Mercedes people carrier is a multi-purpose van

Besides being an eight seater van, the V-Class Mercedes people carrier comes built with a 2500cc diesel engine, making its fuel consumption reasonable. Photo by Roland D. Nasasira

When I see Desh Kananura’s V-Class (V250d) Mercedes Benz people carrier, his employees are offloading new rims from the car as others on the side await loading. Because the car boot is small, the middle and rear car seats have been tilted, with some rims placed on top of the bent seats.
The V-Class Mercedes Benz is shaped like the Toyota Alphard, Nissan Elgrand, Toyota Regius and the Volkswagen Transporter 6.

The Mercedes Benz people carrier is not just a family car with a seating capacity of eight passengers but a multi-purpose van you can use to do a number of things. For instance, Kananura says he drives it to public functions, funerals and also uses the same car to take his children to school.

“This car can serve as a business van where you can use the inbuilt tables at the back to do office work while in the field. You can also conduct a meeting in the car by turning the rear seats to face each other. It is a moving office and a boardroom,” he says.
Specifications
Besides being an eight seater van, the V-Class Mercedes people carrier comes built with a 2500cc diesel engine, making its fuel consumption reasonable. Its pure leather seats have got arm rests on ether sides.

It is not only spacious when you tilt the back seats, but it also has the park assist, reverse and side cameras that give you side and rear views of where you are parking, especially in reverse mode.

It also has the dynamic, comfortable and standard drive modes and soft touch navigation in the centre and is a five-door car, with opening of side doors by press of a button.

Safety features
The V-Class Mercedes has android play that allows you to use the car main screen for Google maps to locate your destination. This saves you from phone Google maps distruction while driving to allow you stay alert on the road. It also comes with front and side airbags and safety seatbelts attached to each of the seats.

Service and maintenance
Kananura advises that service and maintenance of the Mercedes people carrier is dependent on how you use it. However, its maintenance is more of standard car service where you replace car fluids such as engine oil, fuel, air and oil filters as well as brake pads.

For instance, he services his car after three to four months because it covers more mileage during this period. On average, it costs approximately Shs300,000.

Stability
Even at a high speed, the V-class Mercedes people carrier commands a high level of stability. For instance, you will not feel any discomfort of the vibrations or shaking that some cars produce even when you are driving the V-Class people carrier at a speed of 100km/hour.

According to Car buyer, an online portal, the V-Class is offered in three lengths: standard, long and extra-long. The standard version comes with seven seats. The long and extra-long versions come with eight seats as standard but can also be specified with seven seats and a table for the second row.

“The long model is the only one available in optional, six-seat exclusive trim, which gives passengers the maximum in space and luxury; it makes the V-Class feel more like an oversised Mercedes S-Class limousine,” the portal states.

Downside
Kananura adds that the disadvantage the people carrier has is that it cannot go off road. It is purely an urban car. When you go off road, there are very high chances that you will either have to push it or get it onto a car carrier to get it back to town.

“Once while driving on a murrum road after a downpour, the car just got stuck. It is majorly a rare wheel drive and the best it will do when you take it off road is start skidding,” he concludes.

Also, because of the driving aids such as the lane departure assist, collision assist and rest assist, it loses a lot of power when it skids.