Here's Why the Mercedes Metris is the Worst Minivan Ever Made 

Angry Mercedes fans: "You're wrong! This is a commercial shuttle van! You misunderstood it!" Well, sweetie, it's nice that Mercedes-Benz marketing has convinced you of this -- but it's the same size as a Sienna/Odyssey, with the same price as a Sienna/Odyssey, and the same scope as a Sienna/Odyssey. If I were buying a "commercial shuttle van," I'd literally fall over laughing at the Metris ... annnnnd then I'd buy a Sienna/Odyssey. Which is what everyone does anyway.

One thing Mercedes didn't realise when designing this van was that Doug will get to review this one day,

Lol imagine renting out your van to someone hoping that they would use it and enjoy it and then 2 weeks later see a video of a guy trash talking your minivan

This is probably my favorite Doug Demuro video to date. Just something hilarious about a laidback guy with a chill voice and demeanor roasting a Mercedes minivan 😂

Doug, Doug, Doug. "Telephony" is to telephone as "photography" is to photograph. It's a perfectly good word, and is properly used here.

My favorite Doug videos are where he's in full-on savage mode like this.

This happens to people when they keep buying junk and don't realize what automakers are doing with them. I'm absolutely blown away with the third row seats function.

Basically, if EA made a minivan.

"...and now I'm in Metris jail."

Doug: Instead of a boring, airport rental vehicles you can rent out a fun car Also doug: Rents out a minivan

At my former workplace in France they used this when they had had to shuttle people or carry oversized stuff. I had the chance to borrow the thing once to haul my furniture from IKEA. Two observations: you did have to take all seats off which was quite a chore, but once you did that you had a HUGE cargo area. Horrible as this thing was... something did impress me: when I got up to highway speed I could not believe the speedo because it felt like I was doing 60 km/h when in fact I was at 120km/h. The ride was so silent and smooth it felt like I was driving very slow and that was with a full load! And it still had lots of juice to cause trouble with the "highway patrol." I really had to keep watching my speed to avoid creeping up without realizing it.

You know it’s gonna be a bad one when Dougie doesn’t even start the video with “THIS....”

Well, at least it's more expensive to fix than the Honda.

And now I'm in METRIS JAIL.

Most of what you speak about is true. I purchased a used 2019 Metris and dumped it 2 years later because of many of the things you point out. Those and other problems you didn't mention. The first is related to cruise control. I spent $1,050.00 at my Benz dealership to install what I later learned was an aftermarket system. I worked well when activated, but because it was located directly under the turn signal, I learned quickly it could be a death trap. It wasn't unusual to hit the lever when I wanted to hit the turn signal. My second big complaint is the van is promoted as being able to tow up to 5,000 lbs. That might be the case, but the back end is so low to the ground that after installing the lone tow bar available for the vehicle there's only 7-3/4" inches separating the bottom of the bar from the ground. Once installed it's not uncommon for the bar to scrape the ground when coming off a slope or speed bump. I'm sure one can guess what happens when tongue weight is added to the hitch. My third big complaint is the cost of fuel to operate the vehicle. It requires very expensive 91 or 93 octaine gas. And the best part is the maintenance expenses. Just guess how thrilled I was when I learned the van needed what amounted to a 9 quart oil change that cost over $300.00? In summary, about the only thing I miss about the Metris is it was probably the last REAL mid-sized van I'll ever see. The other van's you mention - the Honda Odyssey in particular - aren't true (box) vans. Because of their height they're more like comfortable and stylish station wagons, but I won't argue they're a better value than the Metris. Damn GM made a big mistake when they discontinued the Astrovan. That will always be my favorite.

I love when Doug chooses violence

Price of van: $13k Mercedes Benz badge: $30k

So it has shifting paddles and nothing else. It's pretty much a race car.

I needed a weekend vehicle that only a mini van checked all the boxes. The $13k my budget allowed had me hanging my head as I bought a 2019 Grand Caravan SXT with 35k miles. After seeing this review of a high dollar van that made me envious when ever I saw one go by, I now feel much better about my purchase. Bless you Doug 😁

Honda odyssee sales after this - 📈 Mercedes metris sales after this - 💀

Me 10 minutes into the video: Stop, stop! It’s already dead!

