I assume it the same for the Nissan and Renault versions (or do they have a normal seat he can swap in?)… my friend just replaced his transit with one of these, but hate the front seat. He has very long legs but a short torso, and wants sit higher in the cab (like his transit), but the seat goes diagonally up and forward at the same time, so he ends up with his knees touching the steering wheel. Anyone come across this?

Would it have been an idea for your friend to have sat in the van before he bought it?  🙂

The first iteration of the traffic / vivaro had a really spacious cab, the second was a bit pokey but the new one is terrible . There’s some odd ergonomics going on with that van. I’ve driven the Vauxhall version and as well as self defeating  seat adjustment, the line of the windscreen means you can’t see traffic lights if you’re at the front of the queue and if you put the sun visor down you can’t see ….. the road.

I don’t know why people like driving vans with the seat jacked so far up!

Get your friend to just give it a go sitting lower, it doesn’t actually reduce any meaningful visibility when you are 3″ lower.

I don’t know why people like driving vans with the seat jacked so far up!

it’s about distance from the pedals not height of the seat if you have long legs. Moving the seat back increases that but in vans the bulkhead limits that, if that’s not enough adjustment then typically moving the seat up gives more legroom as well. But in that model of van ( which given the number of different badges it’s sold with is nearly all models of van now) raising the seat also moves it forward again and reduces the leg room

Would it have been an idea for your friend to have sat in the van before he bought it?

Yes, he obviously did, but didn’t take it out for a lengthy test drive, it was just a van to replace his old van, not a sport car after all. He may have assumed it was because he was unfamiliar with the van/seat, he could adjust it right later.. Does anyone really expect a modern vehicle to have a seat that won’t actual work for them?

Spooky, as Mac says, it’s not just about want to seat high, my friend has stupidly long legs. Though we’re of similar height, if I try to ride his bike, I’m on tip toes trying to reach his pedals!

I had this style of seat in a Corsa van I was unlucky enough to get as a courtesy van. It took a few minutes mucking around before I realised the seat height affected the legroom. Once I dropped the height down I had loads of legroom. I suppose that might be a problem if you had a *very* short torso. My comment was general though as I find all van drivers appear to just put the seat up to its highest setting by default and then wonder why the blood circulation to their legs gets cut off by the seat bolster pressing into their thighs!