2025 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 TOTY Review: Can It Replace Your Truck?
The Sprinter surprised our TOTY judges with refined manners and better-than-expected off-road chops.
Pros
- AWD model is really good off-road
- Relaxed, refined driving manners
- Feels extremely well built
Cons
- Can get very pricey
- Slow even without cargo
- Short on modern conveniences
When it comes to Truck of the Year, people generally think of … trucks. But full-size vans can offer the same utility and more. And thus our competition included the 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter 2500 cargo van—a compelling electric option for businesses looking for a cleaner fleet—and the updated diesel-powered 2025 Sprinter 2500.
Among more exciting entrants vying for the Golden Calipers, such as the baja-ready 2025 Ram 1500 RHO or the apocalyptic 2024 Tesla Cybertruck, a couple of German cargo boxes might seem bland and destined to watch this competition from the sidelines. However, after hauling and off-roading them with the rest of the crew, it’s clear the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter isn’t just for the nine-to-five or nomadic #vanlife YouTubers. For example, the AWD diesel offered shockingly precise and responsive steering, and even with its 170-inch wheelbase, the eSprinter felt reasonably nimble.
Our diesel example was a short-roof, short-wheelbase AWD version, while the eSprinter arrived as a high-roof, long-wheelbase model with the optional uprated electric motor. Rear drive is standard for both and the only drivetrain option for eSprinter. All-wheel-drive Sprinters all have the high-output version of the 2.0-liter I-4 turbodiesel.
Despite packing the strongest versions of each powerplant, neither van impressed judges in a straight line, each requiring more than 10 seconds to hit 60 mph. Judges noticed the diesel was louder with a 2,500-pound load of horse mats in the back, but it never felt labored from behind the wheel. In the eSprinter, we’d skip the weaker motor—what would life be like with it shouldering a full load? The mind shudders.
Even still, the van is refined and comfortable enough that “I could work at Amazon if I drove one of these every day,” deputy editor Alexander Stoklosa said. We enjoyed imagining Stoklosa slinging stocking stuffers the week before Christmas, but the rest of us weren’t as committed even if the addition of Mercedes’ familiar multifunction steering wheel with capacitive touch controls makes it feel like a modern Benz. Along with the MBUX infotainment system, available 10.3-inch touchscreen, signature round A/C vents, and standard heated driver’s seat, it makes the Sprinter and eSprinter feel more upscale compared to competitors like the Ford Transit and Ram ProMaster. As for interior noise, the cabins were quieter than some of the trucks’, though the optional bulkheads certainly helped.
But there are stumbles. For example, simple necessities like USB charging ports for mobile devices are hard to access. The cargo van has two in the cabin, but one is nearly impossible to access from the driver’s seat, located near the floor on the center console. The new 2025 Ram ProMaster EV wasn’t made available for this year’s competition, but it and the refreshed gas model will offer Stellantis’ Uconnect 5 interface and have an available wireless charging pad. And these vans aren’t cheap, our two Mercedes straddled $90,000 with options, putting a dent in their value proposition. It’s similarly hard to make a case for advancement in design for what is, after all, a box that’s looked largely the same for decades.
Off-road, the Sprinter did acquit itself rather well. We tapped the AWD diesel version for this portion of the proceedings, and judges had far more fun than expected, marveling at how it tackled signature obstacles like the slippery, crater-covered Mt. Magna. Even with open differentials at the front and rear, the Sprinter went nearly everywhere the other trucks did.
We’d happily recommend any Sprinter to a fleet manager or tradesperson looking for a top-shelf van. And we loved its driving refinement and the seemingly infinite enclosed cargo space—so handy for loading and unloading items like hay bales, rolls of insulation, or other large and awkward cargo. Was it enough to recommend the Mercedes for the win against our criteria?
This review was conducted as part of our 2025 Truck of the Year (TOTY) testing, where each vehicle is evaluated on our six key criteria: efficiency, design, safety, engineering excellence, value, and performance of intended function. Eligible vehicles must be all-new or significantly revised.
Cars should look cool and go fast. At least, that was Matthew’s general view of the world growing up in Metro Detroit in the early ’90s, and there was no exception. Raised in the household of a Ford engineer and car enthusiast, NASCAR races monopolized the television every Sunday and asking, “what car is this?” at every car show his dad took him too before he could read taught him that his favorite car was specifically, the 1971 Chevelle SS. (1970 can keep its double headlights, it’s a better look for the rear!) He learned the name of every part of a car by means of a seemingly endless supply of model car kits from his dad’s collection and could never figure out why his parents would drive a Ford Taurus Wagon and F-150 to work every day when a perfectly good 1967 Chevy Impala sat in the garage. Somewhere between professional hockey player, guitar player, journalist, mechanic, and automotive designer, he settled on the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) with the hopes of joining a NASCAR pit crew after high school. While there, learning about electronics and the near-forgotten art of carburetor tuning (give him a call before you ditch your “over complicated” Rochester Qudarajet) were equally appealing, and the thrill of racing stock cars and modifieds weekly on the school’s dirt oval team was second to none at the time. And then sometime late in 2009, Matthew caught wind of the Tesla Roadster on YouTube and everything changed. Before it, electric cars we not cool, and they were not fast. A budding and borderline unhealthy obsession with technology would underpin a 12-year career at Roush Industries that would take him from a powertrain technician for the Roush Mustang, to building rollercoasters, NVH engineering, and finally to a state-of-the-art simulated durability lab working with nearly every EV startup you’ve ever heard of, and some you never will. And then it was time to go, and by a stroke of luck Nikola Tesla himself couldn’t have predicted, MotorTrend’s test team was looking for the exact kind of vehicle testing background he had to offer. And with it, his love of cars, art, engineering, and writing all suddenly had a home together. At this point in life, Matthew has developed a love and appreciation for all cars and methods of propulsion. He loves reviewing minivans as much as luxury cars and everything in-between, because the cars people need to haul their kids around are just as important as the ones we hang on our bedroom walls.
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