ProMaster, Sprinter, Transit - Most Reliable Cargo Van?

I am in the market for a new full sized cargo van. My sense is the decision comes down to ProMaster, Sprinter, or Transit. Do you own one of these vans? If yes I would love to hear about your experience with respect to the vehicle's reliability.

I did own a sprinter with 90k miles on it for a short time until it needed an entire emission system rebuild. Dealer quoted 8k. From what I have heard, it’s a common ailment. If I were to do it again I would get a transit, even with the driveshaft recall issues. 

Chevy express with a Fiberine Hightop! Van has been around for over two decades and there’s a mechanic in every podunk town that knows how to work on them. Not so with the others.

I owned a Promaster and got rid of it I had so many problems with it. Refused to buy a Transit as Ford wouldn’t fix the air box water leak that many jerryrig a fix for with a $2 wash tub from Wal-mart. Sprinters have their own set of issues, mainly repair costs. 

• I hate the transit, I get stuck all the time ,long trips were hard, and it was a gas guzzler. The back up camera is great. The pro master is front wheel drive that's huge for me. And the diesel gets great gas milage and awsome horsepower and torque. I'm curious what climbing costies issues were? I assume nothing major.

Left me and/or my wife stranded several times. Plus had a 1/2” gap near the drivers rear wheel that let water and road grime into the rocker panel area.

FCA handled so poorly I had to hire a lawyer. I’ll never own a FCA product again! Which is unfortunate because I really liked the Ram Trucks.

There’s a reason the Promaster is the cheapest...

man, i feel like every person that i know who owns any of those vans is either:
1) working on it.
2) trying to get it un-stuck.
3) hitchhiking because it broke down.
4) trying to catch a ride with someone because it is stuck or not running.

I've got the Transit and love it. Excellent mileage/power ratio with the 3.5L Ecoboost. Once I put off road tires on it I didn't have many issues with getting stuck. Higher quality build than Promaster without a doubt and not as expensive to maintain as the Sprinter. No factory 4x4 option is a big downfall compared to the Sprinter but aftermarket options bring it nearly to the same cost as a new Sprinter 4x4 with better quality it seems. The HR Transit has the best interior height of all three options. The only issues i've had:

One failed turbo at 60xxx miles, covered under dealership warranty.
Replaced ABS sensors F&R at 80xxx miles.

hmmm, those seem like substantial issues...  i recently overheard some guys talking and one guy said that he hasn't had any problems getting to the crags in his van, then the other guy said "yeah, that's because i always drive."

slim wrote: hmmm, those seem like substantial issues...  i recently overheard some guys talking and one guy said that he hasn't had any problems getting to the crags in his van, then the other guy said "yeah, that's because i always drive."

For an Admin, Slim, it's unfortunate how keen you are on spamming this thread. 

Pros/Cons of the Promaster:
Pros:

1. It is the cheapest.
2. It gets decent mileage.
3. Dodge dealers are everywhere and it is very easy to find parts for. Shares parts with many other Dodge models.

1. It doesn't have pre-drilled holes, which is a huge plus when building it out.
2. The rear axle hangs down super low and has the lowest net ground clearance.
3. After perusing forums for 6 months, most people have more warranty and build quality issues with the Promaster. 
4. If you're over 6 foot 1 and want to stand up WITH insulation, the roof is not tall enough.
5. For me, FWD sucks off-road.
6. Personally the entire thing felt cheaply made and coupled with all the issues I read about, seemed like it wasn't built to last.
7. Narrowest internal wall-to-wall dimensions if you are tall and want to sleep East to West IF you build out the walls the same as other models. Note: I measured 2 vans that used the same insulation and roughly same siding.

1. Tallest roof if you are tall.
2. Ford dealers are everywhere and easy to get parts from. Shares parts with many other Ford models.
3. Eco boost engine is the shit. Very reliable, great power/torque curve. Lots of people get ~20mpg driving smartly with these things.
4. Pre-drilled mounting holes. Easiest to build given how Ford constructs the various panel walls. Insulating one is much more straightforward and you get a larger baffle area.
5. Backup camera and BT radio are now standard options.
6. This platform has been around for a long time in Europe.

1. They have only been in the U.S. since 2015 so there are not as many cheap used ones.
2. Eco Boost option is $2500+
3. The longest wheelbase doesn't move the rear axle. Can be problematic on very steep gradients.
4. The 3.7 V6 is very meh. Not bad, not amazing.
5. Options are expensive if ordering new.
6. Some people seriously dislike RWD for whatever reason.

