UKC

Evening all,
Looking at cheaper van alternatives for family/surf/beach van and been looking at Trafic Sports and Vivaro crew vans.

They get really good reviews, insurance is ok, MPG great but more importantly, loads of space for children and loads of gear.

Haven't managed to drive a huge amount of them on test but was wondering if anyone has any long term bugs or are they as good as they seem? Will be used by me with the kids on a day to day basis for nursery, kids groups, day trips and the delights of a Ikea etc and then long runs 4 or 5 times a year to Cornwall and France, maybe with a middle aged caravan in tow....

Let me know what you reckon.
Cheers, Den.

In reply to Denni:

I drove a traffic every day during my last ski season, I don't remember anything bugging me about it, so can't have been anything too major if there was!

In reply to Denni:

A mate has one with a very basic diy camper conversion but uses it as a car too. I've driven it a few times and its great. I've heard repairs can be very pricey....read on here that things like fuel injector problems can be big money but as a van i'd be happy with one for sure.

In reply to Denni:

I have a 2007 Trafic long wheelbase version with 9 seats. Drives like a car, gets around 35mpg and though it doesn't exactly go vroom it also doesn't really feel underpowered. The space in the back is brilliant, even with 3 rows of seats there's more than enough room behind for more bags than could fit in any estate car. With only 6 seats there's easily room for a double bed in the back.
No problems. with it so far and I'd highly recommend it.

In reply to john arran:

Hey folks,
instant replies, thanks very much!

All sounds positive, will investigate the repair prices etc John, have you had any major dramas with repairs, prices etc?

I really like them, function not fashion and we are looking at the SWB version which would be perfect for me to make some sort of storage at the rear with plastic boxes etc for all our beachy, surfy, kayak, windsurf kit.

Keep the good reviews coming :0)

In reply to Denni:

Only had ours since last summer so nothing to report at all. Done a fair few miles since then though and all is good.

In reply to Denni:
I've got a 2005 swb traffic 9 seater, had it three years. Been reliable no issues at all. Great for hauling gear about been on a fair few trips with and really happy with it.

In reply to abr1966:


When they go well, they are great, fast, economical for what they are and comfortable. But when they go wrong .... We've got a 2008 one at the moment, 109K miles with a FSH and it's not going; in fact it hasn't gone for months.

An injector went. New injector £400 + VAT and fitting. Garage (very reputable; not a bunch of cowboys) couldn't get the old one out of the head (a very common problem apparently) so had to get it done by specialists - another £350 + VAT. New injector fitted, van running on 3 cylinders only. Garage stumped, so they trailer it over to the main dealer for specialist diagnostics. Verdict? When the injector went, it took out the engine management ECU. (Not uncommon apparently.) Genuine parts one is £550, although the garage sourced a rebuilt one for £350+VAT. ECU fitted, injectors coded to it etc etc and ... still running on 3 cylinders.

Most recent step was to replace the rebuilt ECU with a genuine parts one. No difference; still chugging on 3. Both garage and main dealer now stumped. Labour, so far, is nearly £700 and the total cost is almost £2.5K - and the van still isn't going. In fact it's basically scrap as we have decided that we can't just keep throwing money at it anymore.

Are we just unlucky? Well not particularly according to the garage, who have spoken off the record to the main dealer's service manager. Apparently the MD sees loads of Vivaros with injector and ECU problems, at all ages and mileages, both in and out of warranty..

Google Vivaro Problems.

See what you think then.

In reply to Denni:

Traffics are ok, they do have the turning circle of the QE2 though!

In reply to Denni:

I've got 2.

My old one is a 2002 Vivaro SWB with 8 seats. I've put 300,000K on it doing airport runs and driving through the Alps.
There's been two big spends on it.
Back in 2008 I had the injectors done. Two of them were stuck in the head and were wrecked getting them out - two were ok and we had them reconditioned - total cost 1600€. Olivier has a special tool for getting stuck injectors out, nevertheless it took his young lad a day and a half to get one out so a lot of that cash was for labour.
If you go to a main dealer and the injectors are stuck they replace the head - 5000k ?
Then last year I had the gearbox re-conditioned at a cost of 1700€.
I've also had the timing belt done twice at a cost of 400€ each time.
It's been great really and worked really hard for me. It's still going strong and I use it for local stuff.


