Van love: My obsession with the Mercedes Sprinter

Van ownership has been lost on an entire generation of car owners. Here's why the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van is the coolest thing on four wheels.

I knew I’d love the 2014 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van before I flew to Germany to test it. I’d driven the Dodge Sprinter (a rebadged Mercedes-Benz) and fallen in love with that, and this one has a smaller, more fuel-efficient diesel engine and a 7-speed transmission mated to the same ‘ol great chassis, so how could it be bad? 

In case you’re raising an eyebrow and wondering if I’m heavily medicated, let me just say that I am not a van enthusiast, if there is such a thing. I like old Porsches and BMWs, I watch rally racing and I had the same Lamborghini Countach poster many of you did. 

Over the years, I’ve driven just about every desirable car made, so please know that I don’t say this lightly: I’m obsessed with Sprinters. And I’m hardly the only one. Car geeks – real car geeks – seem to be universally behind me on this one, and I want to try and explain why that is.

For one thing, the 2014 Sprinter is ridiculously easy to drive. The long-wheelbase version is 170 inches long, and yet you feel like you’re behind the wheel of a minivan 90 percent of the time. Sitting low in the chassis, the Sprinter’s interior is actually refined enough to sport the Mercedes-Benz logo on the steering wheel – the fit and finish is somewhere between a Mercedes-Benz sedan and one of its giant trucks. 

The seats are comfortable and supportive, there’s Bluetooth connectivity, a USB port and an auxiliary input. There’s also a 5.8-inch display and optional navigation system. Nothing is lacking in the driving experience: the new 2.1-liter four-cylinder diesel engine is fantastic, putting out 161 horsepower with the full 265 pound-feet of torque available at 1,400 rpm. The 7-speed automatic transmission is well-matched to the diesel, and the Sprinter’s steering and brakes are great.

Then there’s the fascination with the idea of having a lot of space, but in a very compact package. It’s a kind of efficient overkill, and that’s attractive. I like it, especially in an era when automakers seem concerned only with how many seats can be crammed into an SUV. For an entire generation of drivers, many weaned in minivans and now off to buy SUVs and crossovers, the joys of van ownership haven’t been lost so much as they were never had in the first place. There’s a certain freedom in being able to pick up a couple friends, pack up whatever you need (and a bunch of stuff you don’t) and head out toward nowhere with room to spare. In this way, the van is like that other lost bastion of passenger and cargo capability, the station wagon.

The other undeniable attraction to the Sprinter is the true breadth of its customization potential. Cruising the Web for more info on the Sprinter, I came across the company Lexani Motorcars, based in California. Among their custom offerings are ultra high-end versions of the Sprinter passenger van. We’re talking bed, bar, TVs with game consoles and iPad integration, the works. This is the kind of custom van that goes far beyond ratty carpeting and questionable sword-and-sorcery scenes airbrushed on the sides. This is what the "undercover" Russian ambulance fraudsters should have been using to whisk through Moscow traffic. 

The dream would be to have one of these super-lux Sprinters painted up like a fleet vehicle for one of the bigger delivery services. With fully-reclining seats, it would literally be the ultimate "sleeper" vehicle. Who would know of your secret lair inside? But I won’t mention the probably rampant illegality in disguising a private vehicle as part of a corporate fleet.

In any case, if you have any excuse to go test drive a 2014 Sprinter, do so. You’ll be blown away by its ease of use, and you’ll probably want one for yourself. Who knows — maybe we’re on the verge of a comeback of the humble van? The Sprinter’s good enough for it, that’s for sure. And the Ford Transit van is right around the corner.

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2014 Chevy Spark EV now lowest-priced 4-door electric car

Plus: Subaru adds small price increase to 2014 Legacy and Outback; Dodge adds special packages to 2013 Dart.

The new 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV will be the lowest-priced 4-door all-electric car in the U.S. when it goes on sale this summer, although for now the vehicle will be available only in California and Oregon. 

Manufacturer's suggested retail price starts at $27,495, including a destination charge of $810.

Chevrolet also noted that with a full federal tax credit of $7,500, the net cost to a Spark EV buyer could be as low as $19,995. California buyers could also qualify for state and local tax credits and incentives of up to $2,500 that could drop the price of a Spark EV to $17,495.

