Vivaro timing belt disaster bad for business, What next?!
Discussion
Spent the the past 15 months trying to build my handyman business, For the first few months I drove my battered and bruised 05 Yaris (Battered and Bruised from my wifes love of walls and pillars!)
I saved the £2k to buy a 51 plate Vivaro, In hindsight was maybe more than I should have paid,
It had around 125k on the clock, Less than a year of owning it I've spent just shy of £2k on various repairs,
Two days ago the timing belt went, taking various valves and teeth with it,
In short I've been quoted over £1000 to have the engine repaired, for similar money I could have a another engine put in,
However I'm not convinced I want to pour more money into this van, as well as the money I've already poured into it, I just don't feel a good relationship with it!
My questions to you folks (my first post here, So tear me a new one if you must!);
Should I tow (£60) it back home and try my luck on gumtree as non-runner? (£300???) Parked on road but insurance runs out mid Feb.
Take the Ultra low offer from the garage scrap man (awaiting an offer, I reckon sub £100)?
Should I spend £700 on an estate car to keep me going until I invest in a van again?
If so, What Car? Seen Golf/Passat/Avensis with 120-200k on the clock for £700...
I saved the £2k to buy a 51 plate Vivaro, In hindsight was maybe more than I should have paid,
It had around 125k on the clock, Less than a year of owning it I've spent just shy of £2k on various repairs,
Two days ago the timing belt went, taking various valves and teeth with it,
In short I've been quoted over £1000 to have the engine repaired, for similar money I could have a another engine put in,
However I'm not convinced I want to pour more money into this van, as well as the money I've already poured into it, I just don't feel a good relationship with it!
My questions to you folks (my first post here, So tear me a new one if you must!);
Should I tow (£60) it back home and try my luck on gumtree as non-runner? (£300???) Parked on road but insurance runs out mid Feb.
Take the Ultra low offer from the garage scrap man (awaiting an offer, I reckon sub £100)?
Should I spend £700 on an estate car to keep me going until I invest in a van again?
If so, What Car? Seen Golf/Passat/Avensis with 120-200k on the clock for £700...
tacopowell said:
Should I tow (£60) it back home and try my luck on gumtree as non-runner? (£300???) Parked on road but insurance runs out mid Feb.
Take the Ultra low offer from the garage scrap man (awaiting an offer, I reckon sub £100)?
How highly do you value your time and blood pressure, compared to the £140 or so difference in the amount in your pocket at the end?Take the Ultra low offer from the garage scrap man (awaiting an offer, I reckon sub £100)?
tacopowell said:
Should I spend £700 on an estate car to keep me going until I invest in a van again?
If so, What Car? Seen Golf/Passat/Avensis with 120-200k on the clock for £700...
If you can live with the relative lack of space, then you'll get a MUCH better estate than van for that kind of money. Buy on condition, rather than badge.If so, What Car? Seen Golf/Passat/Avensis with 120-200k on the clock for £700...
Edited by TooMany2cvs on Thursday 19th January 10:07
What other work have you had done?
Sometimes its better the devil you know, you could buy another vehicle and have the same situation all over again so may be worth keeping?
Maybe flog it, put that money and save a little together and put a small deposit down on a Transit connect or similar brand new and just lease it for around 140quid a month or so?
Sometimes its better the devil you know, you could buy another vehicle and have the same situation all over again so may be worth keeping?
Maybe flog it, put that money and save a little together and put a small deposit down on a Transit connect or similar brand new and just lease it for around 140quid a month or so?
One school of thought could be if the bodywork is still reasonably smart and presentable ? get the engine repaired and then at least you will know its all been done . If you spend anything on ANY other estate other than a brand new one ? then you are back to square one IE not knowing if the cambelt / water pump really has been changed . Got to say you could have preempted the cambelt failure and got it done on you buying the van in the first place .
Sad to suggest that the garage will see you as a cash cow , learn to fix / diagnose problems yourself or find another garage ! Hope you find a solution .
Sad to suggest that the garage will see you as a cash cow , learn to fix / diagnose problems yourself or find another garage ! Hope you find a solution .
Buy an accident damaged 1.9 laguna, the engine and box drop right in, with more power, more bottom end grunt with the vnt turbo instead of wastegate, and longer gearing for more relaxed motorway driving, plus the leather gearknob and steering wheel fit right in and the cruise control switches as well. I got a smashed laguna with 64k on it for £180, then got £50 back on scrapping the remains. Its an afternoons work to do the swap.
While you have the subframe off you can get a kit with every bush and drop links track rod ends, control arms for £185 and its a log easier to di the belt and water pump with the engine out.
You will need to use the laguna wiring and ecu if you want the better vnt turbo, if you cant be bothered with wiring fit the exhaust manifold and turbo off the van to the laguna block.
While you have the subframe off you can get a kit with every bush and drop links track rod ends, control arms for £185 and its a log easier to di the belt and water pump with the engine out.
You will need to use the laguna wiring and ecu if you want the better vnt turbo, if you cant be bothered with wiring fit the exhaust manifold and turbo off the van to the laguna block.
Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Thursday 19th January 10:05
Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Thursday 19th January 10:10
OldGermanHeaps said:
Buy an accident damaged 1.9 laguna, the engine and box drop right in, with more power, more bottom end grunt with the vnt turbo instead of wastegate, and longer gearing for more relaxed motorway driving, plus the leather gearknob and steering wheel fit tight in and the cruise control switches as well. I got a smashed laguna with 64k on it for £180, then got £50 back on scrapping the remains. Its an afternoons work to do the swap.
