ford transit or the vauxhall vivaro?

[martin & brock]

looking to buy a new van wondered wots the better motor out of these 2?
any advice would help.cheers

[cornish_crofter]

Ford Transit.

I have the Nissan Primastar, which is the Nissan variant of the Vivaro.

These and the Renault Trafic are made by Renault.

They are unreliable.

As a proud owner of the Nissan Primastar I would go with the Transit if I had my time again.

[225driver]

I'v have had 3 Transits currently got a 03 blinding workhorse and comfortable, 500 miles to a tank so not to bad to run

Current one is short wheel base 125 bhp got more pulling power than the 85s but there still good vans

for a transit

[atec]

im in same problem cant decide which one to go for, but have been getting better reports on the vauxal, so this will be an interesting thread. But have been getting bad reports on renault, so if there the same vehicle, i will probably go for transit, will let this thread run a bit more before i decide

[whitebeam]

I have a transit 85 but would go for 100 heard it's a superb engine, Do feel that the body works on the vivora are a better spec

[cornish_crofter]

I have a transit 85 but would go for 100 heard it's a superb engine, Do feel that the body works on the vivora are a better spec

To be fair the bodywork is OK on mine.

If it weren't for this I would have probably pushed it off a big cliff by now

Also, the dealer is very good. I did give the VW Transporter a passing thought when I bought it but VW dealerships up and down the country were getting a slating at the time.

[Highlander]

Go for the Ford mate. I have had all Renaults and the latest Kangoo gearbox went at 54K and three and a half years old. I had the Traffic from new and it ended up with a new cylinder head as the 4th injector corroded into the head and they could not get it out (4th injector problem is common due to rain water running into area around injector) so be ware you guys with newish vans check before warranty runs out would have cost me 2.5k if out of warranty.

Also the gearbox was starting to give problems. I was speaking to customer today and he was saying they will not be replacing their Renault vans looking at going with Ford or Mercs due to te problems they are having.

Gary

[AllurePTS]

Ford mate ...tried and tested, easy and cheap to fix. Renault are a nightmare and Vauxhall not much better in my experience

[365drills]

FT


Might get one myself

[BDS]

i`ve got the renault traffic 115 o7 bought it brand new coming up to 18000 mile service i`ve kicked its nutts in from day one and i mean kicked it its nutts in never ever had a problem yet touch wood,you`ll get good and bad in every van/car i like driving mine that much that i`d rather drive that than our car

[devonmark]

I'm going for the vivaro long wheelbase, good price new.. a mate who is a courier has the renault traffic version on a 04 plate,bought it new, kept it regularly serviced and it still runs sweet 250,000k later...Mark.

[riggers]

get a v dub m8 , best van on the road

[floorsandwalls]

i run a 55 plate transit and an 06 vivaro everytime would choose the vivaro cheap on parts not that ive spent any money on it. dont rust keep there money .....get in touch

[floorsandwalls]

another comment my vivaro is coming upto 100000 on an 06 and its never been in for any repairs my 55 transit been in twice and as only got 48k on the clock

[floorsandwalls]

think you need to check your info the chassis and engine are gm nissan and renault just put there little bits on

[floorsandwalls]

best engine ever for ford which was fitted in model was the duratec other than that the rest was sorry to say ****

[floorsandwalls]

think the main thing people never look at is how you drive and look after your vans. my last van was a iveco turbostar daily on a 99 plate with 600000 on the clock and it never let me down not once and my old van is still going.dont think it matters what van you buy it does matter how you care for it. its there to make you money so dont take it for granted.

[Derry]

its a matter of opinion. everyone will tell you different and its a case of suits you best..

but if you're asking me - go for the ford everytime

[BDS]

they all have good and bad points,just havn`t found any bad points with mine yet and when i got my traffic was the cheapest on the market by far even with all the extras i had put on from factory,my mate bought a brand new tranny the same time i did saying it was the best on the market low and behold he`s had nothing but prob`s with it but as i said in previous post you will get good and bad in any van/car best way to see witch van/vans your best with or you like the best is go into dealers and test drive them and not just for a quick 10 min drive round the block the end of the we spend considerable lenghs of time in our vans so get the best for you and your job/situation needs

[BDS]

And yes my friend has ocd(or what ever its called)so his van is looked after as much as his brand new bmw so not down to not looking after it

[365drills]

I was thinking of the ex-aa vans because they are in the company colours and rebadging it with the 365DRILLS logo



They have AA towbars on the back so great for towing my SMART car. Plenty of room for the exhibition stand / stock.

Downside is they have done starship miles and hold their price. This A reg is £4500.

[trev]

Great thread this, looking at a new van meself. Transit, Vivaro, or Traffic? The look of a van does sway me and i lean towards the Vivaro, but can be expensive. The Traffic looks similar and a littlle cheeper so.......? While the Transit, well, just think the gearshift looks a bit dated? might just be me being picky. I know it's supposed to be a work vehicle but we are in them a lot so might as well enjoy the experiance?

Great thread,will monitor.

[floorsandwalls]

new 1.9 transits are prone for head failure once again men ive got both o6 vivaro and 55 transit vivaro done 100000 and not one problem transit done half that and been in to dealers twice for repairs.and trying to get full respray due to rust on chasis vivaro people

[cornish_crofter]

The Trafic/Primastar is very nice to drive. It is very responsive and even my 100bhp (1.9) on a long wheel base with about 1/2 a ton of tools in the back holds its own quite well.

One of the reasons I bought a new van a few years ago is because I thought I may be working further a field more. As it happened I didn't, but I'm glad I spent the money, even though I haven't been totally impressed with what I've got.

I'm always of the view that if you buy new, get as good a deal as possible, you don't get the chance to haggle over expensive repairs.

[guy1976]

think you need to check your info the chassis and engine are gm nissan and renault just put there little bits on

the whole van is make in barcelona by nissan and then shipped to the different dealers who put there badges on them be it nissan,renult,or vauxhall they are all the same vans

[floorsandwalls]

get it chipped its even better mines running at 170bhp fuel good it will do 145 i will buy another vivaro next year and get rid of the transit

[floorsandwalls]

only the chasis the engines are dealer s own which as it goes is a pug engine

[BDS]

actually i`ve got a down side to my van but it was my fault didn`t realise i`d be doing so much of 2 trades,i`d wished i got the medium wheel base cos as i`m a plumber/tiler with far to many tools and stock and what with picking up parts and tiles for customers which i dont mind,it usually ends up pointing towards the sky but the engine still pulls even fully loaded

[BDS]

theres a few differences ie engines dash boards stupid little things but on the whole there the same chassis/lights etc etc etc dealers put there own little touches like nissan`s come standard with reverse sensors,etc etc etc

[floorsandwalls]

the lights on the nissan are different to the other 2 you have a look