Mercedes Marco Polo Latest Info 2017

[pjm-84]

Well had a good look at one today. I came away pleasantly surprised.

Height is not an issue. At 6ft 4in + I didn't find it as height restricted as the Cali. However I was playing around with the rear seats which are bliss. More height in the front which is a bonus. Some items look cheap (draw unit under the rear seat) and the upper bed look smaller (60mm in it).

And the electric side door works. Truly amazing.

Will take a look at a Joker next week.

 

[Annik]

People are obviously buying the Marco Polo, I have seen two 17 plates within the past 48 hours here in Cornwall.

 

[Meoncoast]

People are obviously buying the Marco Polo, I have seen two 17 plates within the past 48 hours here in Cornwall.

Be enough to start a UK MP forum soon.

 

[flying banana]

Westfalia (who fit out the MP) have been bought out twice since they built the T4s, but I doubt they've gone soft and built an interior that can't compete with a Cali for practicality and toughness. I suspect (a lot of conjecture I know) that should you wish, you'll be able to spec one in materials that don't make it look like a night club. (and I suspect that the wardrobe door won't need holding together with gaffer tape after a few uses ).
Many posts here slate the Cali for being too bland, too workmanlike. Many beach owners are paying to upgrade a really practical and tough dashboard for a piano black one only half as practical, yet when you are offered a bit of bling by Mercedes, many break out in a cold sweat. You have to remember you are a difficult and mixed crowd.
The biggest downside I've seen with it so far is the extra length. As someone already blessed with an extra few inches , I know it is not always welcomed "in everyday use".

that's a good point.why do beach owners order the comfort dash? I love mine.put your feet on it.chuck your keys and mp3 player about in the recesses. a quick wipe with a wet cloth and boom. good as new

 

[flying banana]

Typical marco polo : take a look at

go to minute 7:00 : 2 inches of water on the road makes them stop and they need a map (not GPS!?) to find another road...
No cup holders in the front cabin, only an ugly bump inbetween the front seats that makes it very difficult to go to the back of the car. No dedicated buttons on the control unit for standheater or fridge. No GPS with intuitive touchscreen but switches and buttons..

 

[flying banana]

so he wakes up. takes a massive detour to buy some lemons because he can't drive through a puddle.then drinks some wine. what a crap advert. where's the midges. that would sort them out

 

[Roy C]

This has been a really useful thread for me - thank you to all who contributed with constructive posts. Last week I had pretty much decided to go for a new California Ocean and place an order but this thread tipped me off to the Marco Polo as a possible alternative. Since there is a MB dealership 15 minutes from me I made an appointment and had a good look around one yesterday to make a final decision.

Before I go any further I'll explain what my needs are because it really seemed to me reading the other posts that either car is great but a lot of opinion on which is "better" depended on how it was to be used. For me most of my use will be as a daily driver but my wife and I love the idea of the odd weekend away (as a family of three and a small dog), maybe a family week away In Easter and half-term holidays, one or two trips for me and my oldest (not at home so not counted as part of the family of three) to a Grand Prix weekend and one or two trips to a festival weekend. The family trips would be campsites with hook ups and showers - no wild camping.

So my impressions of the pros and cons of the MBMP versus the Ocean based on what we need:

Pros:
- I really liked the high quality interior. We saw one with black leather so less bling than the cream but the interior still seemed light because of the light floor and light canvas in the pop-up roof. Since I'll be driving around in it a lot I liked the upmarket car feel of the dash etc. I don't think it is any less practical than the Ocean - wipe clean seats, good quality materials to the units etc. That would only proven over time though.
- Rear seats were really comfy and thought it would be more comfortable in the evenings to be able to recline them a little
- Roof bed has a couple of handy swan neck led lights and a nice shelf and usb port.
- Lots of premium / luxury car extras included in the price which I'm a sucker for
- No handbrake to avoid when swivelling the chairs and instead of the weird foot parking brake I remember from older Mercs there was a standard switched electronic affair
- MB dealership (JCT600 Harrogate) is very close and responded quickly to my enquiry. When trying to find a VW Van Centre to order from I phoned York who said they didn't really do Californias any more and I should call Sheffield or Hull. I called West Yorkshire instead and left a message but they never got back to me. Finally I contacted Guy in Preston based on good feedback from the forums here and he did call me back but he explained going over on a weekend is not really an option because they have a token staff on on Saturday mornings so if I wanted a test drive I'd have to come over in the week.