This makes the base model Spark EV $2,155 less than its closest competitor, the 2013 Nissan Leaf S, which starts at $29,650 – even with a recent $6,400 price reduction by Nissan over the base model 2012 Leaf. The Spark EV is also nearly $2,500 less than the $29,975 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and priced well below the Honda Fit EV ($37,415) and Ford Focus Electric ($39,995; however, cash incentives that expire July 8 drop that price to $28,245). The California-only Fiat 500e costs $32,500.

Chevrolet is also making available a 3-year/12,000-mile lease for the Spark EV 1LT model that starts at $199 per month, with $999 due at signing. Nissan has a similar leasing deal, although $1,999 is due at signing. 

In other car pricing news, Chrysler has added a special edition to its 2013 Dodge Dart model line – and a price bump – while Subaru has also slightly increased the prices of its Legacy and Outback models.

The new 2013 Dodge Dart SXT Special Edition trim package includes exterior enhancements such as a black crosshair grille, dark tinted projector headlights, projector fog lights, LED taillights and integrated dual exhaust. The Dodge Dart SXT Special Edition is priced at $18,590 plus $895 in destination charges; the Special Edition package adds $595 to the overall price. Another $395 adds black 17-inch aluminum wheels and Rallye badges. 

The Limited Special Edition package adds heated Nappa leather seats, power sunroof, heated steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control and navigation for $1,810. 

Subaru isn’t changing anything on the 2014 Subaru Legacy and Outback, which are being carried over from the previous model year. But the two vehicles, which will be available next month, are getting small price increases.

The base model 2014 Subaru Legacy 2.5i starts at $21,090, including a $795 destination charge, a $25 increase over the 2013 model. The 2014 Subaru Outback 2.5i starts at $24,320, with an $825 destination fee, a $30 price rise from 2013.

The increases are due to higher destination charges. The 2013 Legacy 2.5i started at $21,065 including a $770 destination fee, while the Outback 2.5i started at $24,290 with a destination charge of $795.

Legacy and Outback 2.5i Premium models now come with heated front seats, heated mirrors and a windshield deicer as standard, which bumps the price on those trims to $300 over 2013. The top-level 3.6R Premium models have been discontinued. 

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McLaren introduces 50th anniversary MP4-12C

Limited edition gets better trim, more aero.

McLaren will produce a limited run of MP4-12Cs and MP4-12C Spiders for its 50th anniversary. The cars will get a few upgrades, but no changes will be made to the twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V8. It stays at 616 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque.

The McLaren 50 12C and 12C Spider will get a handful of unique parts and styling cues produced by McLaren Special Operations, the division that’s responsible for the “bespoke” deliveries.

A new bumper will provide more downforce, and is inspired by the HS Edition models. The lower section is hewn of carbon fiber, while the front floor is Kevlar. A black, McLaren Formula One-inspired badge will rest on the hood.

The anniversary model comes with carbon-ceramic brakes and bigger discs at the front and rear. Anniversary lightweight wheels are fitted at all four corners. Measuring 19 inches in front and 20 in back, they save about 4.5 pounds each over the standard wheels. 

Inside, the McLaren 50 12C gets the upgraded leather package, with a few dashes of branding on the sill panel, and an anniversary dedication plate on the driver’s door.

Three colors are offered including Carbon black, Supernova silver and heritage McLaren orange.

Each will be delivered with a monogrammed black-and-silver car cover, limited-edition key, carbon-fiber key presentation box and a commissioned print signed by designer Frank Stephenson.

The hardtop costs about $296,000, while the drop top comes in at $326,000, both converted from British pounds. The standard MP4 costs $231,000. 

-- Jake Lingeman

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Tesla repays $465 million federal loan in full, 9 years early

Unlike other recent 'green'-energy bankruptcies involving federal funding, taxpayers actually have gained money from the automaker's 2009 loan.

Tesla Motors repaid the remaining portion of its $465 million federal loan on Wednesday, marking a bright spot for a government program tattered by poor oversight and multiple bankruptcies. 

The California electric car company, weeks after reporting itsfirst-ever profit at $11.2 million last quarter and after having been called a "loser" by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012, paid the remaining $451.8 million to the Energy Department nine years ahead of schedule. It also called itself the "only American car company to have fully repaid the government."

CEO Elon Musk, in an interview with Bloomberg, said that the U.S. government made a profit of "over $20 million" from interest and what he called a "bonus" payment. Other sources, however, put the profit at about $12 million. 