Haven’t ever heard better advertisement of Honda Odyssey

Lmao about the entertainment center. My $18,000 Hyundai Accent has a 7” touch screen with Apple Car Play and Android Auto. Pretty responsive too.

Lol I have the cargo version for work and I found this hilarious. I have a 2021 so the screen is upgraded to a nice touchscreen with Apple car play. But yes it’s noisy and has a lot of those weird quarks still. But overall I love it for what I use it for.

fun fact: metris is the name of the most famous jail in turkey.

I've noticed a lot of these for sale with less than 2k miles on them. My guess is unsuspecting soccer moms sell them when they learn the details.

Mercedes engineer 1: Mate, bet you can't convert this work van into a minivan in less than a day. Mercedes engineer 2: You're on!

There actually is a Metris Prison in Turkey. I wonder if Doug knew that when he said "jail called Metris".

Imagine renting out your car...then you find a video on RU-vid with the guy who rented it completely shitting all over it lol

I was so excited when these first came out, I went to a dealership and the sales person did a great job talking me out of it. They literally said there was no reason I should buy it. I ended up buying a 91 sienna and it had more features and better gas mileage 😂

I honestly think his last statement is true. It is an airport shuttle. And they didn't do a cargo version of this van; instead, this van is a passenger version of the cargo van. It is meant to be an airport shuttle/minibus, but massively overpriced. Also, the comparable model to the others you mention is the V-Class. Check that one out.

I agree that this car is hilariously underwhelming. But "telephony" simply means the thing you do with telephones.

It seems like Mercedes built this car with stuff from the parts bin

Can't wait for the AMG Package

The Metris is what you rent. The Odyssey is what you own.

Doug's own quirks and features often annoy me into avoiding his videos ("Why have two buttons?" x infinity) ... but this is an epic rant and teardown of a bewildering vehicle for Mercedes to have built. To this I say, well done Doug! A more thorough reviewer on RU-vid there is not.

But Doug... The Odyssey doesn't have the Mercedes logo on the front. A feature easily worth $25000 all on its own.

"Can I film a vehicle with your cool car?"

I love how annoyed Doug is that this car even exists.

HA! I passed a Metris this morning. Had to watch this again. One of Doug's more memorable videos.

I cannot believe this came out 3 years ago. This has less functionality than my 2005 Dodge caravan. Those rear seats look like concrete.

Doug just single handedly dropped the resale value by 30-40 percent

This is basically the physical embodiment of Mercedes greed, pay more for much less, and a plastic badge

Holy shit! My wife and I bought a used 2018 Honda Odyssey Touring edition with 40,000 kms on it for $41,000 Canadian monopoly money and I'm at 8:12 in this video seriously scratching my head. What in the F... was Mercedes thinking? Obviously they weren't at all. Honda Odyssey Touring (even the base model has alot of these features): flip down 3rd seat row, sliding middle row with removable middle seat which we did. Power both sliding doors, tailgate with adjustment for opening height. Cup holders, 12v and even 110v plugs all over. Roll down windows and sunshades for 2nd row, shunshades for 3rd. Back attachments for child seats IN ALL 4 seats behind drivers and passengers. Ohhh, but it gets worse for Mercedes moving to a loaded Odyssey. Cabin watch, Cabin talk, sweep foot tail gate opening/closing, entertainment system, HDMI port for game console, wireless headphones, 2 drivers seat seatings fully controlled by key phobe including adjusting the drivers mirrors. Heated and cooled leather seats, dual climate control (actual 3 climate controls), lane assist, parking assist, adaptive cruise control, heated steering wheel, snow and eco modes, adaptive braking. Ohh no, not done yet... Vacuum in the back, tire sensor monitors, folding side mirrors, heated mirrors, heated side passenger rear window, rain sensors for wipers, automatic locks when exiting vehicle, sunroof/moon roof, power seats and arm rests in the front, purse holder, bluray disc holder, usb ports galore, snow function for traction and ABS. Honda link, wireless cell phone charging... did mention all powered sliding doors and rear tailgate? How about the cargo room in the back after 3rd row? LED lights, touchscreen controls, 2 separate zones for sound so you don't have to listen to kids movies. Power control mirrors. There are mini vans, and then there's the Honda Odyssey. Ohh yeah, the Honda Odyssey has shift paddles if you are so inclined to put it in sport mode... but folks, it's a vehicle for trasporting a family around in comfort with family features that matter. However, if you get that urge going to the grocery store, they too are there along with a 10 speed transmission.

