Nissan Primastar/opel vivaro/renault traffic

Premier

Anyone with any experiance with these vans? was thinking of buying 1 for work, but im hearing conflicting stories about them, my thoughts are a lot are being used as taxis so are they a bad buy or a good un.

but43r

Great van when they are going. Very economical and plenty of power from the 100 bhp lump. They have the Renault 1.9 dCi engine which has problems with high pressure pump, injectors and turbo. My dad has Opel Vivaro and all those things went on his van (150k miles on it). The gearbox can give a lot of trouble too. They are very stylish and very comfortable vans but I would suggest you look at some alternatives.

bazz26

Gearboxes are the most common failure on these vans, they really are made of chocolate.

irishroey

hi

i have had a o3 vivaro for the last 5 years and had to get the gearbox reconditioned and only last week the turbo went good van at the start but as the years went on its very unrealible

Savman

Yep the gearbox is the dealbreaker on these, I wouldn't touch one again nor would I recommend anyone to buy one outside of warranty.

Premier

Yep guys would have to go along with ye on that 1, just looking round the internet and other forums, I find it hard to believe that nissan and renault which are renowned for great diesel engines and boxes came up with these vans, it just beggers belief. what went wrong? were the engineers asleep at the wheel when picking a gearbox for these :rolleyes: as for the vans there well built shame about the most important bits, ah well il keep searching,

waxon-waxoff

I bought a Vivaro lately and im pleased with it so far. I got a 07 115bhp 6 speed with service history from new. It handles well, has a spacious cab, decent power and its great on diesel.

Transporters, Vitos and Vivaro/Trafic/Primastar all come with a list of faults and internet reviews are bad for them all so buying a second hand van is always a gamble unless you knew the previous driver. I have a Hiace for a few years and its been trouble free but i wanted a change and something more economical and nicer to drive. In the end it came down to price and i saved 2 grand on a Transporter or Hiace of the same year.

911s

We ran two Vivaro vans alongside two VW Transporters. Only used for very light work all over country, driven quite hard (but not as hard as courier vans!!). No comparison between the two vans. Vivaro the most comfortable and sat much better on corners, less body roll. Transporter much more solid and felt better built & a better image. DOE time really told the story, VW vans normally sailed through with no problems while Vivaro always needed small things like track-rod ends, brake discs, headlight alaignments etc.
If I had to buy/lease 2 new vans in the morning for 2-3 years use I would be tempted by Vivaro value for money and comfort and move them on at low mileage, but for long term usage, company image and re-sale value I would go for VW. Recently sold Irish reg crew cab T4 Transporter to UK , where I got much better price than here, as they are sought after over there and command a premium price, barely managed to sell off two Vivaros through Done Deal last year for 'pocket money'

Nissan doctor

Premier wrote: »

Yep guys would have to go along with ye on that 1, just looking round the internet and other forums, I find it hard to believe that nissan and renault which are renowned for great diesel engines and boxes came up with these vans, it just beggers belief. what went wrong? were the engineers asleep at the wheel when picking a gearbox for these :rolleyes: as for the vans there well built shame about the most important bits, ah well il keep searching,

There are no Nissan parts or design features at all in these vans, they are purely Renault.

The new Nissan vanette NV200 is a proper Nissan, designed in Japan but is only being fitted with the renault engines in Europe:rolleyes:

IMO you can't go wrong with a Toyota Hiace...

Guy:Incognito

bazz26 wrote: »

Gearboxes are the most common failure on these vans, they really are made of chocolate.

It's the box from the Laguna. It was grand in that AFAIK but doesnt take kindly to the type of weight and driving a van gets.

Guy:Incognito

Nissan doctor wrote: »

IMO you can't go wrong with a Toyota Hiace...

Except every one of them should come with a stick that read "my other house is a caravan".

Never found the Hi-Ace particularly likeable and they dont seem to have done anythign to it since the mid 90's

911s

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Except every one of them should come with a stick that read "my other house is a caravan".

Never found the Hi-Ace particularly likeable and they dont seem to have done anythign to it since the mid 90's

Majority now use low roofed swb transit

Nissan doctor

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Except every one of them should come with a stick that read "my other house is a caravan".

Never found the Hi-Ace particularly likeable and they dont seem to have done anythign to it since the mid 90's

Surely the point of a van is to be as reliable/cheap to run/easy to maintain as possible.
They haven't done anything because nothing needed to be done IMO.

