Sigh. Vans- Vivaro/Trafic/Primastar- tell me your horror stories

We’re thinking of replacing our trusty Doblo with something a smidge bigger for more comfort and less arguing on weekends away and we’re looking at Vivaros, Trafics and Primastars. We’ve been up to LWB Ducatos, which’d be great, but it’d also be something that we use as our car so I’d prefer something a little bit smaller than the mahoosive shed on wheels (jumbo Transit, anyone?) my OH is leaning towards.

So, what should we look out for? How much did your fun bus end up costing you after it shat itself just round the corner from where you bought it? Did you have to remortgage your bum down the docks or has it never been a bit of bother?

New or S/h ? I had a 2008 trafic that was my windsurfbuz. Took me all around Spain and back loaded with boards and sails etc. I rigged out a small shelf for bits n bobs, raised the floor for all sails, hung he boards from the roof when dry, bed on the raised floor (ply) single. Took camping cookers and spare gas, huge water container from a caravan shop close by, hung my clothes from the rack, dried out gear in the scorching heat before putting it inside the van over night.
It was hot. 40C and blazing sunshine cooks everything inside the van, you’ll need screens and a side tent bivi if going anywhere hot. I ended up sleeping outside the van most nights under a moz net, in quiet locations. More built up areas were a pain because everything needed to go in the van..including me overnight or walking around town.
It was a red clean example, 79k on it when I took it and 130k when I got back.
Problems ? Yes, I wrecked the electrics in the dash when I threw my soaking wet board in over the passenger seat and the water ran down the heater ducts and blew everything. Fixed by a pipe smoking old Portuguese chap in a lay by petrol station 50k out of Portimao. Nothing else other than made sure it was serviced before I went and oil/water checks along the way.
Great van because it got me where I wanted to go, and home.

Cool, ta. We’re looking at second hand, probs around the £2000-ish mark.

My 120k mile 58 plate one got carted away on the back of a truck on saturday. Was misfiring and lighting up all the red lights on the dash. Finally refused to start a couple of weeks ago. Fault reader showed up problems with the no1 injector and ECU memory. I’m expecting a big old bill. :(

For 2k you may not get something below 100,000 miles, So check the obvious like service history and any repair bills you can look at, check timing belt changes(some have chains which don’t need changing, others have belts which do), any gearbox repairs (pre-2006 models had problems).

I’ve got a 2003 vivaro, had 83,000 miles on the clock, its now just under 150,000 miles. This year I’ve had the alternator/power steering belt tensioner replaced(wear and tear), and one of the injector seals blew, which can be an absolute money pit to repair, fortunately was sorted quickly and cheaply.

The last major thing to go wrong was five years ago with a broken high pressure diesel pump, and that was expensive to replace. 8O

I’ve got a 54 plate swb Vivaro. Had it 2 years. Plied out, bit of insulation, put a side window in it. There’s room for a folding futon that fits nicely between the wheel arches. I’ve put a metal shelf in to keep all cooking and clothing supplies in boxes on. We use a single ring gas cooker and carry a water container.
Been all over Lakes, Wales, Scotland and over to France in it. Seems ok on fuel and usual consumables. I like driving it. It’s been great as a ‘stealth camper’, parked on streets and car parks on occasion and nobody has been any the wiser.
We’re thinking of going upscale a bit and getting one that’s been converted to a camper so ours will be up for sale at some point.
I’ve heard all the horrors stories about injectors going etc but ours has been fine. 116k on the clock so far.

We’re expecting post-100k mileage and a bit of cleaning up to do for £2000. The stealth camper/day van /somewhere comfy to lounge if it’s peeing down thing is sort of what we have in mind.

Plenty of ex delivery vans about. Can come clean but high mileage, check service history would be my thoughts.

Stealth camper is a good idea, don’t put any stickers on it (I didn’t) and you’ll just look like any delivery van and that can be a blessing.

I sold mine 12mths after I got back to a mate (was expecting huge grief TBH) but it’s still going, still looks reasonable and I smile every time I see it.

Bought a 2007 Vivaro hightop from a van dealership, 150k miles but full service history.

Glad it came with a warranty as I noticed a whine on the motorway which meant a gearbox rebuild, then a couple of weeks later the clutch slave cylinder went which would have also been a large bill.