I love these bad car reviews, Doug should do more of them

Mercedes Vito from 1998 has more stuff than this piece of... Metris...

Thanks for the video. I had been considering adding this to the big 4 to check out. It looked like it has pretty good room with the 3rd row up as well as a lot of the driver's aids are now available. The seat access just won't work though.

Great and humorous review :) Thank you Doug!

The only purpose for this van is to be stripped out and the interior replaced by one of opulent interiors from custom coach makers and that's why this should really be a $20,000 to $25,000 van max. There's no way any sane person is even paying $30,000 for this thing.

Don't know why people hate on this video... This car is an actual bullshit of a vehicle (any type of a vehicle really)

_THIS_ is the first Doug DeMuro video i've seen that doesn't start with " _THIS_ "

amazing review doug! but i have to say, most of the problems you talked about are all solved on the european model (v class), the seats fold, you get more powerful diesel engines, power side doors, power seats, led front lights as standard, bigger (and touchscreen) infotainment screen, driver assist systems, better front design.

A 2017 Mercedes with less features than the 1996 ford windstar we had growing up, well done.

In Europe, the Metris (called Vito here) is a cheap work machine. A commercial shuttle. I can't believe they're trying to sell it to you as a minivan! And for $40k too! Insane! The expensive minivan is called the V-class, and it's honestly amazing. But it's accordingly expensive. And has very little to do with... this. And to my knowledge, isn't available in the US.

4 years ago and I’m still laughing with this video 😂 Love you Doug 🫶🏼 Cheers from Costa Rica 🇨🇷

I appreciate all your videos and I know this is an older video, but I just bought a metris anyway. My use case is likely different from most. I'm in my early 50's and am now single with grown kids. I have German Shepherds and mountain bikes that cost as much as a 2022 Nissan Versa. So, I was going to buy a small cargo van, but in my extremely hot northern, California home area, the last thing I wanted was a cargo vehicle with HVAC ONLY in the front area. So basically, I think of this vehicle as what it is to me....a cargo van with a bit of insulation and HVAC to the back to heat and cool it better. Beyond that, it is EXACTLY what you say it is. Compared to my girlfriends 2022 Honda Odessy, the Metris is sorely lacking...except that my very expensive bikes and. my dogs get to be inside a very large open cargo bay in relative comfort. :)

Doug’s the type of guy who would do hard time in metris jail

Cost of Manufacturing The Metris Itself: $18,475 Mercedes Benz Badge Cost: $24,825

3:00 in I'm realizing Doug doesn't recognize the aircraft tiedown rails on the floor. you could put damn near any standard passenger aircraft seat in that thing with like, four bolts. Or change the legroom. Or maybe sqeeze in a fourth row if you really pushed that seat pitch.

Thank you, Doug. There is one feature you didn’t mention...towing capacity! The metris is RWD which is the only reason that I was considering it once I learned that the pre-owned prices are very reasonable. However your review has me back in the SUV market. Thank you for that.

Wtf here in Europe it’s called V-Class, Vito o Viano Wtf is *_METRIS_*

Doug rents your car on Turo You: cool Doug’s got my car! Doug: this Mercedes is crap and terrible and no one should buy it You:

Apparently the Metris's only redeeming quality is that it builds out well as the small camper van platform of choice. Otherwise it is deficient in almost every way.

I think it was originally made as a cargo van but you can get it as a family van.

Doug's $1,100 iPhone X has more features than a $43K vans.

The fact that the “Vito” is called a “Metris” in the us makes me want to vomit.

Hey Doug, would love an update on this seeing how much this car has changed now

13:30: You stop just as far forward as if it was a rear fuel door van, you just don't have a mile of slack in the hose. It's an urban cargo van. Lets you get way closer to the dispenser, which is important at tight fleet yards and, say, Portland's Radio Cab gas station, which is indoors.