2qk4u

I know a couple of taxi drivers who are on their 3rd engine and gear box in 4 years. Avoid.

Savman

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Surely the point of a van is to be as reliable/cheap to run/easy to maintain as possible.

End of discussion IMHO.

Oh, and anyone who thinks the Travelling community only drive Hiace is sorely mistaken or stuck in the past. Take a trip to your local friendly halting site, you will see an array of Transits, Transporters and the like. And some of the cars they drive would put D4 bankers to shame.

The Vivaro is one comfortable and pokey machine, no doubt, but them's the only things I miss about that yoke. It was just soft all round. By comparison, driving a Hiace is nowhere near as pleasurable, but it is the soundest investment you can make if you rely on a van for business or trade purposes (who doesn't??).

irishroey

i have been looking at a new model vw transporter anyone any info on the new version

Albert E. Arkwright

Anyone watch the Prime Time documentary on these foreigners, collecting clothes and robbing the clothing bins around Ireland ?

Very educational, one of the best documentaries Prime Time has done in years, if you have not seen it watch it on RTE player.

The vehicle of choice for these gangsters all seems to be the Primastar/Vivaro/Traffic.

What's the reasons for that ?

mgbgt1978

Maybe they have figured out a way to manufacture/recondition Renault gearboxes from 2nd hand clothes...........;)

Albert E. Arkwright

They must be as good at robbing gearboxes and turbos as they are at robbing clothing

NuckingFacker

Albert E. Arkwright wrote: »

They must be as good at robbing gearboxes and turbos as they are at robbing clothing

The 5 speeds didn't give trouble and neither do the 6 speeds post 2004. The 2.0 is a better engine and as a van they are great on fuel and very very quick and nice to drive. Sadly, they are front wheel drive, and as anyone who really works a van will tell you, fwd is not too hot in a van. I'd still rather have a 2.0 fwd transit over a traffic though. I drive a van, I also own a load of vans of various makes and years. Traffics have a stupid ecu, in a stupid place, with stupid security features and stupid access. If you spill a drink on the passenger side dash, you've killed your ecu. Not today, not tomorrow, but it is a gonner and pretty soon. That's a deal breaker for me.

Personally, I drive a Hiace. I don't need the inbuilt grief that comes with every other van on the road. All it ever wants is diesel, tyres and servicing. What it burns in extra diesel over the traffic is easily made up for with what it doesn't look for in repairs.

canhefixit

NuckingFacker wrote: »

The 5 speeds didn't give trouble and neither do the 6 speeds post 2004. The 2.0 is a better engine and as a van they are great on fuel and very very quick and nice to drive. Sadly, they are front wheel drive, and as anyone who really works a van will tell you, fwd is not too hot in a van. I'd still rather have a 2.0 fwd transit over a traffic though. I drive a van, I also own a load of vans of various makes and years. Traffics have a stupid ecu, in a stupid place, with stupid security features and stupid access. If you spill a drink on the passenger side dash, you've killed your ecu. Not today, not tomorrow, but it is a gonner and pretty soon. That's a deal breaker for me.

Personally, I drive a Hiace. I don't need the inbuilt grief that comes with every other van on the road. All it ever wants is diesel, tyres and servicing. What it burns in extra diesel over the traffic is easily made up for with what it doesn't look for in repairs.

Me personally I wouldn't touch a Traffic/Primastar/Vivaro I think they are just not cut out for heavy everyday use, have seen so many people try them only for them to spend more time in the garage than on the road...

Granted Hi-aces are a work horse and will never let you down but man they are thirsty yolks and are slow as hell, if they werent so thirsty and had a bit more poke in them there would be a lot more of them on the road

NuckingFacker

canhefixit wrote: »

Me personally I wouldn't touch a Traffic/Primastar/Vivaro I think they are just not cut out for heavy everyday use, have seen so many people try them only for them to spend more time in the garage than on the road...

Granted Hi-aces are a work horse and will never let you down but man they are thirsty yolks and are slow as hell, if they werent so thirsty and had a bit more poke in them there would be a lot more of them on the road

Not true. As fast as anything else and use going rate fuel for a rwd van. A fwd will be lighter, but apart from comfort, they're all crap. I turned my diesel pump up a lot(I always do) and it flies. Fuel consumption no different and it cruises much better. I like old-school diesels, can breath on them and turn them inside out performance wise. You might be talking d4d, in which case, ignore me, I've never had one. Mines a 97 with 70k genuine miles up - I search out older model ones with low miles and drive till they die. Which never really happens.