Many individuals don’t know the term “sprinter van.” However, they may have seen one, even if they didn’t necessarily know what to call it. Sprinter vans are all over the roads, especially if you live in a city that sees a lot of manufacturing or deliveries.
If you are thinking about buying some sprinter vans for your business, you may find yourself thinking about sprinter van repair and how much maintenance these vehicles require. It’s certainly worth talking about, so we will do so in the following article.
What is a Sprinter Van?
A sprinter van, for those who do not yet know the term, refers to a van with an elongated top or roof that sits higher off the ground than what you probably think of when you picture the average van. The company that is likely best known for using them in the modern era is Amazon.
Sprinter vans are typically the preferred method of delivery for companies that either mass produce or ship lots of products. When you think about the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that Amazon has become, it makes sense why they would use them.
Sprinter vans usually do not have space in the back for individuals to ride. In other words, you might see a sprinter van with a seat for the driver, and possibly another seat beside them in the front, though that is not true with all of these vehicles. This is a van that is intended mostly for the transportation of products, not people.
How Are They Used?
Sprinter vans are normally used for transporting goods around a city. They are not really built for long-distance travel.
If you wanted to move a truckload of goods from one state to another, or even from one side of the country to the other, then you would probably want something more like a semi-truck. Semis are much larger, and that increased storage capacity is what makes them attractive to companies that are hauling things like produce, furniture, toys, etc.
Sprinter vans are often what companies use for dropping off packages. We already mentioned Amazon as an example, but any smaller company that wants to dominate its local market might also use them. They will probably not have thousands of these vehicles at their disposal, like Amazon does, but they might have half a dozen.
When Does It Make Sense to Use Sprinter Vans?
Huge conglomerates might use sprinter vans, but flower delivery services, meal delivery services, and similar locally-based entities might also buy and use them. They will usually pay a little less for them if they commission a small fleet.
You can also sometimes find them used if you want to pay a little less. Startups often do this. One of the things that is nice about sprinter vans is that many of them use strictly electric technology. That obviously saves a lot of money over versions that run on fossil fuels.
How Much Maintenance Do They Need?
As for how much maintenance a sprinter van needs, that mostly depends on how much they are used. It makes sense for virtually any vehicle to need more maintenance if it is used more often. Since sprinter vans are often part of fleets that see a lot of use, they typically need maintenance fairly often.
If you want to talk about the hard numbers regarding sprinter van maintenance that you can expect, then you will probably want to change their oil approximately every 15K-20K miles. This depends on the engine type, though.
You can expect to change the cabin air filter about every 40K miles. The brake fluid exchanges should be switched out every two years, give or take.
As for things like the wipers and tire pressure, you will want to keep a much closer eye on those. The wipers might need to be replaced every 1-2 years, depending on how much they are used. The tire pressure should probably be checked every month or two.
What Else Do You Need to Know About Sprinter Van Maintenance?
In a more general sense, you can refer to the owner’s manual that comes with the sprinter van if you need to know more about taking care of it. There are certain universalities that apply to these vehicles, but the particular manufacturer will always know best.
For instance, if your vehicle comes with a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system), then you will want to refer to it when looking at the van’s tire pressure. There are other unique features that some sprinter vans come with that not all of them will have.
Are There Other Options Besides Sprinter Vans?
If you are trying to corner the market or compete in a particular niche in a certain geographic region, then buying or leasing some sprinter vans makes a lot of sense. They are easy to learn how to drive. They’re often electric now, as we mentioned previously, and they can safely hold a lot of products as well.
If you decide they’re not the best method of transporting whatever it is you manufacture, then getting regular vans or trucks is always an option. However, what’s nice about sprinter vans is how you can often get a discount when you buy or lease several of them at a time.
There are certain community services, like delivering meals to older adults, for instance, where sprinter vans are pretty clearly the best choice you have. Since most of them are configured specifically for holding products rather than humans, you can have hundreds of trays of food on racks configured in a way so that they will probably not spill, even if the vehicle must stop suddenly.
You can probably think of several other delivery services for which this kind of vehicle is uniquely appropriate. It is not by accident that a company as large and successful as Amazon has taken to using them.
Just be sure you perform regular maintenance on your sprinter vans so they stay in optimal working order.
