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MY2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris Passenger Van

Mercedes-Benz

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MY2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris Passenger Van

Mercedes-Benz

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MY2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris Passenger Van

Mercedes-Benz

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MY2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris Passenger Van

Mercedes-Benz

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MY2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris Passenger Van

Mercedes-Benz

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Craig & Deanne Conover - Sunday Drive

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It’s not often that we get a van for our test drive as it seems the SUV has conquered that segment of the family hauler, and when we do, it comes with all the bells and whistles available to keep mom and dad happy while entertaining the kiddies wherever the road might take them.

Not so this week with the passenger version of Mercedes Metris work van, this is a basic, no-frills version of a van that has seating for up to eight if configured right, (our tester came ready for seven with only two seats on the center row) it acted and played exactly like a work van, just as we would have expected.

It would be a great little van for a contractor of some sort that needed to keep all his needs for the job in the back and yet take one or two workers with him to the job site. The inside floor was covered in a non-slip rubber like material, which Craig found to be very handy when he loaded some sound gear in the back for a weekend party at his cousin’s home. With this type of material he didn’t have to tie anything down for the short, 5-mile drive, and it all stayed right where he loaded it in.

It seemed fitting that Craig would also let a couple of his clients take a look at the van as it would be the perfect option for their business. So off he went to see Richard Borget at Dave’s Bernina who currently has a small Ford Transit Van, which he likes to use to haul sewing machines and other things between the Provo store and St. George location.

After just a few short blocks, Richard was very taken with the Mercedes option; it had more space lengthwise and widthwise than the Transit van. With its very straight sides and longer wheel base it is more the size of the average minivan where the Transit van is shorter and not quite as wide, made using it in a very urban setting very handy, where small is the word of the day.

The extra row of seating would also come in handy if he wanted to take a short trip with the family, yet he could still load up the rear with the third seat out to get plenty of sewing machines in and still take three employees with him to a demonstration if needed.

The seats we did find however were not as easy to remove as we would have hoped, almost taking two people to get them in an out especially the third row with seating for three. Unlike most minivans that now feature some kind of stow and go to keep the seats hidden in the floor if needed.

The Metris van has the largest cargo hold in the segment coming in at 186 cubic feet of space, next closest competitor would be the Ram Promaster City at 136.7 cubic feet. The Metris has the smallest engine in the segment featuring a 4 cylinder 2.0 liter engine that produces 208 horsepower and 258 ft.-lbs. of torque.

This is the smallest offering in the segment with all the others featuring a V6 engine and more horsepower, yet during the week even with four friends in the back we never felt underpowered or lacking for horsepower even on the freeway. The seven-speed transmission did a great job of slipping through the gears and holding speed.

Yet even with the smaller motor, the Metris has the largest capability for hauling stuff and people around at over 2,500 pounds. This would be one reason that they are extremely popular with shuttle companies, especially those that move folks from home to the airport and back.

In fact, the Metris will haul up to a 5,000-pound trailer when equipped with a towing package far more than any of the completion that were lucky to be able to pull — only 2,000 pounds. For such a small van this is huge ability and would come in very handy for the contractor that also had to have a trailer with him, for most jobs it would make even more sense than a truck, we figured that it would be easy to get a 4×8 sheet of plywood in and stack them pretty deep with that kind of payload.

The rear barn doors that came on our test ride would open very wide and offered a cavernous 53-plus inches to put things in. The largest the competition has to offer in the Nissan NV200 is 49.9, and none of them get to 96 inches to allow an 8-foot-long item, another plus for the Metris.

When driving the Metris, there are not really any of the creature comforts that one would expect from Mercedes, even in the passenger version we had. The only option that was included in ours were automatic sliding side doors to make it seem more like a normal minivan. There was a lot of plastic on the dash and very few soft touch points around the vehicle.

Cup holders were almost non existent and were an added option for the rear occupants that needed to be installed in the seats if wanted. Adding some extra creature comforts like faux leather seats, a rear backup camera, cruise control, heated electric side mirrors, nicer wheels, blind spot assist along with the sliding doors could easily push the price well past $40,000. At that point, we certainly felt that the average family would want to opt for something more along the Chrysler Pacifica line where at that price point leather, video in the rear and a vacuum would all come standard.

Make no mistake about it, this is a no-frills van, even with the Mercedes name plate it really is still meant to be used in the work place and for the occasional people hauler, such as Craig’s friend Richard would use the van. Work and stuff in the back and moving workers from location to location on special occasions.

But if works for a lot of different companies because of the larger area in the back and the ability for the Metris to navigate an urban environment very easily, we found through the week that we could get in and out of tight parking just like driving a larger sedan. We got a respectable 22.4 mpg for the week which we considered good for such a heavy van.

If a larger yet still small work van or family hauler that needs to be used for work a look at the Metris would be in order, see them today at Mercedes of Lindon, 530 South Lindon Park Drive, Lindon, Phone: (801) 222-4400.

Base Price: $32,900

Price as Driven: $35,415