It was nice to drive and handy, but I sold it when the warranty ran out. Wouldnt buy another if Im honest.

I’ve got a late 2003 Trafic. Got about 290,000 miles on it now. Gets oil changes every 6000 miles which is probably a bit OTT, but it only did it’s first turbo about 10,000 miles ago and just got noisy suddenly so I got it towed and was then just a straight forward turbo replacement rater than a bigger engine job.
I also make sure the timing belt is done regularly to save that risk. I did have one close call when the woodruff key went on the main cambelt pulley and allowed it to slip, thankfully only a tiny bit before it jammed and avoided any engine damage. It’s been a fantastic work horse.

Got a 56 plate trafic, short wheel Base, 55k miles on it 2 years ago for £4.5k. Lovely clean van inside and out and had no issues with it apart from the radio dying every winter when it gets below a certain temp. Have to pull the fuse and reenter the code each time. Lovely and nippy to drive compared with my previous transit. Love the van hope it continues to run well.

2010 Trafic, 2.0DCi, had it 2 years, had 120k. on it when I bought it, now at 151k. Was ex-AA, now rebuilt as a camper.

Has had:

NEEDED:
new clutch slave cylinder (did the clutch at the same time, flywheel was fine)
service parts*
new handbrake cable
second hand alternator*
air-con hose*

*= I did it myself

Voluntarily, I had the camchain changed 2k miles ago- they do go, seems dependant on servicing, as it turned out mine had loads of life left in it, but I intend to run it for a few years more.

Currently, 5th and 6th gears have developed a whine at 60mph, and I will probably get a bearing rebuild soonish, circa £450.

Would happily buy another.

Why as Van not a big MPV. Galaxy’s and Previa’s seem bullet proof. Take the seats out as required !!

We have a 2013 LWB Vivaro, have had it from new. Been absolutely no bother until this week when it’s developed an annoying rattle when accelerating. Taking it to get looked at and find out what the problem is, hopefully not too big but we’re bracing ourselves.

Definatly get the timing belt or chain done.

Chains allegedly don’t snap but in reality, they strip the teeth off the gear wheel thing which throws the timing out and smashes the valves into the Pistons.

Gearboxes can be cheese and the gear link ball joint can come off. A clamp can be bought for about £8 to keep it together.

Everything else listed can go wrong. But get a good one and they are really nice to drive and don’t rot away like a Transit would.

simmy – Member – Block User – Quote
A clamp can be bought for about £8 to keep it together.

Forgot that: I’ve also done this, 10 mins to fit.

Forgot that: I’ve also done this, 10 mins to fit.

Mines got one but I didn’t fit it. The guy I got my van off only deals in Vivaro / Trafic / Primastars and I think he fits these to everything he sells.

Bare in mind that despite being basically the same van they do run proprietary software. If you buy the nissan badged one you “may” find yourself stuck with nissan specialists for some work. In the same vein the renault may be the better bet if you plan a lot of European travel.

Why as Van not a big MPV. Galaxy’s and Previa’s seem bullet proof. Take the seats out as required !!

We’ve had a 1993 Lucida (JDM Previa) and it was awesome- long and wide enough for two motorcycles if we needed to- but it blew up (they all do that eventually because of the way the engine is canted). The Galaxy/Alhambra thingers do measure up about the same as the Lucida but we’d like something a little bigger to remove most of the chew of sleeping away from home for a couple of nights. I’m not hugely into roughing it so a perma-bed is high up the list of Stuff I Want In The Van as well as a little shelf so I can make a cuppa easily in the morning without having to disturb my other half by folding the bed up to make space to get the cooker out. Almost a camper van but not quite- shower and sink not required but we do want enough space under/behind the bed to stash a couple of MTBs while we’re sleeping in it.

Thanks for all the replies- very helpful!

We’ve had our 60plate SWB Vivaro nearly three years now talking the mileage from 49k to 84k. Other than routine servicing including new brake lines, the only thing it’s needed has been new suspension mounts on the front. Pleasant to drive and live with. Gets about 37mpg. We’ve had it down to the alps and across in to Italy. We don’t sleep in it, the bikes stay in there, we’ll be in the tent. It’s got some very basic racking and leisure battery set up

On ones of that age you’d want evidence of gearbox rebuild and injector replacement.