Ford Transit custom Trend or Vivaro Sportive

I’m after a new van for lifestyle use so its not going to carry a lot of weight. Narrowed it down to these two.

Transit Custom Trend 100ps 270 L1H1.
Pros – Good looks, nice colour (deep impact blue), heated windscreen.
Cons – lower mpg especially when new.

Vivaro Sportive 27 L1H1 1.6cdti 120ps in black.
Pros – better mpg, air-con, more sophisticated suspension (springs on the back vs leaf springs on the transit – which is perfectly OK for heavy use) and its British made so I’ll be supporting British industry.
Cons – the newness of it. Its been out a year and there isn’t as much feedback as there is the Transit

Driven both – vivaro is like an mpv, smooth and comfortable. Custom is good too but a little more clattery.
The only thing thats putting me off the Vivaro is the newness of the design. Getting 120ps out of a 1.6 engine is pushing it a bit imo. The custom has a relatively older 2.2 engine and should be quite low stressed. I could get it remapped after its been properly run in (>~9000 miles) and apparently people have reported better mpg with an increase in power.
The Vivaro is quite a bit cheaper. Both are pre-registered in the last month so plenty of 3 years warranty on both.
Talking to a van hire manager, he says he gets no problems with them unlike the equivalent Renault Trafic which have had electrical issues.

So, anyone have any experience of these?

The only bad thing I have heard is that Transits are a doddle to break into.
Not had anything to do with the new vans but used to work on the older Transits and they were quite reliable.
I have the slightly older Vivaro and again its never had any issues apart from being flat with 90 ps engine.

Transits up to 2012 , we had load of egr problems. Latest batch from 2012, we have had 2 that have lost 5th gear and one had a warranty box from Ford and the second has lost it last week at 3yrs old and 50k miles , although no egr issues. Just saying from a users view. But then I wouldn’t have a Vauxhall….

There are some great deals to be done on pre regd delivery mileage transits. I pick my L2H1 up on Thursday. A 125 Limited. I very nearly shook on a trend but decided to do a bit more digging and found I could get a limited £1k cheaper if I travelled a bit further. (To Evans Halshaw, Preston)
I did look at the vivaro as well as a Vito but as I will carry some weight on occasion (750 miles to France) I don’t fancy a 1.6.
I’ve driven a T5 and as well as costing thousands more for a similar spec, it doesn’t drive as well IMO
(I am swapping from a BMW car and apart from leather (which I hate) and a satnav…the Transit has all (plus heated screen) that the car has.

I obviously vote Transit

I’ve got a new Trafic 1.6. Fine for me, but I never carry that much weight, but would a van be made that struggled really badly when loaded. They new engines seem to gave a hood write up. Got a good deal on a pre registered from Evans Halshaw.

120ps from a 1.6 is far from pushing it. Ford’s ecoboost 1.0 ranges from 100bhp to ~150ish bhp.

Interior is nicer in the transit vivaro is a bit boxier in the back which is good for storage. Transit would win for me but there’s a couple of side by side reviews online aol motors has one I’ve just been looking at myself.

Transit cab is really nice which I think is important, limited has some nice extra touches. That engine shouldn’t be in a vivaro, a 1.6 doesn’t have the grunt for a loaded van, I had it in a focus and it is terrible loaded.

My 12 plate tranny that’s just over three years old has just had a service. It’s drinking fuel lime a bastard now and fuel economy is down to 27 mpg.

That engine shouldn’t be in a vivaro, a 1.6 doesn’t have the grunt for a loaded van, I had it in a focus and it is terrible loaded.

They don’t use the same engine in the Focus though.

Get air con!

Vans are shit without it.

I have a 13 plate LWB Vivaro doublecab. Air con, sat nav, tail gate and rear parking sensors. Love it. Drives really well. It’s a 2.0 though.

120ps from a 1.6 is far from pushing it. Ford’s ecoboost 1.0 ranges from 100bhp to ~150ish bhp.

Are they both measured pre or post transmission?

I’m currently using a 2015Transit custom (basic spec) and it’s pretty good. At 11k miles it’s getting 34.8 mpg average according to the dash. I do a fair amount of town/ London driving in it. It’s pretty torquey, no idea of the output but it’s relaxing to drive.
The interior is nice, the audio despite being a basic one is good. The cab does get warm though. The 1.97m height can be a pain in the arse and the ride is a little harsh as I don’t carry much weight in mine.

No idea about the new vivaro but the older ones we had failed in ways I thought was long gone in the car industry. Early clutch failure, gearbox ( from a car I believe), total electrical fail all in the first year. Everything was under warranty but a van off the road for lengthy major repairs isn’t earning money.
They got chopped in for transit customs which have been pretty good aside from a recall on the oil pump and I think two of them had a fuel sensor issue suspected to be contaminated fuel. I think the oldest Custom has needed a wheel bearing at 80k.

I needed a new clutch on my last tranny that had done 35 miles. Then it spat an injector out. This new one doesn’t exactly run sweet either…

Pretty much gone for the Vivaro. Certain older models had issues with gearbox and injectors rusting in. I hope they’ve learnt from that.

It was £1.5K cheaper as well and the local dealer was slightly cheaper than anywhere else nationally.

If I was a tradesman and using the van as a van should be used, then I’d probably go for the Transit – seems a bit tougher and the MPG wouldn’t hurt so much as I wouldn’t be driving long distances at a time.

When I was a Sky engineer we all had Vivaros, had mine from new and ran it for about 5years only issues I had in that time were a flat battery(caused by leaving the doors open for a couple of hrs whilst at a job) and the power steering failing about a month before the van was due to be changed.
They were used and abused but kept on going and we had a fair bit of gear in and on them.

Drove a VW T5 for a couple of weeks whilst waiting for my replacement van which was OK but nothing to write home about, the eventually successor a VW Caddy maxi was really nice to drive but quite a bit smaller than a Vivaro.

No experience on the current Transit but chatting to a AA patrol recently who has one, he really rates it again he had a T5 prior to that and thought it was toss, but drivewise reckons the Transit is on a par with the Vivaro but with a nicer cab and exterior.

From everyone I talked to who was or in the motortrade, T5’s are not that well respected. Not as reliable as you would think and way over priced.
I’ve driven a few T5 hire vehicles as a result of not having transport for the last 1.5 years, nice to drive but the competition has now caught up.

I drive a Tourneo for work (a Transit with windows and seats). It’s lovely to sit in – much nicer than my (older-model) Trafic.

Compared to my 2.0L Trafic it’s also gutless (2.2L / 125ps diesel), drinks fuel and corners like a blancmange. The ongoing joke at work is to inspect the road underneath it before each trip to find the fuel leak.