[2much2c]

Just had a chance to see a friend's Dodge Sprinter up close. The stories about runaway rust are true. Didn't help that this van came from the East Coast. Not only were the wheel wells rusted but every panel had rust bubbling through, even the top of the van. Has Dodge improved their rust proofing process or is my Promaster slated for the same unfortunate fate?

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

It is too early to tell but the Sprinter is not a good caparison as it never was a Dodge. It is a Mercedes and the Promaster is a Fiat but painted in Mexico with the NA market in mind including NE and Canada where salt is a 6 month bath for cars. Perhaps review the Ram/Promaster site and see what they say about primer or galvanizing or whatever. Don't buy white as white shows rust better than any other color (yes I know white isn't a color)

 

[MsNomer]

I've seen a lot of Ducatos and Sprinters in Europe. Sprinters are almost uniformly rusty. I've never seen rust on a Ducato except from an accident.

 

[Zoomyn]

I've seen it said that Mercedes designed their Sprinters to be commercial fleet vehicles that were meant to be automatically repainted by the customer - Sprinter white is/was provided merely a base primer. Holds up about like Primer too. FCA Promaster paints should hold up as well as any of the Top 5 car manufactures processes.

 

[Spark949]

My nephew and I bought our 2008 sprinters around the same time. His was white and mine red. He has multiple rust through spots on his van and I just noticed a 1" bubble starting on my slider at the base trim line. My van has no rust anywhere else. His is even rusted underneath. Hopefully the PM white is a true paint job.