 Due to this issue, ambulance trusts started searching for more economical vehicles and began changing to Mercedes-Benz Sprinters with powerful diesel engines around 2003, further reducing profitability of the Convoy for LDV, as diesel engines with enough power for rapid response applications were never available on the Convoy and therefore the trusts had to migrate away from the platform.In addition, a hydraulic tail lift was standard on the Sprinter ambulances, but absent from the Convoy's coachwork, meaning that patients had to be manually lifted into the LDV by paramedics.All Convoy ambulances had air suspension, external floodlights, and a four-speed automatic transmission.