http://www.nexusrv.com This presentation explains how the ford chassis compares to the mercedes chassis for Return on Investment, taking into account fuel costs as well as other factors.

1. ROI (Return on Investment)
Ford cut away Chassis V.S. Sprinter
cut away Chassis
Nexus RV President Claude Donati 10-13-11
www.nexusrv.com

2. Over the last 17 years, I have had the pleasure of helping
thousands of people make their RV motorhome purchase. This
unique perspective of assisting in the shopping process gave me
the understanding of what is important to the retail customer.
Things like value, performance, design and safety rule the day.
Recently, there has been a new factor, fuel efficiency.

3. A decade ago, when a person would ask, “What is the gas mileage?
The cute response was, “If you have to ask, you probably cannot
afford it.” This response was a defense mechanism by the industry
to deflect the perception that fuel consumption was going to
drain the RVer of all their money or perhaps prevent a new RVer
from entering into the market. This fear of fuel consumption and the
cost associated with fuel has remained an important topic.
Consequently, there is a fallacy that has been left unchecked and
may be impacting the decision by first time buyers as well as the
seasoned RVer.
The fallacy, the Sprinter chassis with the Mercedes 3.0 diesel engine
will save you money because the MPG’s is far better than the Ford
Cut-a-way chassis with the V-10 gasoline engine.

4. The following comparison is meant to
comprehensive, but I must admit, our company,
Nexus RV (www.nexusrv.com),has made the decision
to build exclusively on the Ford Chassis for several
major reasons. Each of those reasons is based on
what we believe to be right for the retail customer.

5. Here is that comparison:
Fuel Cost
In an effort to demonstrate the ROI (return on investment of buying a Sprinter Chassis
instead of a Ford Chassis, you must first determine some variables
that are agreeable. For this comparison let us accept the following variables:
Price per Gallon (AAA fuel chart October 13th, 2011)
Diesel $3.79
Unleaded $3.42
Miles traveled per year by the RVer (industry estimate)
5,000 miles
Cost to buy Sprinter Chassis with Mercedes Engine and diesel Generator Vs. Ford with gas Generator
$25,000
Miles per Gallon (MPG)
Sprinter 13 mpg
Ford 9 mpg
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6. Annual cost of fuel
Sprinter Chassis with 3.0 Mercedes diesel
5,000 miles traveled divided by 13 miles per gallon=384 gallons used x $3.79 per gallon =
$1,458 annual fuel expense
Ford Chassis with V-10 gas
5,000 miles traveled divided by 9 miles per gallon=555 gallons used x $3.42 per gallon=
$1,900 annual fuel expense
Result: You save $442 for every 5,000 miles
you travel with the purchase of a Sprinter Chassis,
but remember you paid $25,000 more for the same motorhome.
It would take you 56 years to get a return on your investment!
The equation can be modified to handle all the variables such as fuel cost,
distance traveled or amount paid for the Sprinter Chassis.
Bottom line: No matter how long you own your motorhome you will not be able
to save money with on fuel by purchasing the Sprinter Chassis vs. the Ford Chassis.
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7. Parts and Service
Ford Motor Company has been producing the
Ford Cut-a-way chassis with slight modifications for over 30 years;
the V-10 engine has been used in the configuration for over 15 years.
This product is manufactured in Lorain, Ohio. Thus, the availability
of parts for these products is plentiful and cost effective. Contrarily, the
Sprinter Chassis with the 3.0l Mercedes Engine has only been in the states under
its current configuration for less than 7 years. The import cost and shipping costs make
the parts for the Sprinter expensive compared to the
Ford. In addition, Ford Motor Company has been in existence for over 100 years
with the largest and strongest service network in the RV industry.
There is not even a close second. At Nexus, because we know the
buyers are not going to be close to where they bought their unit, we rely heavily on
Ford’s ability to keep our customer’s on the road. Sprinter does not have a service network
that would compare to the Ford’s. In fact, there are a fraction of service centers
that can or will service the Sprinter Chassis.
Result: Ford Service and Parts are far more effective and affordable than the Sprinter

8. Product and Performance
Although the Sprinter has some neat features and many people like
the feel of the cockpit while you are driving down the road, there are
some vital features that Ford has over the Sprinter that are difficult to
ignore.
Here are those important features:
Ford Feature Sprinter
14,500 lbs GCWR 11,030
Horsepowe
305 H.P. 188 H.P.
r
Fuel 26.4
55 Gallon
Capacity Gallon
LT225/85
LT 225/75/16E Tires
R/16
420 lbs. Torque 325 lbs.

9. It is understandable that many readers may believe there are many
more features that both these chassis could tout in a sales
presentation. They would be correct. We have taken the most
important features to the overall performance of the motorhome and
concluded that in spite of the limited short term gains in fuel efficiency,
the Sprinter Chassis and Mercedes engine does not compare to the
Ford in those key areas such as value, safety, service and
Return on Investment (ROI).
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10. Nexus RV is a factory Direct Dealer/Manufacturer that works diligently
to save retail customers money by eliminating waste, give the
customers a better buying experience and build the customers exactly
what they want. Moreover, we go to great lengths to inform customers
of our manufacturing philosophy as well as our unique perspective of
being both the dealer and the manufacturer of RVs. It is with that spirit
we hope to pass along information that may help in the buying
decision of thousand of potential customers.
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11. For more information, visit:
http://www.nexusrv.com/
Or call toll-free
1-855-786-3987