IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: 90s Mercedes Benz T1 308D 

These Mercedes Vans Were Much More Reliable And Resistant To Rust Than Sprinter Vans

I bought a new 208D in 1994. Great van, felt like a truck compared to my transits . Built like a tank, very comfortable driving position for 300 mile + days. Totally reliable only required servicing and normal service items and one indicator bulb in 4 years and 180,000 miles.

I worked for a guy who had a 307D in the eighties. He drove it in two modes, no throttle or all the throttle. I think the top speed was governed by how much noise you could stand, they were not the quietest of things.

The engines were tough as old boots. I remember in the mid 90s when we used to have mini buses everywhere and they were usually these before the Optares appeared. Minibuses were such a great idea, frequent and often full, now its stupid single deckers and empty. Minibuses were a great idea but obviously good ideas aren’t liked by councils therefore scrapped. The gear change could be described as stirring a bucket of bricks! Great video Steph

Just bought a 407d and in the process of tarting it up! Great to drive and great engines. I managed to get it up to 60mph down hill, 50mph on flat is about the peak!

Love these old mercs solid as a rock with simple mercanics surprising how many old ones you still see working for a living .Nice to see a review of something a bit different well done 👀👍👌👏

I had the fun of driving one of these on the 16th Oct 1987 I remember this date because it was when the UK was hit by a hurricane and I'm sure you can imagine how terrifying one of these where to drive in a hurricane. It lifted onto 2 wheels a number of times but yanking steering sharply into the lean luckily stopped it from going over it was such fun

I drove one of these as a courier around London and the South East back in the late 90s I loved it, the van that is.

Love the video Steph!-trip down memory lane as a 308D was the first van I ever drove! Felt like a truck compared to my Peugeot 205! Cracking vans!!

My dad had a 208D high top for many years. I drove it across country once from Middlesbrough back to Blackpool over the small lanes of the Yorkshire Moors / Pennines. What a workout that was. Total concentration required to keep momentum up !

I had a Vito with that 2.3 NA engine, when the Transit pulling a trailer overtook you it reminded me why I changed it for one with a turbo! Love the old 308's and 208's though, always used to see them at the market.

Always good to see commercials in your channel - this is one area of the classic car market which tends to get neglected.

Great video, I use to have the 410D 2.9 5 cylinder twin wheel lwb version van... The engine was bullet proof, covered over 250000 miles in it and was still going strong when i sold it. Thanks for the blast from the past 👍

Great stuff! Brings back some happy memories, my dad bought a 310 with 2.3 petrol engine, bright yellow in 1982. He still fondly remembers how it would cruise all day at 70+, fully loaded and how comfortable and refind it was. The only downside was, if you got a move with full load, it averaged 14mpg!

Another fabulous video, I love how your enthusiasm shines through and your reactions are very natural and unrehearsed. I feel like we get a fair and balanced overview of each vehicle. I've loved seeing something a bit quirky and unusual, I think you can definitely review more commercial vehicles in the future.

Good morning Steph, and lovely to see your beautiful smile! A company I worked for had two of those vans. One was quite good, but the other was a horrible little van! Couldn't be coaxed beyond 50 mph, and returned terrible fuel consumption! A Mercedes fitter came out and decided that the diff needed changing, and despite the fact it had a chiller box, with an engine-driven fridge, became one of the better small vans! :-) We found that 1st was only used to pull away when heavily loaded or uphill. Or in very heavy traffic when you're bored! :-) Very nice video though Steph, thank you! Stay safe! :-)

I had an 309 with motorhome on top of it, never let down on the road and i traveled north Finland and north Norway with it.

Great memories of delivery’s with my Dad in the late 1990s. Great videos.

I drove one ,brand new in 89 f reg did 180 000 miles a disaster ,was late before the first job,course it was a Luton and I was hauling fruit machines which were around 175kg each ,into the wind I got 40 /45 I did do 70 only when going down hill (steep) seriously under powered.glad to see the back of it POS!

“East bound and down, loaded up an’ truckin’!” Jerry Reed would be proud of you Steph! Thanks for the ride!