Cons:
- everything was electrically operated; door, tailgate, seat recline and side bolster deflation to make it flat and I'd be a little worred about running down the battery if they're off the main one rather than the leisure battery
- the storage for the chairs is not very space efficient, slung into a bag with lots of free space, although I thought the table was okay since it fitted close to the underside of the rear shelf. Would probably ditch the chairs and get more compact ones but table was fine
- At 5.1m long it might give me a few parking worries
- The floor looks like wood but is that upmarket lino with a wood effect - not really my taste but a plainer floor can be specced, I believe.
- No 4WD option
- the auxilliary heater is really costly at £2.5k

The conclusion we have reached as a family is that we'll be giving the Marco Polo a go instead of the VW based on our relatively soft needs but I think if we were looking at more hardcore use - getting further off the beaten track, going without hook ups etc. - then I might be more inclined to the California.

Apologies if in my first post if I offend anyone with my opinions but this forum has been genuinely useful to me and I thought I should contribute to pay back something even if I'm really going against the grain a little.

 

[Billy]

People should not be concerned about the extra length of the Marco Polo, my other car is a Toyota Hilux which is virtually the same length. It fits perfectly in most parking bays and I have never found it an issue

 

[Jay586]

Good write-up.

I was wondering about the handbrake. The vans still have the strange one.

That ad went on a bit...

 

[Jay20cali]

Out of interest MB have emailed me today with the UK prices of the full fat Marco Polo. A base model 220d (163hp) Sport is listed as £53180. It however has a few bit on it over the base ocean

1 - auto box is standard
2 - tinted rear windows
3 - Sat Nav
4 - parking sensors and Camera
5 - electric sliding door
6 - heated front screen
7 - leather seats.

This is just from a quick flick through the brochure. It seems it's also sold via their car network. It will be good to give VW some opposition!

His

 

[Jay20cali]

His

Hi I think it's great that vw have some competition,they may realise that Its important to keep customers happy??? or they risk loosing out to the Marco Polo...so I hope it comes to the uk soon..
I have owned 3 Cali's.. I love em.. I have also owned a Westfalia they too are first class.been a vw fan 30 odd years vw have a following that will always be there .
Merc don't.... but,
I must say for 50k you seem to get a fantastic van quality wise and looks in my opinion..some top spec Californias are close to 70k this thing is 50ish the price of a 2nd hand cali..

 

[simon mp]

An update after 3400km, made up of a real mix of daily driving, A-roads, motorways and even some not so sensible dozen or so km on dusty, bumpy tracks in search of dark skies to pursue my astronomy obsession....

View attachment 23329

After 4 nights sleeping in the lower bed I can confirm my initial impression that the bed is perfectly flat and quite firm without a topper (which works well for me). The roll-down blinds don't entirely cover the windows, which at first seems odd, but the windows (which are tinted as standard here) have a thick dark (actually opaque) tint around the edge so in fact there is almost no light ingress. I guess the camper (or underlying vehicle) is designed for sunny climes. I've been happily working in the back of the van when parked up in full sun with the door and kitchen window open in temperatures of 35C and can attest to the practicality and effectiveness of the tinted windows over here at least! The front part is covered by curtains which are affixed with suckers to the side windows and elastic that stretches over the sun visors. I find it a bit of a pain fixing the front curtain so my plan is to hang curtain wire from some pre-existing convenient supports where the roof bed reaches the cab, and install some normal drawable curtains at that point (essentially just behind the front seats).

The opening rear window is a very worthwhile option as it allows the boot space to be divided into two and means the amount of ventilation can be controlled (either opening the entire tailgate or just the window). It keeps all the stuff below the lower bed out of sight and is just a lot more flexible all round. It can be opened remotely with the key fob, so on waking up in the morning it is a cinch to enjoy the fresh air and a view.

The kitchen area is split into 3 separately raisable worktops which leads to lots of options for food preparation. The sink is quite small but adequate for washing up. The burners are powerful and can brew up coffee on the lowest setting in a minute or so.

View attachment 23330

The floor is like a very hard lino and being completely smooth is easy to keep clean (esp. with a dog). The downside for the dog is that is it hard for the poor mutt to get any purchase... It is possible for those that don't like the yacht-effect flooring to specify a Cali-like grey textured floor, with a commensurate reduction in cost. We looked at one but it does show the dirt immediately you step on it and seems like more of a hassle to clean (being textured).

Another point raised above is the rear top storage. Actually, it is quite large and stuff doesn't fall out. I don't know how it compares to a Cali but for storing all the sheets and towels it is more than adequate. Actually, the amount of storage in general seems excessive to me. We have trouble filling it all.

