MERCEDES-BENZ METRIS
New offering from Benz favors utility over frills
The cargo model has a sub-$30,000 base price, along with two front seats, and no side windows. If you need a work truck, it’s nearly perfect.
The folks at Mercedes-Benz would like you to consider purchasing a 2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris, especially if you have a small business and you’re a florist, or caterer, or electrician, or plumber, or handyman, or a cable company, or … well, you get the idea. Because for less than $30,000, you can purchase a cargo van the wears the famed three-pointed star.
However, a second version of the Metris is also available, a passenger van, which would be ideally suited as a limousine, taxi or hotel shuttle. Of course, you might also think of it as a perfect family shuttle. Well, it could be, but before you get too excited, a bit of background might help.
When it comes to commercial trucks, rather than sport utility vehicles, Mercedes-Benz may not be the first name that comes to mind and that’s because they’re recent arrivals.
Nevertheless, the automaker has been building trucks since 1895, although the company’s first van, the L319, didn’t debut until 1955. Mercedes-Benz has sold the full-size Sprinter van since 2003. But for smaller businesses, the Sprinter is too large.
So Mercedes-Benz has rebadged the European market Vito commercial van, endowing it with a new name that doesn’t have Godfather connotations. And while the name has changed, the van’s functionality has not.
At 202.4 inches long, the Metris is a halfinch shorter than a Honda Odyssey. But bowing to its old country origins, the Metris is 3.7 inchesin narrower and 6.8 inches higher than the Odyssey.
But it’s when you compare the Metris to its commercial van competition that the Mercedes-Benz stands apart. It’s 12.3 inches longer than the compact Ford pounds Transit more Connect payload van, capacity, offers and880 has 45 percent more towing ability. At the other extreme, the Metris is 21.7 inches shorter than the prehistoric to full-size Chevrolet Express 1500, yet carries an additional 120 pounds of payload, or 5 percent more than the Chevy. And if you need to tow something, the Metris can yank an extra 660 pounds or 15 percent more.
So yes, the Metris is muscular, but that doesn’t mean that has a huge appetite for fuel, thanks to its turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder gas engine mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission. Nevertheless, the Metris uses 91 octane fuel, although you can use 87 octane with some sacrifice in fuel economy and performance. But if you go for the good stuff, the Environmental Protection Agency predicts fuel economy of 20 mpg city, 23 mpg highway. Thoughtfully, the fuel filler door is at the lower rear edge of the driver’s door. Opening the driver’s door unlocks the fuel door; it’s clever and convenient.
Rear-wheel drive is standard; all-wheel drive is not offered, although it could be fitted in the future should demand warrant it.
Now four cylinders may not sound like a lot, but keep in mind that the four-banger makes 208 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. You might forget how few cylinders you have once underway, for the Metris never feel underpowered, yet there’s always seems to be enough power on tap, and the seven-speed automatic transmission clicks off the shifts efficiently. You’ll never guess that it weighs 4,850 pounds.
While Mercedes-Benz offers one driveline on the Metris, it does offer two models: Cargo and Passenger, and each has its own feel. While either model is remarkably poised while cornering, and remains civilized even when the road is not, soaking up the worst shocks from potholes and frost heaves, the Passenger van’s ride is noticeably better than that of the Cargo van. It’s much more civilized. The Cargo van’s ride reminds you that this is a work vehicle, with more noise, less poise, and a suspension set up engineered to handle heavy loads, not heavy friends, family or paying passengers.
The interiors differ as well. The cargo model has a sub-$30,000 base price, along with two front seats, and no side windows. If you need a work truck, it’s nearly perfect. The load floor is floor is low, while also being wide enough to carry up to 2,502 pounds of pallets. Aftermarket up-fitters should have a field day installing shelves, storage boxes and tool racks.
In contrast, the passenger version gets
glass in its sliding side doors, a rear liftgate and three rows of seats. But this is first and foremost a commercial van made to carry passengers, which explains why the second and third rows don't adjust or fold flat, and why the rear windows are fixed in place. You won't find option packages with fold-down video screens, or leather seats, or a sunroof. Instead, you'll find that options are a bit more basic, and include a sliding left-side door, tinted rear windows, eight-passenger seating, rear air conditioning unit, and electric sliding doors.
As on any Mercedes-Benz, safety hasn't been ignored; options include blind spot assist, collision prevention assist, and lane keeping assist as well as active parking assist, which parallel parks the Metris without driver input. It works as advertised, although for the uninitiated, it's hard to resist grabbing the steering wheel as it twists and turns without your help.
Given its market, you'll find the Metris's interior is durable, rather than opulent. And despite the lack of indulgent luxuries, it is very well-designed, with comfortable that are accommodatingly roomy.
Up front, the driver and passenger face a simple instrument panel, anchored by a large instrument cluster. To the right there's an expansive, flat space that houses a small infotainment screen, intuitive ventilation controls, and a pair of just-for-the-U.S. cup-holders.
If there's one item that is truly opulent on the passenger van, it's the steering wheels, which is so luxurious, you'll want to stroke it rather than hold it. It's token gesture, meant to elevate the feel of the vehicle while maintaining the Metris's primary mission as a durable, long-lasting commercial vehicle meant to shuttle cargo or passengers heading to a hotel or airport, not after-school soccer practice.
So while you might be tempted to call it a minivan, the folks at Mercedes-Benz would rather you not. And while minivan sounds better than rug rat wagon, or family bus, there is a better name to call it: your next vehicle.