[tim handley]

vauxhall vivaro, swb, 54 plate, anybody running a vivaro?  any reviews???  talk to me!!!

[Graeme Brown]

The gearboxes are notorious for giving up the ghost. The general opinion is they used a standard car gearbox in them and can't take heavy loads. All three version are the same. This may be more of a problem if you are filling them with rubble but a truck mount tank may do the same.

[tim handley]

that doesnt sound very good then, even if i jut put my protable in and the other gear we all use, it may have carried heavy load prior to me buying it...   have to re think....

[Lewis Newby]

Was told when I got mine they are an owner driver van. I.e if you own it you will drive sympathetically and it will do what it's supposed to.

Other wise,  if it's been thrashed by employees in a careless manner it's likely to be a nail.

I got a new one at a great price,  it's 260 a month and nearly 5 years old, it Will be mine in Jan,  done 46k with no running issues, a few intermittent electrical blips and a central locking issue last year, but compared to the costs of a more reliable vw/merc/ford counterpart it's been cost effective and I will aim to keep a further 3-5 years if repair bills are sensible

Lew

[Lewis Newby]

Tim just to add re load, I have 400l tank, Honda 3600 genny, kranzle pressure washer, Henry, George till recent, tm4 sebo bs36,airflex/jag, wands and sprayers and 100ft hoses plus all valet and cc chems either in 500ml,1lts and 5l containers etc

[JandS]

2 litre Peugeot Expert all the way...they don't rust either because, I believe, they are galvanised.

[Carpet Dawg]

Was told when I got mine they are an owner driver van. I.e if you own it you will drive sympathetically and it will do what it's supposed to.

Other wise,  if it's been thrashed by employees in a careless manner it's likely to be a nail.

I got a new one at a great price,  it's 260 a month and nearly 5 years old, it Will be mine in Jan,  done 46k with no running issues, a few intermittent electrical blips and a central locking issue last year, but compared to the costs of a more reliable vw/merc/ford counterpart it's been cost effective and I will aim to keep a further 3-5 years if repair bills are sensible

Lew

£260 a month. After 3 - 5 years you give it back to the lease company?

If thats the case................  If you keep that van for only three years it'll have cost you £9,360 (in van payments alone) and you wont have anything to sell.

[Lewis Newby]

Nope it's hp so all paid for, it's the sportive in silver I got it for 11,930 and the vat was 15% still so all in cost me 14k plus the interest.  It's still worth 5k at least, I'm an ex valeter so it's pretty mint in general

[sean oregan]

Peugeot/citroen/Fiat all the way for me as jands said galvanised body always looks good. I have boxer but 1 word of warning fuel pumps are expensive I have just 10 minutes ago picked up my van after breakdown £900 short in the pocket.

[mr muzzy]

vw caddy maxi great van

[Stoots]

I have a 51 plate fiat scudo, same as expert/dispatch

Its true, not a spot of rust antwhere

1.9D engine is a monster, 310k on the clock and the thing refuses to die.
I like the look of vivaros but was also ut off by gearbox that along with the fact i agreed to buy one last month, the next day the cambelt went and it was being sold for scrap!

[jasonl]

I have 2 vivaros and a combo

The vivaros gearbox issue is due to a drain from windscreen dripping into a vital bearing it is easy to modify .

Injector issues are a pain but they are lovely to drive .

Combo is very cheap to run 50 mpg pets cheap and plentiful just not big enough for all the tasks we do .

[tim handley]

im driving a puggy expert at the moment, a lovely van, which somebody will buyfrom me and love to bits.....
BUT ive reached a point where i just need something a bit larger............

[Ian Rochester]

Renault Master (Luton Van), Citroen Relay,  3 x Citroen Dispatches, 3 x Citroen Berlingos and a Nissan NV400.

All very good vans, Renault is causing some issues at the moment 57 plate.

Nissan NV400 9 seater Crewvan is the best of the lot of them.

We've had Vivaros and Trafics in the past, nice to drive but problems with engines, clutches and gearboxes

Keep away from Mercedes as they have massive rust problems

Never had a transit but I hear the new Custom models are having a few issues on reliability

[Brendan (chem2clean)]

I have a transit,great van.But like the mercedes they have major rust issues.Ian,if you where to put a tm in a van,what van would you choose.

[Kev Loomes]

I've owned 2 Trafic's (Vivaro's), my first one had 10yrs. Both fabulous and running TM's in both with no issues. The only problem I have ever had was a replacement turbo after 9yrs - but that's got to be expected. Never had an issue with either gearboxes or clutches whatsoever - in fact anything. The reason I like them is because you can still get in to car parks because they are 1.9mtrs high and most car parks are 2m, and they never rust because they are galvanised, and they are just so reliable.

I think it's like anything though, if your going to thrash it all the time then something is going to break! Although I must admit I never go slow, so for me it's all about driving quickly - but efficiently in terms of handling and braking.

Anyway, they always tick all the boxes for me.