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Chris Poll knows a thing or two about commercial vehicles – so when the time came to buy his new van, he went for a Mercedes.
Chris runs Chiltern Tail-lifts, of Cheddington, Leighton Buzzard, and has recently bought a Sprinter 315CDI Medium with standard roof from Mercedes Benz retailer Hughes of Aylesbury.
He uses the van as a mobile workshop for fitting and repairing lifts on commercial vehicles. It carries a generator, power tools and spare parts, as well as a set of ladders on the roof.
Chris decided to replace his ageing Ford with a new-generation Sprinter after visiting the Mercedes stand at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham last April.
“The Sprinter is a total contrast to my previous vehicle and a real pleasure to drive, like riding on a wave of torque,” he says. “I am absolutely delighted with it.”
In fact, so much does Chris loves being out on the road in his new Sprinter that he even took it along to a recent meeting of the local Jaguar Drivers’ Club, rather than his usual classic.
As an engineer, Chris is also very impressed with his new van’s battery of high-tech safety features. “The Adaptive ESP® electronic stability program is particularly reassuring,” he says. “Those Mercedes-Benz designers really do think of everything.”
Chris set up Chiltern Tail-lifts in 2001, having spent the previous 15 years working in the trade for other firms. He provides a wide range of tail-lifts, from those for disabled or elderly wheelchair users needing access to minibuses, through to heavy-duty ones for 40-tonne trucks delivering goods for the likes of Tesco.
“The Sprinter is the perfect size for my business,” adds Chris. “It can swallow all of the equipment I need and still leave me with plenty of room in which to work, but it’s not too big and truck-like to drive; in fact, it’s a lot like driving a luxury car.”
The new-generation Mercedes Sprinter was launched last summer. Combining dynamic good looks, ‘bullet-proof’ build quality, comprehensive specification and ingenious technology, the range cost £1.25 billion (1.8 billion euro) and took a team of 400 design engineers five years to develop. The result is a triumph, a vehicle that sets new standards in terms of productivity, refinement and safety.
Highlights include a new super-high roof option, best-in-class side-loading door widths, outstanding ergonomics and comfort, a powerful and a clean CDI diesel engine line-up topped by a storming 184hp 3.0-litre V6. |
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