My new one is a 2011 LWB Trafic which I bought in Feb. The newer ones have a timing chain which doesn't need changing and apparently the injector issues have been sorted.
I've just drivien it from here to Annecy, over most of the big Alps with a heavy trailer on the back. No problems.

I'd have another one.

E

In reply to Denni:

I run them for work, fully loaded up all the time.
2005 to 2010, swb traffic. Sold it with 150k on the clock. The only spend outside of servicing and consumables was the engine management light came on at 130k. I spent half a day sitting in Renault in York who failed to find the problem so I took it to my local injection specialist who charged me £75 + vat to diagnose and fit a new solenoid on the turbo.
I also had a problem with a warranty recall for the power steering. The pump was changed and it took Leeds Renault 2 months to fix it. Cutting a long story short the new pump was faulty out of the box but they refused to accept that and tried many different things, even gave me the van back 4 times telling me it was fixed when it wasn't. Only got sorted when I complained to their head office.

2012 to present, lwb traffic high roof again fully loaded.
80k on the clock so far. 1 week after purchase the oil light came on. It took Renault Leeds a month to sort it, they replaced part of the loom and again it only got sorted because I got on to head office.
Since then it has been faultless and is a bit of a flying machine since I got it chipped.

I have a further fleet of 3 more, 1 traffic and 2 vivaros. The oldest is 2003 with 180k on the clock. The youngest is 2007 with 40k on the clock. One of them had an engine management problem but that was sorted under warenty the other 2 have not cost a single penny.
We also had a 2012 vivaro with a triptronic gearbox.
Crap. Cost a couple of grand to fix when it failed and was always problematical so I got shut.

In reply to Dax H:

Thinking of getting mine chipped as it's a bit gutless in the mountains with 8 people on board - what's the score with getting it chipped?

Cheers,

E

In reply to butteredfrog:


And there's this - my LWB has the turning circle of the Torrey Canyon.

E

In reply to Denni:

My campervan is a fully converted Vivaro. I say campervan but it's my everyday vehicle as well. Loads of space and I love it. I bought it with 97k miles on the clock and all original parts. It's now done 145k and I've given it new power steering, new gear linkage, a new engine (purely since corrosion meant an injector couldn't be removed from the cylinder head and the cylinder head had corroded onto the engine block - that was annoying) but still on original gearbox, although looking at changing that soon.
All in all, we've spent a fair bit on it, but since it was bought converted for under £13k and an equivalent VW would have been twice that, I don't think it's bad value. Plus it's my toy!

In reply to Enty:




It's not strictly chipping but I took mine to a local bloke who remapped the ecu, cost about 200 quid if I remember right.
Took it from 100hp to 140.
Due to being fully loaded all the time it really struggled, especially up in the dale's with all the steep winding hill's but after getting it done it drives great and on the odd time I remove all my tools and spares it goes like smelly stuff off a shovel.
I didn't see any increase in mpg but no decrease to speak of either but way way better to drive.

In reply to Dax H:

Yeah that's what I was told - 100 to 140 for about 400€, might go for it.

E

In reply to Enty:

Which engine is that for, Craig? Does it affect insurance?

In reply to jon:

2.0 DCi - actually it's 90hp and it will probably affect insurance.

E

In reply to Denni:

I have a 2003 Trafic that's just coming up to 210000 miles now. In the 5 years or so I've had it it's had routine stuff, new brake calipers, discs, shocks and wotnot. And the only time it's let me down was when the alternator conked out. (Came as a bit of a shock to realise that modern diesels need electricity - my previous vans were all a bit more primitive.)

I've had sporadic problems with an intermittent loss of power, bypassed the EGR valve and replaced the MAF sensor and all was well for a good few 1000 miles, but it seems to be happening again very intermittently. I suspect it's either the MAF again or a dodgy bit of wiring in the bit of loom going to the MAF, time will tell.

The gearbox is getting a wee bit clunky perhaps, doesn't bother me though.

I'll definitely be getting another one when the time comes - I have no complaints. (I also have a set of spare wheels with decent winter tyres on, so it'd be good to hang on to those and keep using them.)

In reply to Denni:

The 2.0 engine is much better than the 1.9. I have had three of these vans and they are great for conversions. The LWB high roof is way better space wise than a T5 for example.