Steph I adore your enthusiasm for all things vehicular (!) keep up the good work

So glad you did this. Had one about fifteen years ago. It was great, but I missed the comfort of the Transits. Worked in Ghana a few years ago. Still loads of these old Mercs running around there. Great video.

Great video as always. Would be cool to see more commercial vehicles/vans reviewed in the future!

An amazing video. I had a 95 M reg 208D Panel Van as a Service Vehicle when I was an apprentice and after I served my time as a HGV Mechanic. Slower but stronger than the Sprinter. That era of Mercedes were very well engineered.

My uncle had one of these. For house removals. Its beast. Great video Steph.

This brings back some nice memories. A family friend used to take me out in his to the cattle market when I was young. This was a late 70’s cattle truck body one. He once got pulled over by the police because it nearly came to a grinding halt on a hill with a few cattle in the back! End of its story was a couple of years ago when I towed it out of a barn during his estate clearance, it was as rotten as a pear, so sold it for the cattle truck body and some parts.

Saw the sneak peek on Facebook, can’t wait to watch the whole video!

Really was not expecting this. I remember Getting a Lift with a friends Dad in one like 20 yeara ago who had a Minibus version may of been a 208D or something. It's the only time I ever got to go in one and I was in it for all of 10 minutes. From a Time these Used to be everywhere and now it certainly is a rare sight to see and i too think that's a shame. I think in alot of ways these have alot more going for them than the Sprinter does. Although I have driven a Sprinter And it was a great experience. Superb as always Steph. Really enjoyed this Video 👍

Another great video Steph. You are a natural. Take care of yourself and stay safe.

I love the fact you are willing to review classic commercial vehicles too being as i grew up and am still involved in transport 🙂

The cradle for a Nokia 6210/6310! Is class ! We had one as well and it was totally bombproof ! A lovely driver ! Great review ! Give you a week driving that and you would be an old hand Steph 😉

This is unusual but fun ! I know you've test - driven a Triumph Toledo but I'd love to see you take out one of Triumph's "Big Saloons" such as a late 2500 Pi. Great vids Steph. I'm really into British Cars of this era, I drive a 1975 Dolomite 1850. Keep up the Good Work all IDAC.

I'm fairly certain from the reg and the colour that this van started its life with Europcar Inter rent. We had awhole load of them on fleet with WLR plates in 1994/95 along with the LWB and SWB versions.

I drove one aged 17 ,308 panel van E reg brand new thing I remember was how chunky the multi function stork was bent back into dash rotate for wipers pull main beam push for was wash plus indicators. As it's commercial I would have thought you'd test its main function the Horn in the middle of stearing wheel. Loved the video memorys.

Every private coach operator in Ireland had one of these. These were work horses of another level. Enjoyed this video. 👍

Certainly remember them as Minibuses in the area where I live. Great workhorse. Many thanks Steph.

I had one for moving bikes - yes the gearbox is like stirring tea but it's a l-o-n-g gear lever. They go on for ever.

It doesn't matter what crazy vehicle you review, your videos are always great fun to watch.

Ive got a 308D, its also from 94 but has automatic transmission. its originaly been used as an german post van but, after got bought up by a Spanish storage company. 164k km in the meter and it sounds drives beautiful! only problem i got is the glass fiber foam panel box... it leaks water... everytime it rains hard i try to cover it up but water still finds away in.... i guess you cant expect glass fiber and silicone to last for 26 years and all those kilometres... over all very happy with my 308D and still see it serving me for years to go in good and bad :D... even if it has its flaws... lots of work put in to it and much more to go! the captain sinks with the ship :D... theres not much video content available of tease vans. i need to make one too but i need to fix her up properly first. great video!

It's great that you are testing such a wide variety if vehicles! I am sure you would get used to the odd gears after a little while. Looks like this one was a bargain for it's owner. A great, interesting vehicle for a small business - or another camper conversion!

Great video. Nice to see you driving a van. I drive a motorhome and love the high driving position. 😁

Jeepers. I was not expecting this. Well done

Thanks for a video on the old commercial merc, nice one

That Mercedes van is cool, I'd like to see you test drive a large Unimog next :)

Nice to see classic commercial vehicles. Please make more videos if you can get your hands on similar ones!