Re the air-con issues that I mentioned in an earlier post, it turns out that the default in the Marco Polo is to have just circulating air in the rear part. It is important to switch this off on a hot day (it defaults to on at the start of each trip). On a really hot day, moving the rear bench forward a bit allows rear passengers to take advantage of the strong cooled airflow from the large vent between, and to the rear of, the front seats.

The engine is settling in nicely and we managed an average of 42 mpg at a steady 75 mph over a 950 km distance yesterday, fully loaded. The best we've had so far on a 92 km trip on a combination of fairly empty/flat A-roads plus driving through the centre of a major city (Jerez) was just over 54 mpg, quite surprising to me. These figures, along with the easy of handling, I think make the Marco Polo worth considering for anyone wanting both a daily driver and a camper van.

View attachment 23334

Maybe we got lucky, but the only failing so far has been the white plastic filler piece in one of the USB ports that has snapped off...

One thing that takes some getting used to is lowering the roof. Raising it is a matter of releasing a couple of catches and within 2 seconds it is up via a gentle push. But lowering it involves pushing at a point helpfully marked 'PUSH' in a large font, the purpose of which is to re-align the tubes on the RHS (just visible in this shot) which act as a 'stop' when the roof is up. Pushing has to be just right; too much and the tubes won't telescopically collapse one within the other.

View attachment 23331

Talking of the roof, at first we couldn't work out why it looks so dark outside and yet so light inside, but it turns out to be a two layer affair.

View attachment 23333

Just to end: the dealers (Gazpi in Pamplona) couldn't have been more helpful throughout and if anyone is in the position of wanting to buy over here I can't recommend them enough.

Martin

 

[simon mp]

Hi People..... Well just purchased the Marco polo L250amg with all the extras.
Just about to do a 2500 mile round trip of Europe over the next 2 weeks or so then when back i will be able to give a comparison to the similar spec Cali which i have done the same trip only 2 months ago.

 

[Israel]

Hi People..... Well just purchased the Marco polo L250amg with all the extras.
Just about to do a 2500 mile round trip of Europe over the next 2 weeks or so then when back i will be able to give a comparison to the similar spec Cali which i have done the same trip only 2 months ago.

It's going to be really interesting. Looking forward to it.
Anyway, have a nice trip!

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk

 

[Jay20cali]

Hi People..... Well just purchased the Marco polo L250amg with all the extras.
Just about to do a 2500 mile round trip of Europe over the next 2 weeks or so then when back i will be able to give a comparison to the similar spec Cali which i have done the same trip only 2 months ago.

Excellent..Can you post some pictures of the amg version

 

[simon mp]

Well i have done a 2500 miles round trip around Europe only 2 months ago in the new Cali Ocean with many options and now i am going to be doing the same in the new Marco Polo L250 amg spec with lots of options.
So when back in 2 weeks time i will be able to do the comparison between the 2.

 

[simon mp]

Size matters when it comes to campers that you want as a go anywhere vehicle. A LWB Cali based conversion I dismissed when I was in buying mode at it removed a car parking space from my drive for starters.

Can anyone advise the height of the MP?

1.98m

 

[MP1]

We have also had our MP delivered last week and we are overjoyed, only 12 weeks from ordering to delivery with updates from the dealer every step of the way, on collection there was even a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge and a bouquet of flowers for the wife. Handover took around 2 hours from a dedicated guy who had been out to Germany on some training course, I think he is going round all the dealers training staff up on the MP.

I will try and get some pics uploaded at the weekend.

Just planning our trip to Italy in September now, we can't wait.

Also, any chance of a MP section on the forum ?

 

[Digger]

I believe there is a Marco Polo forum already set up as a sister site to the VW owners site.

 

[flying banana]

it's called vw california club. clue in the name...but we are interested in your marco polo experience . but where does it end.where's the Ford section.where's the Fiat section. we are on here to help with vw issues.

 

[Roy C]

We have also had our MP delivered last week and we are overjoyed, only 12 weeks from ordering to delivery with updates from the dealer every step of the way, on collection there was even a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge and a bouquet of flowers for the wife. Handover took around 2 hours from a dedicated guy who had been out to Germany on some training course, I think he is going round all the dealers training staff up on the MP.

I will try and get some pics uploaded at the weekend.

Just planning our trip to Italy in September now, we can't wait.

Also, any chance of a MP section on the forum ?

I was told 3 months lead time so that tallies with your experience. If you don't mind me asking did you get a discount at all?

