my mates after a van, hes looking at a mercedes vito 2nd hand. What else is around thats any good? Budget of about £4000. I told him to look at the vivaro/traffic/primastar options. Are these any good?

We all know the standard response is a Volkswagen transporter, but he’s looking for something a bit cheaper.

Whats he going to use it for?

general van stuff i think. He’s considering a camper covertion perhaps aswell. He’s not a mtber either so we’re not particularly arsed abut how many bikes he can fit in the back

the vivaro etc are decent vans roll along nicely on a sniff of juice.. however reliability is mixed repairs are not cheap.. two diesel pumps wneel bearings that are an integral part of the disc steering pumps and gearboxes alegedly ( though i have not touch wood had a gearbox prob) and electrics.. after 18 months at local garages main dealers blokes what know a mate my dodgy electrics were sorted by a plug cannabalised from a punto in a scrap yard.. oh and keys cost 187 inc vat. 6gears is good on the m- way though

are the vivaros/traffics/primastar all the same? Or is the nissan the more reliable of the 3?

are the vivaros/traffics/primastar all the same? Or is the nissan the more reliable of the 3?

IIRC they are all the same, built in the same factory.

All the same – made in Vauxhall’s Luton factory, badged accordingly. Renault design & engine. Good vans really, much better than the Vito or Transporter you’ll get for the same cash. Should be no rust on the Trafic, you’ll probably find the Vitos for £4k look a bit like brown doilys….

Odd really that people assume that a Nissan will be more reliable than a Renault – especially as Renault own a majority stake in Nissan…

last of my list would be a vito, they either seem to have rust or engine issues depending on generation.

Transporters are better supported for conversion aftermarket stuff. get a newer renault etc for money though.

thing with vans is condition is independent from age/ mileage.

Don’t forget the good old transit 🙂

The ‘general van stuff’ Vitos can’t do is carry a sheet of plywood. Standard size Vivaros can’t either, you’d swear they are the same size as a transit, and to all intents and purposes they are on the outside but they’re too small on the inside, so they can’t carry the one thing that all the other vans in their class are designed around…… but they take up just as much space. Same goes for the Vito to a lesser extent. It is a smaller van than a transit. But not by very much and it seems to have pretty much all the disadvantages of a bigger van

The other issue with Vivaros – tell your mechanic you’re going to buy one, he’ll love that. There seems to be no real access to the engine through the bonnet, making straightforward jobs a massive ball ache. It can add hundreds of pounds of labour time to jobs that should be straight forward. £1000+ bills to replace a 50p injector seals for instance.

a van for a mate

first line of an internet dating agent profile for an eastern european without a proper grasp of english?

You can’t beat a Transit for reliabilty!
Plus you can get an 8′ x 4′ sheet of ply/plasteboard in it easily

I can get 8’x4′ sheets of ply/plasterboard into my short wheel base Trafic so don’t believe everything you read on here. 🙄

Transits are great if you want a noisy, uncomfortable builders van, even the new ones. Nissan Primastars are “great vans but a bit fragile” said the AA man as he towed away my 3yr old 80000m with a blown engine! VW Transporters are a bit pricey for good reason IMO.

VW Transporters are a bit pricey for good reason IMO

Rubbish. They are no better than anything else. Mate bought one brand new (T5) and has had all sorts of problems.

Anyone any experience of the Hyundai iLoad?

Now on my second VW T5 without any reliability issues. It’s basically like driving a car with a big box on the back

Have had very good experiences with VW T4’s – which are far superior to the T5’s IMHO and cheap enough for his budget

Ford Transits are excellent choices – especially where parts are concerned

Vitos have won Van of the Year iirc but have had some indifferent rep over build quality

Remember this: most people who drive vans, wrag them stupid. it’s no wonder some people create ‘reliability issues’

Just avoid LDV like the plague 😉

Thanks for the replies chaps. Sounds as if there’s issues with all of them?

My mate is an ex mechanic so he can fix stuff if it does go wrong.

He’s found a Vito with 90k on the clock for £2,400. Sound any good?

Beat him down a 2k to compensate for a new gear box – unless one has been replaced recently

He’s found a Vito with 90k on the clock for £2,400. Sound any good?

look at the general condition of it.

I’d rather have a 100k van that’s been looked after than a 20k van that’s trashed.

Some of the vans (t5s) i looked at had <20k genuine miles and looked like they’d been rallied whilst carrying paint. 😯

Check on the turbo too…

Besides that, check for wear and tear – eg chassis, door hinges, door seals.

(besides log book, a weirdly useful indicator of general care is the state of the seat covers and accelerator and brake peddle wear)

I have driven Most of the SWB vans, 30k+ in a Transporter and well over 50,000 in an 07 Transit, the Transit is way better than the Transporter, it is not noisy and is much more comfortable than the other vans I have driven (including the Vivaro).Transporter I had from new and it had lots of rattles and some electrical problems. If I was buying a van with my own money it would be a Transit

I went through this exercise a year or so ago at a similar budget and went for a Toyota HiAce. I’ve not been disappointed. And, whilst it wasn’t bought for this particular purpose, it has had an 8 x 4 sheet of ply in it 😉

well i had my current traffic since it had 7k on it it now has 71k i’m the slowest easiest driver on the planet always short shirt never revs over 2200 handbrake on at every junction never held on clutch, serviced every year as per MI and the thing just keeps braking down it aint the driver.. its the loose wires in the plug, its the waterlogged fusebox, its the windscreen wiper motor its the seal in the steering box its the motor in the fuel pump its the leak in the passenger side roof rail its the rear door that doesnt quite shut properly its the poor earth that keeps blowing bulbs in the rear.. all of which would not be improved or made worse by ragging the thing.

No personal experience but heard some good things about toyota Hi ace from a few people, similar size to a VW but cheaper.

VW LT MWB with a hi-roof or MB Sprinter MWB with a hi-roof are both easily within budget. There are SWB models too if length isn’t his thing. Both are suitable candidates for camper conversion; loads of space & most folk can stand up in the back. OK, the MWB models are a wee bit long at 5.5mtrs but they should both return high 30s on the motorway and are both renowned for their reliability. The Merc has the advantage of a chain driven cam so there’s no belt to change. Some people say the VWs are less likely to have been thrashed, but I don’t know why that would be. Sprinters are known as quick vans though so maybe that’s where that comes from.

Or if your mate wants bullet-proof reliability it has to be a Hiace but, IMO, they’re an odd size/shape. Well known for their robustness, there are plenty around with north of 300k miles on the clock and running fine.

High 30’s from an lt or sprinter?! Expect to get that from a transporter of vivaro/trafic. Vito 34 tops. LT35 30. All from my real world experience of owning them!