You have to pay $64k Mercedes monies to receive $43k worth of Honda monies.

Fun fact: There is actually a prison in Turkey called Metris. 6:50

In Germany this car is sold as Vito Tourer, there is another more luxurious V-class. In addition, it is only available here as a diesel. My father has a Vito Tourer with the 237 hp top engine with almost all the extras for almost 2 years now. The one you tested does not have the comfort row of seats in the back, which can be folded and reduced to 2 seats. It's a great car and available in many versions - at least in Germany.

In my old town, my stepmom is the mail lady for the town and for a while the mail company made her use a cargo metris, the problem is that they made her use the van in the winter seasons and her route was on dirt roads. The problem with cargo metris base models is that they only use one wheel in the back of the van as a powertrain, and the company would have to call a special towing company to pull the metris out of the snow if it had gotten stuck. As you can tell this is a large problem because she has to drive all the way up on dirt roads and through snowy passes in a one wheel powered minivan, keep in mind the metris also has a problem with when you drive dust gets all over the cab because the back doors are made wrong so dust gets everywhere. Anyways when she gets stuck, my dad cant go to help her because legally only the towing company is allowed to help get the van unstuck because the van is owned by the government so only the person permitted to drive the van can only drive it, no one else.

It really looks like Mercedes Benz took their commercial version of this and just said "yeah, we can milk it" and just bolted seats into their cargo version.

Me: “Mom, we should get a Honda Odyssey!” Mom: “We have a Honda Odyssey at home.” Honda Odyssey at home:

Love this review. You should review a 90s mitsubishi delica van, i just bought 1.

In Europe theyre sold as Vito vans and they are usually used as a shuttles, XL taxis or transfer vehicles, they can have the rear seats facing each other middle desk TV etc, also they come with power gates and power vent windows in the back

Roast of the century. Doug is an artist

09:41 - Telephony is not a misspelling of telephone, it's just a less-used noun to describe the working of telephone systems. The van still sucks.

You are so funny, I kept laughing all the way and literally laughed my ass off

Doug: 1:58 "Can I Film A Vehicle With Your Cool Car?" Me: I don't know if you can do that but... you can try 😂

"The headlights are halogen, like a 1984 vw rabbit." Lol!

""Jail cell the Metris".... That's ironic because Metris is the name of a prison in Turkey.

Thank you for being so honest about vehicles/value for money

6:49 Exactly why I watch Doug Demuro's videos over everyone else's

“Worst minivan” seems to be an understatement!

Mercedes Logo = $30000

I would love you to experience a Renault Espace 4 (not the 5). I love it. Especially in European cities, where a large car is just too large.

The weird business of non folding seats is inherited from the original 1996-2003 Vito. Not only did the third row of seats not fold - it was not even removable - a van incapable of transporting even a suitcase.

Maybe it was meant to be a prison bus

A cargo van. An overpriced one. Seats were added for hauling passengers as an afterthought.

Does this review apply to the cargo version? I’m an a communications electrician, what would you recommend as a work van?

I used to work for usps and I was always upset about driving the old explodey LLV while the rest of the team used Mertises. Good to know I wasn't missing much 😆 Also I've seen the 'Metris' by Dodge as well so I think this might be sort of a stock type build.

Doug's the type of guy to have no children but still own a station wagon.

When a minivan from 2009 that your parents bought for $3000 has more features than a Mercedes Benz minivan from 2017

Got a 2020 mustang GT blackout recently and it doesn’t have touchscreen, which is dumb because the 2019 explorer i had before had one

Rewatching this video after owning a car and I'll just say this much: My *2012 Nissan Versa* has a touchscreen infotainment menu. It's extremely unresponsive and has almost no options, but it's there and it's a touchscreen. A cheap economy car years prior had something the Metris didn't, and the Metris probably cost twice as much new.

31 out of 100? How did it get that high a score? surely you meant 3 out of 100. Surely.

Doug is my favourite taxicab reviewer, hands down.

The best Doug DeMuro review I’ve seen!

While reviews of good things are great, there is nothing like an angry rant! This thing is not worth $43,000. It may be worth 2 or 3 thousand though! So a used one might be a good deal!