"It really feels good to have repaid the U.S. taxpayer; that's really what's important here," he said. "I feel we had a moral obligation to discharge this loan at the earliest reasonable opportunity while still being good to the institutional shareholders that have supported Tesla over the years."

Tesla is indeed the only automaker to have repaid its low-interest loans from the $34.4 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, initially set up by President George W. Bush in 2008 and carried out by President Barack Obama starting in 2009. Tesla's loan was approved to develop and manufacture the Model S sedan. So far, the company says it has delivered 4,900 cars in the first quarter – a few hundred more than either the Nissan Leaf or  Chevrolet Volt – and expects to sell more than 20,000 cars through 2013. Along with its rising stock price, the tough critics at Consumer reports awarded the Model S its highest-ever score (99 out of 100) and praised its performance and quality. 

Ford has repaid about $400 million from its $5.9 billion loan – made for plant upgrades for fuel-efficient models such as the Focus Electric – but said it won't pay it all off until 2022. Nissan, which received $1.4 billion for its recently opened battery plant in Smyrna, Tenn., did not release specifics on its loan repayment schedule, according to Bloomberg. The Energy Department did not return calls or emails from MSN Autos asking for further information.

However, two of the five loans made under the ATVM program, a $529 million loan to Fisker Automotive and a $50 million loan to Vehicle Production Group, may never be repaid. Fisker is in the process of declaring bankruptcy and a possible sale, but still owes $192 million from the amount it withdrew. 

When the company missed its first loan repayment in April, the government seized $21 million from Fisker's reserve accounts but has no plans to recoup the remainder. Fisker's loan was frozen in 2011 when the company failed to meet financial requirements. A congressional investigation into whether the Energy Department's mishandled the funds is under way.

VPG, a maker of disabled-accessible vans that received money to sell models running on compressed natural gas,declared bankruptcy early this month. 

Chrysler took a shot at Tesla's statement that it was the only American car company to repay federal loans, saying that it had repaid a $5.1 billion government loan in 2011 six years ahead of schedule. "Question: short memory or short-circuit," spokesman Gualberto Ranieri wrote on Chrysler's corporate blog.

In 1983, during the first time Chrysler was bailed out, the company repaid its $1.2 billion loan in full, which gave the government a roughly $300 million profit, according to Bloomberg. However, while Chrysler did repay the entirety of its 2009 bailout, the "old" Chrysler that was killed in bankruptcy ate $1.3 billion in taxpayer money that the company will not repay. 

It's much worse for General Motors. Taxpayers could stand to lose nearly $20 billion from the company's $49.5 billion bailout, despite successive sales of Treasury-owned shares that will see the government exit ownership by 2014. 

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Recall: 2013 Cadillac SRX for loose wheel nuts

A total of 18,871 crossovers with 18-inch wheels are affected.

General Motors is recalling 18,871 Cadillac SRX crossovers to fix wheel nuts that loosen over time, according to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

On 2013 SRX vehicles with 18-inch wheels, the lug nuts could loosen and cause a "creaking, rattling or grinding noise" in the wheel area. In addition, drivers may feel steering vibrations and the wheel studs could break, all of which could contribute to a crash, GM said. 

In October 2012, GM said it found loose wheel nuts on two of its engineering vehicles and later received four related warranty claims. In March and April, GM received six more reports of loose nuts. Some of the nuts were torqued at the lower acceptable range and loosened due to what GM described as a "rarely occurring rotor dimensional characteristic" – i.e., the bolts were misshapen.  

Dealers will rotate the tires and reinstall the same wheel nuts, replacing any if needed, starting June 3. Cadillac owners can contact GM at 1-800-521-7300 for more information.

In June 2011, GM recalled 50,500 SRXs from the 2011 model year to reprogram the passenger's airbag sensor. In March, 24,752 SRXs from 2013 were recalled to fix transmission software that could place the car in the wrong gear.

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Chrysler, Ford put brakes on summer plant shutdowns

Ford will idle some assembly lines for one week instead of two, while Chrysler will keep some open all summer to meet demand.

Some things are guaranteed in summer: swimming, sunburns and, in Detroit and around the Midwest, automaker plant shutdowns.