^^Good advice.TC, do your handyman skills extend to auto repair?
Sounds like you need a better mechanic though. These are easy to work on and parts are dirt cheap and readily available and the common faults are well known and easily sorted.
If you think a trafic is high maintenance never ever even consider a vito for f
ks sake they are 10 times worse.
If you think a trafic is high maintenance never ever even consider a vito for f
ks sake they are 10 times worse.Hate to say it but you have spent 4k on a van for 15 months and need to spend another 1k to keep it going would you not consider a lease?
Something cheap such as https://www.contracthireandleasing.com/car-leasing...
Bear in mind your a business and time off the road is time lost in wages, The van above works out £3340ish a year (ignoring deposit), add on a service but its fixed price no nasty repair bills, under warranty and will also make your business look better.
Guy who lived over the road from me took real good care of his Vivaro, at about 7 years old the cambelt snapped, was under 70k and it was mint, washed every weekend. He spent 2 weeks in a hire van waiting for his new transit lease and he said its the best thing he ever done, he owned the other van from new but the lease worked out a lot better for him.
Obviously have to be in a position to lease, if you aren't I would look at getting yours fixed if you've done a lot of work around it.
Something cheap such as https://www.contracthireandleasing.com/car-leasing...
Bear in mind your a business and time off the road is time lost in wages, The van above works out £3340ish a year (ignoring deposit), add on a service but its fixed price no nasty repair bills, under warranty and will also make your business look better.
Guy who lived over the road from me took real good care of his Vivaro, at about 7 years old the cambelt snapped, was under 70k and it was mint, washed every weekend. He spent 2 weeks in a hire van waiting for his new transit lease and he said its the best thing he ever done, he owned the other van from new but the lease worked out a lot better for him.
Obviously have to be in a position to lease, if you aren't I would look at getting yours fixed if you've done a lot of work around it.
Presumably the 2 grand of work didn't include a cam belt?
I'd repair it and maintain it properly from now on. It's capable of going on a lot longer than 125k (assuming it's not structurally rotten?)
You could buy an estate and find that that snaps a belt or drops a turbo or gearbox anyway
I'd repair it and maintain it properly from now on. It's capable of going on a lot longer than 125k (assuming it's not structurally rotten?)
You could buy an estate and find that that snaps a belt or drops a turbo or gearbox anyway
The idea of continuing with this van doesn't appeal to me at all, If replacing the engine was cheap, I'd do it, even in a best case scenario it won't be any less than £700 parts and labour.
Bodywork is Okay, a few dents here and there, what you'd expect for a van of its age, in the year I've had it, I've replaced two tyres, anti roll bar linkage, wishbones, track rods, brake pads, Cam shaft sensor, Steering pump, Alternator, glow plugs, Injector, the guy that owned it before me had the Turbo replaced,
I didn't preempt issues because I'm new to vans, I guess I'm learning right now!
Theres nothing to say that if I replaced/repaired the engine that I would get a couple of years problem free,
I know this van, I know it'll let me down again and again and again.
The AA man told me to ditch it, get an estate until I can invest into a van again or get a lease,
As much as I'd love to get a lease, I'm not sure the business can deal with that extra cost just yet, maybe in 6 months time I can do so.
I'm just waiting on another garage who a renowned for engine repairs/replacements to get back to me with options.
Bodywork is Okay, a few dents here and there, what you'd expect for a van of its age, in the year I've had it, I've replaced two tyres, anti roll bar linkage, wishbones, track rods, brake pads, Cam shaft sensor, Steering pump, Alternator, glow plugs, Injector, the guy that owned it before me had the Turbo replaced,
I didn't preempt issues because I'm new to vans, I guess I'm learning right now!
Theres nothing to say that if I replaced/repaired the engine that I would get a couple of years problem free,
I know this van, I know it'll let me down again and again and again.
The AA man told me to ditch it, get an estate until I can invest into a van again or get a lease,
As much as I'd love to get a lease, I'm not sure the business can deal with that extra cost just yet, maybe in 6 months time I can do so.
I'm just waiting on another garage who a renowned for engine repairs/replacements to get back to me with options.
Correctly maintained they will do 400k on an engine, i know several run as taxis, you need to find a good specialist, it sounds like you are deep into it. They are great vans if you look after them properly. Unless you are absolutely sure about still running your business for the full duration of the lease its a risk that you change your mind and still have to pay for the thing for the full duration. Plus you might struggle to qualify for a cheap lease if you don't have 2 years plus good books.
I wouldn't repair the engine you have, as sometimes when there is valve contact it can ding the big ends and they start to knock a few thousand miles later.
I wouldn't repair the engine you have, as sometimes when there is valve contact it can ding the big ends and they start to knock a few thousand miles later.
Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Thursday 19th January 13:22
My local handyman chap runs an imported Toyota Previa/Estima - paid peanuts, reliable as hell, huge room - only downside is it's not the most economical, but his work is all local, so that doesn't impact him too much.
The height/length/width of a people carrier works better than an estate for him. He also looked at Kia Sedonas for the same reason.
Just a thought.
The height/length/width of a people carrier works better than an estate for him. He also looked at Kia Sedonas for the same reason.
Just a thought.
Alucidnation said:
I have never had to show my books to anyone to lease any business vehicle.
I was asked by the 2 providers i contacted as i was only in my 2nd year of self employment. In the end the figures didn't add up for me due to my mileage anyway, the price gets ridiculous around the 30k pa mark i'm a lot better off buying used and running them to starship mileage.at least until buying a pos low mileage merc. The build quality and reliability and handling is nowhere near as good as any of the renaults i have had previously.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff