appeared it would be. I discovered that Mercedes engineers still have yet to make a rear passenger seat that is easy to install and remove. My 2015 Sprinter's rear benchseat is a huge pain to remove but is fairly simple to install, the Metris is the opposite, easy (almost too easy) to remove, but apparently a royal pain to reinstall.
If the question was ever raised to me if I would buy this Metris Van, I'd have to say no. The reasons are simple. First, this little van runs on 91 octane, not diesel. I'm really only interested in diesel powered vehicles. Secondly, the lack of telescopic steering in a modern day car, especially a German car is unforgivable, and the steering wheel is too close to the dash for my longer legs to ever be truly comfortable without. As far as the rear seats go, I'd probably learn a fix for that, as I have with the Sprinter's rear row seats. The van did have dual powered sliding doors. If they offered a diesel option, like the Sprinter and offered telescopic steering, than I could live with it, but not to replace my Sprinter.
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