Well, E and I have an announcement to make. After many months of excitement and anticipation, we can finally introduce the latest addition in our lives.

Photos of the bundle of joy in the womb and after delivery.

We’re now the proud owners of a 2016 gasoline powered, extended high top Ford Transit with 20,000km. It’s a new house! And a new office! And a new vehicle! I’m going go over the factors that informed our purchase but before I do that here’s a photo of the new digs complete with the old van lurking behind it.

Now BUCKLE UP (*groan*) because I’m not going to Dodge (*grooooaan*) excess information about our Transit-tion (*shoots self*). Now let’s Sprint (*picture a ghost puking*) to the conclusions together.

The Cost of Maintenance

Transit: ~ $500 / year (assuming 4 oil changes, 1 tune up)

Sprinter: ~$1,500 / year (more filter and oil changes, plus fuel additive)

New parts for Fords are readily available but parts for Mercedes Benz need to be shipped. Shipping = delays, higher prices, and potentially lost income.

Longevity

Transit: Once you hit the 200-250,000 km mark, trouble starts a’ brewin’.

Sprinter: Should keep on trucking for 500,000 miles or more if diligently cared for. This is partly why used models with high mileage still command surprisingly high prices.

Winter Survival

Transit: Can be started with a regular booster battery. Can comfortably withstand temperatures of at least -20 C. Forgetting to plug in the block heater once in a while won’t lead to disaster.

Sprinter: Requires a specialized, more expensive booster battery. Struggles with extreme cold starts and needs lengthy idling time to warm up. Once started in extreme cold weather, should be run on the highway for at least 20 minutes. Short starts and stops for errands should be avoided unless you can keep the engine running. Needs 30 seconds of idling time before shutoff (even in the summer). Watery fuel from a low quality gas station will gel and work its way through the entire engine which is a horrible experience.

See a previous post about how to manage a diesel in the winter.

Comfort

Transit: Runs quiet and smooth.

Sprinter:

Purchase Price (2017)

$41,500 – Transit (gasoline), 3.7L TI VCT

$47,500 – Transit (diesel), 3.L, I-5, Powerstroke, turbo

$48,600 or $51,200 – Sprinter (diesel), 2.1L 4 cyl, BlueTEC or 3.0L V6 BlueTEC

All are extended high tops, baseline models, before taxes.

The Cost of Fuel

Gasoline: 91.7 – 130.7 cents a litre

Diesel: 99.3 – 125.7 cents a litre

Diesel has historically been cheaper than gasoline but lately that gap seems to be getting smaller so who knows what the future has in store.

Rates shown were the average cost for February 2017, lowest to highest price per province.

Sources: Gasoline – Stats Canada, Diesel – Stats Canada

Conclusions

Every vandweller‘s situation is unique and ours is thus: Lots of travelling (~40,000km/year), months of extreme cold (down to the -40s C), many poorly paved or gravel roads, and lots of time spent alone in very remote areas. With remoteness comes the inability to ask someone for a boost, and the difficulty in getting filters replaced at the correct time.

Other drawbacks with the Sprinter:

Hard to find qualified mechanics

Mercedes parts have to be ordered in

Gas stations in remote areas don’t always offer diesel

Diesel in remote gas stations can be poor quality

Lots of extra effort to keep the engine warm in the winter

Conventional booster batteries were too weak

The ride was loud (couldn’t talk at a normal level)

The ride was bumpy (after a day of driving it felt like I was vibrating)

Time spent coordinating maintenance could have been spent running our business

Lack of reliability and peace of mind (no warranty on a used van)

It stinks to have to choose between practicality and longevity, but that’s what we did.

Earned money that was previously spent on things specific to the Sprinter is now going towards the extra cost of fuel for the Transit. E calculated that we’re likely to get around 66% of the fuel economy of the Sprinter, totalling ~$2,500 per year. But when you factor in the money saved from a year’s worth of repairs, maintenance and specialized parts for the Sprinter that figure becomes ~$1,500.

In four years that adds up to $6,000 (math!) and it’s at this point where the lower up-front purchase price of a new Transit catches up with the higher purchase price of a new Sprinter and you start “losing” money on the Transit because of fuel consumption. So the question for us became: How long did we intend to vandwell? For our circumstances, 4-6 years is plenty.

Just like the initial purchase of the Sprinter, we’re taking a chance. And as we did with the last vehicle, we’ll collect stats on the van’s performance and see how it all pans out.

And the Sprinter? It was gutted and is now for sale as an insulated cargo van with a very nice floor. Want to buy it?

For more comparisons see a handy dandy article about the Transit, Sprinter and ProMaster written by Car And Driver.

Want to see the build?

Van conversion construction photos.