Another great video Steph! :-) Looked like it was quite entertaining for you to drive! :-P

This brings back memories. My Dad used to take my sister and I to Primary School in the back of his Luton T1. 😏

Hi Steph, great review as always. Good to see such a wide variety of different vehicles on your channel, your passion , interest and enthusiasm really comes through in your presentation . Thanks for continuing videos throughout lockdown, really appreciated. Very well researched researched as always. I’m already looking forward to see what next Sunday will bring . Any chance you’ll do a live video stream Q&A session at some point with you and Josh? I’m sure lots of people would be keen to join you in that. Look after yourself and stay safe. Thanks again.

As a van fan this was interesting. Do more please Steph. Interesting little character on the 'glove box'? ;)

They did an automatic, was watching a guy trying to park his van & it kept cutting out he was getting frustrated with it, and he said its automatic and playing up and i think it was a 310, also think the ambulance versions in Portsmouth years ago were i live we're automatic

I remember Dad hiring loads of these when he had a business, it was always so exciting to go in one when I was a kid because it felt like a big noisy tank haha

This Merc really suits you Steph,you're a natural trucker. I remember drinking a 308D on local deliveries but she had about 250,000 miles and first gear was actually right up against the passenger seat. You're changing gear ok because the shift really was very vague but there are 5 gears in there somewhere. They were very strong and very tough much tougher than the Sprinter but then, it was a much nicer drive. Thanks again, keep safe.

Great! Like the Sherpa and the Comma, I love the commercials you do!

Spoilt for choice, HubNut and his Range Rover and yourself with this! Thanks for doing a video on this, unusual vehicle. I've always liked the styling of the vans that were similar to this, were they all 308D? Remember an old boy having one when I was growing up, he'd rev the nuts off it, go into 2nd, rev the nuts, into 3rd all while only doing about 15mph. These were much more appealing than the Sprinter. I assume typical Mercedes of the time in that the left stalk does everything? Twist for wipers, push in for screen wash, and up and down for indicators? Have seen that Phillips radio on older Mercedes' from that time period, albeit on lower-spec models. Less rust on that than there are on newer Sprinters!! 😂 Remember a lot of commercial vehicles get exported when they are around ten years old - if this would've been owned by a larger company I would say it would be highly unlikely that it would still be around. Bought by a small independent business that probably looked after it and didn't want to replace it as that one was still working perfectly fine. Good on them, too! Ah, the dogleg pattern. Wonder why Mercedes did that on this, and some of their other cars for that reason. Great vid! 👍😁

Wow something different, great video, must of been a lot of fun, I'd love to see you driving a bus

Wow, that brings back memories of travelling around Kosova in 2001/2 in a 208D minibus....15 people in one.....and almost a true go anywhere vehicle (but easy to push)

Quality must have nosedive when they changed to the sprinter.I used to drive an early one from about 5 years old.Mechanically superb easily fast enough to get you into trouble but bodywork and interior was hopeless.I used to have a wheely bin by where I parked it to keep the bits that fell off.

If you ever want to do a comparison to a 1990 motorhome built on a T1 208D feel free to get in touch, you're welcome to a look round and a shot of my one. No power steering, big old body on the back, and only 78bhp from the OM.601 2.3D in it...She's not quick but gets there! Never fails to put a big grin on my face every time I pull out the driveway. Seeing the looks on the drivers of modern front wheel drive vans when they see the turning circle never gets old either!

Great review as always. One note about parts. Mercedes is very good about having spares available. Often times the least expensive place to get replacement parts is the Mercedes dealer. My brother had a 300SD, and that was his experience. He only gave up on that car when it had a touch under 600,000 miles on it. The automatic gearbox died, and the body was rusty enough the repairs would have totalled almost as much as a new compact car

Ray Hunt Drove these as a minibus with auto gearboxes,we had them from new but they were knackered after a couple of years and were gutless up hills. I passed my driving test in the 1960's in a Ford Thames 4D with a crash gearbox working for T.Wall & Sons they were very basic vans without heaters and no power steering.

Small trucks like this are still used a lot here in Brazil.