1. You can find a used one with high miles for very good prices. Many are already built out to save you time.
2. The platform has been available for public purchase for a very long time. All of the issues are, at the very least, known and well-documented.
3. Huge community as a result of ^
4. LWB moves the rear axle.
5. 4x4 option if you think that matters.
6. Solid diesel option.
7. Lots of upfitter kits/conversion parts.

1. Maintenance and parts cost. Good luck finding replacement parts in random towns if you are from the States. Parts are also more expensive and often have to order. It's nice to have a Ford or Dodge in the U.S. as there is a dealer in almost every cow town and the parts are shared with other vehicles.
2. Apparently have a lot of rust issues if from wetter climates.
3. More people seem to switch away from Sprinters to ProMasters and Transits than vice versa. Probably for the above reasons.
4. Diesel engines are expensive to rebuild because of various emissions-related protocols/issues.

I had a crummy 2004 sprinter from a fleet, so take it with a grain of salt (cost $8,500 w/ 175,000 miles), but that was probably the poorest purchase of my life. I had a long series of things go wrong with it. For me, it was really challenging to work on that engine myself (although I'm not necessarily mechanically gifted). And when I ran into something I couldn't fix myself, it was outrageously expensive. That said, there really are a ton of amazing resources and video for working on the rig yourself. You hear all the talk of sprinters going to 400K, but I don't buy it. And if it is, it probably requires a whole lot of money. Maybe I'm just jaded from my own experience.

I was living in a previa before that and I regret getting rid of that thing (I think I just got caught up in the van fad of wanting more). Simple minivans are easy to work on, cheap if you can't do it yourself, and toyotas will actually run forever. Don't forget why vans are great in the first place - you get to save money, have experiences, simplify, and have a shitton of fun. For me (and my pocket book), I've learned that these crazy van setups don't actually contribute to those goals at all. 

This is an excellent thread, as it uncovers the slimy underbelly that is the Van Life. I think if I ever do the van thing I will go with my personal favorite, the Toyota Sienna and just have a simple futon, some storage, and that's it.

1984 GMC vandura

Brent D wrote: I did own a sprinter with 90k miles on it for a short time until it needed an entire emission system rebuild. Dealer quoted 8k. From what I have heard, it’s a common ailment. If I were to do it again I would get a transit, even with the driveshaft recall issues. 

This is a common issue in fleet vehicles that have spent a lot of time idling and since fleets are the major source of used sprinters, it comes up a lot.

Anybody out there got a Nissan NV? What sucks about those?

Karsten Walker wrote: Pros/Cons of the Promaster:
...
Narrowest internal wall-to-wall dimensions if you are tall and want to sleep East to West

Karsten, I don't think you are right about this. I'm not sure what the published specs are but my promaster (3500 extended) measured 6'4" wall to wall before insulation. I am 6' tall and comfortably sleep east/west even with insulation and wall paneling. It is one of the major reasons we chose the promaster over the others. I know that the sprinter is narrower. Not sure about the transit.

Mike Marmar wrote:

Karsten, I don't think you are right about this. I'm not sure what the published specs are but my promaster (3500 extended) measured 6'4" wall to wall before insulation. I am 6' tall and comfortably sleep east/west even with insulation and wall paneling. It is one of the major reasons we chose the promaster over the others. I know that the sprinter is narrower. Not sure about the transit.

The sprinter is definitely the narrowest.

Mike Marmar wrote:

Karsten, I don't think you are right about this. I'm not sure what the published specs are but my promaster (3500 extended) measured 6'4" wall to wall before insulation. I am 6' tall and comfortably sleep east/west even with insulation and wall paneling. It is one of the major reasons we chose the promaster over the others. I know that the sprinter is narrower. Not sure about the transit.

I measured both from where the wall paneling would be once flush and insulated. So, YMMV depending on how you build it out. It was wider than the Sprinter by an inch, narrower than the Transit

R. Moran wrote: Anybody out there got a Nissan NV? What sucks about those?

Poor space utilization. If you measure front to back end-to-end you'll notice that massive nose takes up a lot more % of space than other cargo vans.

Not every  Dodge dealer can work on a Promaster. Not sure what the deal is, but I ran into this when I had mine.

And it does have predrilled holes. That’s how I installed the bed platform 

It does have some holes, but nothing compared to the Transit, which are pre-tapped in many locations an more numerous. Not a major point, but somewhat nice. I found the shape of the Transit interior easier to insulate and supposedly owners of both report that the Transit ends up warmer and quieter as it has slightly more baffling.