Doubling (well, what the hell, actually tripling) down on the OM651

[GT6MK3]

Almost 2 years ago, I decided I needed a van for work, so that I can carry big bits of stuff between sites, and when I go away I can fit in work stuff with the play stuff (I'm on call pretty much 24/7).  I  went looking for 2010+ Vito, because without the salt on the roads that Europe and the US have, they just don't have rust issues here, and the post 2008 models with the OM651 engine with the bigger bearing cap upgrade vs the  pre 2008 OM646 tend to last forever (or 500000kms, whichever comes first) if serviced regularly. (The fact that there's a tax incentive to small businesses that let me write off 100% of the purchase in the first year was deffo a factor in purchasing!).

So I picked up a cheap 2012 113CDI in a auction, had it made legal, and drove it. 

 

It had some foibles, but it was really handy for work.  Also taught SM to drive it, a bit of a mission as her entire driving career has been small Japanese hatchbacks.

All was well for a while, but 4 months in, with SM finally convinced to trust the Mercedes cruise control, disaster struck on a highway 90 kms out of town, and the engine suddenly quit while she was piloting.  We drifted to a quiet halt on the ide of the road, and recovery services were called.

A friend is owns accredited MB Service Center, so off to him it went.

The news wasn't good.  OM651's aren't supposed to spin bearings, but when they do, they do it well.

So the hunt for a replacement engine was on.  

One eventually went in.  With a new timing chain,  new glow plugs, new fuel reg, rebuilt turbo, and lots of other bits, despite being charge almost nothing for labor, the engine replacement was about 20% more than the original cost of the van. 

Ah well, it drives beautifully.

But...

It's just to small to fit all my work gear, if I also want to carry my fun stuff.  I'm on call 24/7, so I wanted it to be a mobile office, but I can't sit and work in it.

So as much as I like it, I've been wondering if if I should go bigger.  The ambulance services here in Aus pretty much all run MB Sprinters, that get run by the various states Ambo services through leasing conglomerates, then decommissioned as ambulances, and sold at auction or online.  The upside is they're well maintained and legal for 4 seats, 2 in the front and 2 in the back, and they tend to be well optioned, because the Ambo unions want they're member looked after.

The OM651 is awesome if well looked after till about 300-350 thou km's, then it need new injectors, glow plugs, fuel reg, and a often a turbo rebuild.  So this time I was targeting 200ks, and a 2016+ build, in order to get all the fun stuff like Lane awareness, blind spot mirroring, crosswind assist, and the good nav package.

I've been haunting the government auction sites for a few months, waiting to see if a bargain popped up.  There's a tax incentive again this year that makes it attractive to spend some $$ on an upgrade, but I only wanted to buy if I was getting value.  I've bid early a few times on units that have then gone for astronomical money, but nothing has been in my price range for the right KMs.  The auction are interesting theater, now and then there's a bargain, but mostly it's predictable that the cars you're watching will go within a certain range, sometimes higher, sometimes lower, but usually within about a 10-15% margin.

A 2017 ex ambulance I'd been keeping an eye on had been on a government auction site for about 3 months as a "Buy it now", at about a 20-25% premium for anyone who didn't want to wait for an auction.  It was super clean and pretty attractive at only 204000km's, no obvious defects, the kind that would normally sell quickly outside the auctions, but it hadn't.  I expected it to go fast in the auction so I logged in late, just in time to see it passed in with no bids for 2/3rds of it's "Buy it now price",  way less than they usually go for.  It's a bit of a mission getting logged in to bid, so I had only logged in to watch, and I was kicking myself, because I would have bid at the passed in price.   There was a similar one one year younger with about the same KM's coming up about an hour later in the auction, so I stayed logged in and went through the bidding rego process.  

At that point the auction the auctioneer announced that (unusually) they were bringing the Sprinter I was interested in back to Auction again.  Normally that means that someone had indicated they'll bid at least the minimum bid from the previous auction, in order to be able to then negotiate with the vendor for a suitable number for both parties.  So I stayed online.  When it came back up for auction, it was at just over 1/2 the original buy it now price. and no one bid  So I did.   

With no-one else bidding and the reserve not met (by a loooong way)e , the Auctioneer referred my bid to the vendor (a leasing company), who could reject it, accept it, or (as is normal) offer a number at which they'd sell.  I expected a call with a big number, then a negotiation.

An hour later, the auction house called, and said they'd taken my deposit, and the car was mine to pay for.

4 days later we flew to Sydney any drove it home

The back is a huge blank canvass that will get a seat for a mobile office to let me log into work from anywhere, while still carrying the toys

And the drive is no less challenging than the Vito, probably less so due to the Ambo front seats

We have a 5000km trip to QLD upcoming to see if/how I can work on the road.  If the Sprinter works out the Vito goes, if not, I should be able to turn a profit on the Sprinter...  If another OM651 lets me down, it's back to 1980-1990 ausie muscle cars.

[JohnD]

That's a bit more swish than the TRansit!    But a man needs a van, so enjoy.

Please tell us what you fit into it?

John

[BiTurbo228]

Here was me thinking you were fitting an OM615 into a Spitfire! Not as outlandish as at first glance as I've just been speaking with a chap on FB about fitting a 605 to one...

Lots of room for activities in the back though. Office down one side, workshop down the other? I've got an old zyto mini-lathe sitting in storage that would barely take up any space at all 

[Nick Jones]

That’s a big beast…. Is there a long term plan to go nomad?

Hopefully there isn’t a bad reason why it was cheap……