Vauxhall /Opel Viavaro Van- good deal or stay clear of them?
Discussion
The other half has spotted a Vauxhall Vivaro 52 plate, FSH, 130k miles for £2500 at a local garage. He's been looking for a van for a while for biking. A friend has told him to steer clear of Vivaros due to reliability, this one in particular has had a new gearbox fitted at some point. What are peoples opinions on them? Is reliability a particularly weak point for them? Considering he could get a nice Vito for the same price, its no biggie if its not the right van for him.
Cheers
Cheers
There's one bigger than the Vivaro (Movano??) so the Vivaro is very slightly smaller than a full-fat Transit I think.
I've hired Vivaros loads of times, often to take bikes down to the 'Ring, and they've always been reliable and a fairly good place to spend several hours if you need to be in a van. You can get 2 full-size sportsbikes in the back very easily and I've seen 3 in there before.
Remember that you can buy the same van with a Nissan and (some other, French?) badge on it, and the Nissan at least is better specced than the Vauxhall, with aircon etc.
I've hired Vivaros loads of times, often to take bikes down to the 'Ring, and they've always been reliable and a fairly good place to spend several hours if you need to be in a van. You can get 2 full-size sportsbikes in the back very easily and I've seen 3 in there before.
Remember that you can buy the same van with a Nissan and (some other, French?) badge on it, and the Nissan at least is better specced than the Vauxhall, with aircon etc.
No real problems with reliability that I'm aware of. Some of the very early ones had gearbox replacements but that was due to a faulty batch from the parts supplier (transmission oil problems IIRC). Most of the contractors I work with now use them and love them, mainly due to their speed and driver comfort (the cabin spec is more similar to a passenger car rather than a commercial vehicle). A couple of big fleets been sold this year to companies such as the Post Office which should allay any concerns about the reliability of them. (The big fleet buyers do their research before ordering a few hundred!)
It's not the very big van - that's the Movano. It's the medium sized van, roughly equivalent to a standard transit size.
It's not the very big van - that's the Movano. It's the medium sized van, roughly equivalent to a standard transit size.
C8PPO said:
Remember that you can buy the same van with a Nissan and (some other, French?) badge on it, and the Nissan at least is better specced than the Vauxhall, with aircon etc.
They're also badged as the Renault Trafic, and the Nissan Primastar.There's no difference in spec between the three though, all are available with aircon, sat nav etc. All you really choose between is the aftersales service, probably down to whichever of the three has the best deal on when you buy, or which dealer is closest.
I'd heard about the gearbox problems too but that seems to be around 60k. If it's already had a replacement that should be ok.
£2.5k seems a fair bit for one that age with higher mileage. Be careful with the VAT, you might have to add that on top of the £2.5. Very common when buying commercial vehicles.
The AA also use them in their fleet. The guy that relayed me home the other week said he was using his all day every day inculding a lot of towing and it had no major problems. Said they tend to be the favourite vehicle in the fleet now.
£2.5k seems a fair bit for one that age with higher mileage. Be careful with the VAT, you might have to add that on top of the £2.5. Very common when buying commercial vehicles.
The AA also use them in their fleet. The guy that relayed me home the other week said he was using his all day every day inculding a lot of towing and it had no major problems. Said they tend to be the favourite vehicle in the fleet now.
I had one brand new for a couple of years. Loved it, comfy, fast, refined, excellent on fuel, no problems at all in my ownership apart from someone throwing a brick at it in London and stoving the side in.
I used to do 600+ miles a day in it and it never missed a beat, 90 litre tank so pricey to fill but from memory that was good for 650+ miles. Had a GPS verified 119mph out of it, stereo was good, I'd happily have another.
I used to do 600+ miles a day in it and it never missed a beat, 90 litre tank so pricey to fill but from memory that was good for 650+ miles. Had a GPS verified 119mph out of it, stereo was good, I'd happily have another.
I had one (a 52 plate) for a couple of years, the 1.9 Di model (about 90 ish bhp), which wasn't terribly powerful, but adequate enough for extended motorway cruising, being laden didn't seem to make much difference to it. Averaged around 32 mpg throughout my ownership.
Nice, comfy van, better than the transit to drive, in my experience.
Reliability wise, it needed a replacement wiring loom (fairly expensive), power steering pump, gear linkage, and a couple of other, smaller things.
All in all, not a bad vehicle, but a transit might be a little better in terms of reliability.
Nice, comfy van, better than the transit to drive, in my experience.
Reliability wise, it needed a replacement wiring loom (fairly expensive), power steering pump, gear linkage, and a couple of other, smaller things.
All in all, not a bad vehicle, but a transit might be a little better in terms of reliability.
Had two Vivaros and neither of them has ever missed a beat or broken down. First one was an 06 1.9 and the latest is an 08 2.0. The 1.9 was a little underpowered when setting off compared to the newer 2.0 but never a cause for concern. The 06 had 160,000 miles on it when i got a newer van and it was/is still going strong (I know who's has it now and it's still running just fine)
The earlier ones had some issues that crept up from time to time I just never suffered any of them.
EGR valves can get jammed/fail (common on most diesels anyway.
Early gearbox issues
The alternator belt needs replacing regulary as they have a tendancy to split down the centre basically forming two seperate belts. This can lead to the inner section breaking, wrapping itself behind the crank pulley and taking out the cambelt.
The wiring to the injectors and fuel pressure regulator can be chafed by the air box and plastic engine cover. Easy fix though.
Be careful round flood water as the air intake trunking from the aircleaner is positioned very low on the front behind the bumper. I removed mine as it gets a bit wet round here at times.
Headlight bulbs blow frequently due to the reflector shield reflecting too much heat back to bulb. Design was changed on later models.
The rear tyres wear on the inside if the van is constantly loaded over the rear axle. (Revised on later model)
Key fob buttons fall apart but only cost around £30 to be repaired instead of the £100+ for a new key. Also while we are on the subject of keys don't throw then around or get them wet as they are pretty fragile and it'll leave you stuck in the middle of nowhere just at the wrong time.
Overall a good strong van which is comfortable to drive. If you can get one with eles windows, air-con and an adjustable steering column then grab it. I do find the Vauxhall variant interior nicer than the rather bland Renault one.
The earlier ones had some issues that crept up from time to time I just never suffered any of them.
EGR valves can get jammed/fail (common on most diesels anyway.
Early gearbox issues
The alternator belt needs replacing regulary as they have a tendancy to split down the centre basically forming two seperate belts. This can lead to the inner section breaking, wrapping itself behind the crank pulley and taking out the cambelt.
The wiring to the injectors and fuel pressure regulator can be chafed by the air box and plastic engine cover. Easy fix though.
Be careful round flood water as the air intake trunking from the aircleaner is positioned very low on the front behind the bumper. I removed mine as it gets a bit wet round here at times.
Headlight bulbs blow frequently due to the reflector shield reflecting too much heat back to bulb. Design was changed on later models.
The rear tyres wear on the inside if the van is constantly loaded over the rear axle. (Revised on later model)
Key fob buttons fall apart but only cost around £30 to be repaired instead of the £100+ for a new key. Also while we are on the subject of keys don't throw then around or get them wet as they are pretty fragile and it'll leave you stuck in the middle of nowhere just at the wrong time.
Overall a good strong van which is comfortable to drive. If you can get one with eles windows, air-con and an adjustable steering column then grab it. I do find the Vauxhall variant interior nicer than the rather bland Renault one.
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