I used to drive these with tail lift minibus bodies on. The bodies were tall and wide, they went very slowly, 50 mph was good. One bus I drove had 260,000 miles on it, it felt like comrepssion was down and was very slow but it would always go. I recall the gearboxes. When on the flat I would pull away in 2nd to avoid the dog leg first, the engines had plenty of low end torque and first felt like a hill start gear. I remember finding the gates on the gearbox, muscle memory was the best method, there was no feedback from the long throw lever. Then our fleet had Sprinters fitted with the same bodies. Wow what a difference a turbo makes.

I had a flat bed J81 KVK reg 308d for years and went all over the country in it but you had to keep an eye on the timing chain tensioners and they did have a habit of blowing the oil pump but apart from that they were a great motor.

Love old commercials . I’ve got a mk6 escort van myself . Interesting part of classic car seen as lot less older vans as they worked to death when newer a lot of time sadly .

I owned two of these a 308D and. a 310 D with the 5 cylinder engine One had 250000 miles and the larger engines one had 300750 miles on in Fantastic vans So much better than a transit I enjoyed owning them The low remaining number will most likely be duo to them being exported to other countries The sloppy gear change is due to the linkage in side of gearbox They were a easy enough to change I’m glad you enjoyed driving the van steph

Great vid, nice one

I drove one of these in minibus form but with the seats removed. It was quite long but really easy to drive. Sadly it went to the scrapyard in the sky as the gearbox gave up and the wheel arches started to crumble.

I've driven one belonging to a German couple traveling around the world.. converted to a camper.van version I think. The best thing is it's the same colour as the one you tested..

Reminds me of my dad's old VW LT35 box luton van. A workhorse for sure, problem is it had the same engine as the Porsche 924, which sounds great fun on paper but in reality when put in a van was one of the most gutless experiences you could ever have. There were times when we literally started rolling backwards down hills... when the back is filled up with other people's furniture, it's brown trousers time!

Some petrol 310s were converted to ambulances in the UK, well before the Sprinters that are commonly seen as ambulances now. Most, but not all, of those had automatic transmission, and Hampshire Ambulance Service had a large fleet of them... The early ones were really fun to drive. The four speed gearbox wasn't exactly precise, ask anybody who's driven a W114 with the manual box as it's pretty much the same unit, and then, because they were built in Germany, so for the left-hand drive market, the shift position was over on the left of the gearbox to make it most appropriate for that driving position. That meant that, for the UK right-hand drive market, they had a hugely long, multiply cranked gear lever that came through the floor just behind the passenger seat box and went right across to just to the left of the driver's seat. This big, long, springy gear lever didn't make the gear change any more precise. They also had a lovely design quirk in that the gear lever was attached to the gearbox by a pin that would wear out very quickly in right-hand drive models, so much so it basically became a service item, and when the pin failed it would leave you with the gear lever in your hand and a box full of neutrals. My secondary school had a T-suffix, so 1978 or 1979 207D van that had been converted into a crew bus by a UK converter. When I started at the school in 1983 it already had more perforations in it than a Tetley teabag at only 4 or 5 years old, and it didn't get any better. One day the headmaster got in it to take a group of kids swimming, and the entire driver's door step fell off when he stood on it. Not long after it was put into a local workshop for £2.500 of welding and bodywork, and it came back beige instead of white. I know it suffered at least 5 gear lever failures over the 5 years I was at the school, and by the time I left it was already rusting again, but from the top down this time. It was slow, it was noisy, it was uncomfortable and, if you were walking through from the rear to the cab, it was dangerous as it was easy to forget about the daft gear lever, get your foot or feet caught in it and face plant right into the dashboard which had almost no padding on it. But the thing was unbreakable, it got used a hell of a lot, racked up crazy miles and it just wouldn't die, it always started even in the worst weather and it always got to its destination, albeit sometimes stuck in one gear. In terms of speed, it was absolutely wrung out at 70, but that's the legal limit in the UK so it's all you need... I've driven quite a few of them in the years since, from a very low mileage, late 310D box van with the optional remote gear change and power steering, used for delivering electronic equipment for a major company that is no longer with us, which was lovely but felt like it didn't have enough power for the gearing, to a standard 310D fridge van which had done over 800,000 miles when I was using it that didn't feel quite so lovely, it felt rather tired, but it still did everything it was meant to and which partnered up well with the same company's 1,250,000 mile 814D fridge truck, which also drove far better than you had any right to expect and was only let down by a lack of power, especially on hills...

