I looked at a Vivaro last year, 2009 with 38,000 on the clock.
It seemed a decent van but one of the things that put me off was the amount of rainwater just sitting in the tray at the bottom of the windscreen. I've never seen it that bad on a vehicle and im glad I trusted my instincts and walked away.
I can't understand how this model of vehicle has had at least two major design faults in it's lifetime?
First was the gearbox problem (letting in water) and now this on the later variation. Absolutely appalling.
The thing is Andy that the gearboxes are made by outside suppliers and gear and diff ratios are matched to the manufacturers engines.
The gearboxes in the early Fiat Ducato's 1994 -2001 (so also in Relays and Boxers) were also prone to water ingress and failures, exactly as the Trafic boxes were.
On the Ducato the gearbox selector was on top of the gearbox. The design of the box was that it also had cast reinforcing alloy ridges running both length-ways and width-ways across to top which looked like a larger version of your ice tray in your refrigerator. And yes, the gearbox selector was within one of those boxes.
The drain from the cabin air vent intake was directly above the gearbox. It didn't take long for the water to find its way into the gearbox and damage syncro rings and bearings.
Citroen's quick fix was to fill the reinforcing ridges with resin to level them off so the water couldn't pond. They also had to fit different shaped drain pipes to redirect the water to behind the gearbox. It wasn't a solution they did 'off their own bat'. They were forced to take action by the industries regulator.
But not every van using the same gearbox had the same issue. I had one of the last 1.9D Relays on a 51 plate which had over 100k on the clock when I bought it. It had been an ex rental vehicle and I saw the vehicles repair and service history. They even listed every bulb replacement. No gearbox repairs at all. It didn't have the quick fix resin solution either. I had the van another 1 year before replacing it with an Hdi which had a different box. The guy I sold it to was a builder and he ran it for a further 2 years without issue.
The gearboxes used in the 2002 - 2006 Ducato/Relay/Boxers were supposed to solve the gearbox issues once and for all. However, all you have to do is see how many Ducato/Relay/Boxers there are for sale on Ebay with gearbox issues. This extends to the newest models as well.
But on the other hand the Ford Transit never seems to have gearbox issues.
One of the biggest challenges that the commercial sector has to deal with is weight. So everything has to be as light as possible. Engine heads used to be made from cast iron, but alloy is much lighter. However alloy and steel aren't good bed fellows. Ask any Landrover enthusiast. Apparently the two metals react chemically with each other and hence create all sorts of issues further down the line when it comes to repairs. Why they don't coat each injector and glowplug with a copper grease type of product that would stop this would be down to cost and other factors.
Renault has injector problems, but so does any vehicle with an alloy head. The Hdi's/Tdci's don't seem to be as much as a problem, but the Mercedes also have major injector seizure issues.
I was in conversation with a commercial spray painter and his opinion was that all vans were designed to last 5 years. Anything after that was a bonus. He puts it all down to planned obsolescence. The commercial boys have never seemed to address the issues of corrosion. Even the new VW's and Sprinters look tatty after a few years.
Unfortunately for most of us in this industry, were are unable to afford a brand new van every 3 to 5 years, so we end up with the dregs, no matter what van we buy.
Most of these problems come up after the new vehicle warranty has expired. Citroen gave a 1 year 100k warranty. It was extended by another 2 years as a dealer warranty which only covered main driveline failures. These 2 years additional warranty was an insurance policy, so the manufacturers weren't out of pocket if anything happened after the first year. If a gearbox failed during the first year, the manufacturer would simply claim the cost of repair back from the original manufacturer of the gearbox. Warranty them becomes an Accountant procedure - building in a financial buffer into each product to account for comeback issues.
If all the commercials out there on the market are of poor quality, then a manufacturer would always be assured of new business by those on the buyer's 'merry-go-round'.