 

[MP1]

Hi Roy, I think we calculated the discount to around 6.5%, we did have a part ex though which they virtually gave us the same price we were going to put our ML320 up for sale for privately so was a no brainier. We were shocked at the short delivery time, when he said July we thought he meant July 2018. Apparently Wesfalia keep a lot if stock as well so if you are lucky and they have your spec you could end up with it in a matter of weeks.

 

[Roy C]

Hi Roy, I think we calculated the discount to around 6.5%, we did have a part ex though which they virtually gave us the same price we were going to put our ML320 up for sale for privately so was a no brainier. We were shocked at the short delivery time, when he said July we thought he meant July 2018. Apparently Wesfalia keep a lot if stock as well so if you are lucky and they have your spec you could end up with it in a matter of weeks.

Thanks. Nice to know there is some discount to be had. Unusual with a car new to the UK market.

I was told by the salesman I saw that every dealership had been given a demo car and some had been pre-registered so they would flag on the used car search (currently 20 used MBMPs showing). He thought MB were trying to kick-start the market by getting a lot on the road in short period of time. Clearly they are trying to take market share from VW or at least recognise that there is an unfulfilled consumer demand with the long lead times for ordering new VW Cali's.

 

[MartinMere]

Roy, thanks for your pros and cons and good luck with your decision. As a daily driver I am very happy with the MP.

A few comments on the cons:

Can you not get the manual door and tailgate option (and make quite a saving)? Mine are manual. BTW I really recommend the opening tailgate window. It really makes the storage space more versatile (shopping runs etc) as well as providing a range of ventilation options.

Parking was a concern of mine but it turns out to be a doddle with the 360 camera and the van fits into most spaces. The parking package comes with automatic parking too but I have hardly used it (it reverses far too quickly into the gap for my liking).

The floor is lino-like but very tough and easy to clean, being so smooth, and doesn't show the dirt. We looked at the more conventional floor but decided it would be more of a pain to keep clean.

On the hardcore side, I've been off-grid continuously for the last 9 nights and with quite low daily mileage most of the time (~20 miles or so) and it is holding up well with the fridge on the low setting all the time (which is perfectly adequate, at least in Scottish weather conditions). I have called in to a campsite tonight though, mainly for laundry purposes.... I can't comment on the off-road aspect as I didn't buy it with that in mind, but I've been down a few bumpy tracks.

BTW one thing I've found to be really useful is a separate LI battery. Mine is a Lizone 60000maH which charges my laptop up to 3.5 times. This saves the worry of using a dodgy 12V laptop charger for my Macbook. And of course it helps extend the MP's battery life. It charges the phone more quickly than the MP too. Ultimately the plan is to add solar.

 

[Roy C]

Roy, thanks for your pros and cons and good luck with your decision. As a daily driver I am very happy with the MP.

A few comments on the cons:

Can you not get the manual door and tailgate option (and make quite a saving)? Mine are manual. BTW I really recommend the opening tailgate window. It really makes the storage space more versatile (shopping runs etc) as well as providing a range of ventilation options.

Parking was a concern of mine but it turns out to be a doddle with the 360 camera and the van fits into most spaces. The parking package comes with automatic parking too but I have hardly used it (it reverses far too quickly into the gap for my liking).

The floor is lino-like but very tough and easy to clean, being so smooth, and doesn't show the dirt. We looked at the more conventional floor but decided it would be more of a pain to keep clean.

On the hardcore side, I've been off-grid continuously for the last 9 nights and with quite low daily mileage most of the time (~20 miles or so) and it is holding up well with the fridge on the low setting all the time (which is perfectly adequate, at least in Scottish weather conditions). I have called in to a campsite tonight though, mainly for laundry purposes.... I can't comment on the off-road aspect as I didn't buy it with that in mind, but I've been down a few bumpy tracks.

BTW one thing I've found to be really useful is a separate LI battery. Mine is a Lizone 60000maH which charges my laptop up to 3.5 times. This saves the worry of using a dodgy 12V laptop charger for my Macbook. And of course it helps extend the MP's battery life. It charges the phone more quickly than the MP too. Ultimately the plan is to add solar.

The electric tailgate and sliding door seem to come as standard (at least in UK) so I'd have to see if there's an option to delete them but I'd quite like them if the battery can cope. Most things seem to come as standard and there are just a few options and packages. I'd go for the 360 degree parking camera as well and on reflection the length is only a little longer than the LR Discovery I used to have. I guess the sliding door might give an option for getting out of the vehicle in tight spaces.

I'm back at the dealership to have a proper test drive on Wednesday and possibly put a deposit down if I can get a deal I'm happy with. The dealer has phoned me twice today so the pre-sales customer service seems to be excellent and I'm hoping post-sales will be equally as good if I do go ahead.