Well that brings back memories of the late 1980s for me.

It was fun seeing you drive such a big and noisy vehicle

Awesome video! We got Mercedes-Benz cars here in the USA, but we never got Mercedes-Benz Diesel trucks or buses.

Aaah ‼️ I remember when we had a new fleet of 308D minibuses around 96/97. After a while, we were asked to use the dogleg first gear when moving from stationery‘coz the engineering manager was fed up with replacing clutches. 🥴

I remember minibus versions of this were doing bus duties around my home city of Norwich during the late 1980s - 1990s in red and beige livery. There are some videos of them scooting around the city filmed by bus enthusiasts on their bulky camcorders.

you had entirely too much fun with that. sometimes i think you would enjoy being a lorry or bus driver. great video. how big a vehicle can you find?

I occasionally drove one of these back in the 90's . Not very comfortable for covering 100's of miles a day compared to a Ford of the era from my experience. Nice to see this one running so well.

I had one of these for my moto x bikes lol had loads of miles on the clock the gearbox was like right I need to change gear there is one here somewhere lol good van always stared on the button and went anywhere

Another interesting review something different, how about maybe reviewing a classic bus or coach when normality returns, the one to review is harrington legionnaire as used in film "the italian job", though i believe only one left in the uk, are a special vehicle among classic coaches from 60s/70s.

Very nice.I like this video.

I hired one of these in 1997 to move my furniture from southern Scotland to northern Scotland. Not sure which model or engine it was but it was about a 5 tonne van. It did the job but was very slow, if I recall correctly the top speed was something like 45 mph.

Nice to see you driving a Diesel them Mercedes are really nice

Its was called tempo traveller in india . Made by Bajaj tempo.

I had a 310d fridge box van. Great van put some serious mileage on it

You didn't show 'Grandma's Attic' above the cab.😟

And worth a mention that plated at 3500kg, it is right at the limit of what can be driven by those who passed their car licence 1997 onwards. Those with a pre-1997 licence can drive up to 7500kg gross vehicle weight. An extra test can be taken by those that passed 97 onward, to gain rights up to 7500kg. People should always check the plated gross vehicle weight before jumping behind the wheel, to ensure they are legally permitted. Two identical looking vans may be plated differently, and put some in danger if not checked.

Is there anything you cant drive??? loving it!

I am 56. Sadly I drove these vehicles when they were still modern....

Had 'three' of these 308D LWB panel vans. Always 100% reliable. 1st and reverse gears like sharing the same space :-) ........ My second one (Ex-Police Van) had virtually siezed-up King-Pins, made steering and especially Parking in a Permit-only Street 'very' interesting, (Pre-Power-Steering) drove it for a year like that, it eventually got TOO much so swapped it for a Sherpa Mini-Bus....... But talking of steering, they had an amazing turning lock. Could almost turn in it's own length........ Makes a change to see a Commercial Vehicle review ...... More Please :-) :-)

Hi Steph i recon when I drove a tipper back in the day I set off in second gear when unloaded

Can these be driven on a standard category B license or do you require C1?

Great video steph. I would love you to do a review of my ford transit luton box camper!!

VANTASTIC ! How about a good old Ford D series lorry next ?

A lot of them got exported. A lot more left in Africa. I saw a few been extended into buses . I’ve got a 308d. 118thousand on the clock. Had a 408 d that I ran up to 480k. Took me all over Europe. They were over-engineered. They go forever. That’s why Mercedes stopped production and started the sprinters. Buy one and you’ll be sprinting to the cash point!!

Yeah! Van life. Me ole Dad had one for work. Really capable machine.

Hiya Steph. Love those driving vids. It's just like being next to you or viewing the original format of Top Gear or any other old motoring show from the 1970s or 80s. Did you get your inspiration from watching original clips of Top Gear via YT before branching out into this business alone?

I thought my van with 125bhp was slow but holy moly

Mercedes Benz, when they used to be reliable.

Best vehicle ever !!!😃

Brilliant commercial vehicles. We had 2 of these and used to drive to Germany and back from U.K. to attend the German markets. Very reliable. The sprinters have no character and are just rust buckets.