Beyond giving workers a summertime break, the shutdowns typically allow time for plant repairs, maintenance and retooling to better align with consumer demand. During the recession, the idling of assembly lines stretched longer than some workers would have liked. 

But now that the auto industry has come roaring back withrecord-breaking sales and profits, some Ford and Chryslerassembly line personnel will have to postpone their traditional two-week forced vacations.

• New-car sales finish strong first quarter 6.3 percent over 2012

Ford, for example, announced that it would trim its shutdown to just one week for most U.S. plants, as well as its engine assembly facility in Chihuahua, Mexico. Ford said in a statement that the reduced shorter idle period would allow the automaker to boost annual North American production by 40,000 units. This is on top of the 200,000 extra cars that Ford already was planning to produce in 2013, versus last year.

The decision to keep the assembly lines open longer is because of increased demand for some of Ford’s best-selling vehicles, including the Explorer, Fusion and F-Series pickup, the company said. This is the second year in a row Ford has kept normally dormant assembly lines open during the summer to meet strong demand.

Some Chrysler assembly lines won’t get a break at all. According to Automotive News, Chrysler will keep three assembly plants running all summer to build the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango and SRT Viper. An additional plant ramping up to produce the 2014 Jeep Cherokee will also remain open. Chrysler will shut down four of its assembly plants for a single week this summer in the United States and Mexico, while other plants, including two in Canada, are scheduled for a two-week break.

As for General Motors, the automaker will be doing “things a bit differently" than in the past, GM spokesman Bill Grotz told Automotive News. Typically, most GM plants shut down during the first weeks of July for model-year makeovers and maintenance. "Today, plant downtime is driven more by specific vehicles' life cycles and in market demand," Grotz said.

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Job postings hint at redesigned Jeep Wrangler

Could the next-gen Wrangler, due in 2016, lose weight and the famous folding windshield? We offer some possibilities.

Chrysler has begun searching for the extra bodies to mount its next big project: the redesign of the Jeep Wrangler. And the job opening descriptions provide some clues as to the changes planned for the off-roader's next generation.

This is supposition on my part, of course -- and a Jeep spokesman declined to comment when asked, saying the company doesn't discuss future product.

With just one exception, the job descriptions posted on the Chryslercareers.com Web site don't identify the Wrangler by name. But given the updated five-year product plan Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne revealed in January, some of the jobs identified appear to be for the next-generation Wrangler, due in 2016.

What the descriptions appear to show is that Jeep has decided to put the next-generation Wrangler on a serious diet, just as Ram did for the 2013 Ram 1500 pickup.

If that's the case, then the lightweight Wrangler Stitch concept that engineers revealed in March for this year's Moab Easter Jeep Safari was a harbinger of things to come. The job descriptions point to Jeep seeking to use advanced high-strength steels for its frame, a feature that pulled 30 pounds from the weight of the Ram. It also looks as though the Wrangler could lose some steel body panels in favor of aluminum.

• Jeep reveals six concepts for Moab Easter Jeep Safari

It's also likely to pick up the air suspension system used on the Grand Cherokee and Ram. That would provide added clearance when needed and reduce drag on the Wrangler's rolling brick design at highway speeds and increase fuel economy.

I would also look for the Wrangler to add the Ram's pulse-width modulation technology, which pulses the electrical load from the alternator. From a powertrain standpoint, the job descriptions -- and executive statements -- point to the inclusion of a diesel engine variant into the Wrangler, as well as the adoption of Chrysler's eight-speed automatic transmission, or a next-generation variant.

Engineers also will look at the Wrangler's unique closure systems -- the clip-down hood, for example, or itssomewhat-inviting-to​-thieves exterior door hinges.

What's not clear is whether the next Wrangler might include a permanently fixed wind screen. Only a small percentage of Wrangler owners ever go through the trouble of dropping their wind screen, but eliminating the ability to do so would allow engineers to increase its rake and with it, the Wrangler's fuel economy.

In many ways, the next Wrangler will be the ultimate engineering test for Jeep under its new Fiat ownership, and its biggest potential trap. Keeping the off-roader's capabilities and customizability is paramount from a sales standpoint, while increasing its fuel efficiency is required by ever-tightening corporate average fuel economy standards.

It's going to be a big, tough job, and it's good to see Chrysler reaching out early to add the expertise it will need to get it done.

-- Larry P. Vellequette, Automotive News

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