Warning: Sprinter Factory Leaking Issue

ALL Sprinter side panels are NOT water tight, straight from the factory! Okay maybe saying "all" of them is a bit naive, but every person I've spoken to with a Sprinter and quite a bit of people online seem to all have to deal with this issue. The plastic trim running boards that line the outside of the Sprinters connect to the car with simple plastic tabs, while this seems pretty straightforward, Mercedes seems to have forgone the step of putting any type of sealant around the tabs which allows water to leak through the outside and into the cabin of the van. 

While this is bad for many reasons, it is especially concerning for anyone converting the van as the water coming in goes directly into any type of insulation you would be placing inside which can cause rust on the inside metal and mold on your insulation.  

Before I ordered mine one of my buddies got a 2016 Sprinter before me, and I watched him go back and forth to our local dealer 3 times to have this resolved. Each time they appeared to have only fixed a fraction of the panels, resulting in more trips back to the dealer. While it is pretty simple to pull these panels off yourself and put sealant around the tabs, it was more about the principle of buying a brand new vehicle that was not water tight. 

In my excitement of driving my van off the lot I completely forgot to check mine before leaving, which turned out to be a bad idea. To check this, you simply have to run a hose on the outside of the van over the panels and then look at the inside clips. After testing mine 100% of the clips allowed water to the inside, from the rear all the way to the front driver and passenger side doors. 

Once I realized this I took it to my local dealer and explained my situation, to which the dealer seemed clueless about (same dealer my buddy used) but stated that they would fix it. A couple days later I got it back and was assured it was fixed, only to get home and realize they had only fixed the back half. Skip a few frustrating phone calls, another trip to the dealer and another weeks time I finally had them all water tight. 

All in all, this entire situation seemed a bit ridiculous to me and could have easily been avoided. Looking online it seems that Sprinters dating all the way back to the early 2000's have been experiencing this and continue on with the 2017 4x4 models as well. 

If you are reading this and have a Sprinter, I would highly recommend double checking yours if you haven't done so already in order to avoid rusting like this guy had. If you are looking to get a Sprinter it is always good test before buying or have the dealer fix it before bringing it home! Good luck.