Buying a Trafic, Vivaro or Primastar

Are you looking to purchase a Renault Trafic, Vauxhall Vivaro or Nissan Primastar then here we list some of the key things you need to know.

Bodywork

These vans are pretty safe from the dreaded rust and being galvanised are generally pretty clean just a quick look at any of the obvious structural points underneath will tell you if its a keeper.

Maintenance

The guide for servicing is between 20,000 and 25,000miles but its recommended once a year or 12,000 miles for a service which should cost no more than £200 and is easily achievable yourself, and can save you a lot more money in the long run.

Timing Chain

These vans have a timing chain which can stretch over their lifespan and its recommended to change around the 100,000 mark so if you are looking at some older higher mileage vans you will want to see that this has been changed in the history.

Transmission

These are well known to be bad from the factory with some lasting less than 20,000miles due to an overtightening of bearings. If you catch it early you can just get the bearings replaced in the gearbox but most higher mileage vans will either have already been repaired or not suffered from the issue.

If changing gears is a bit notchy it could be a simple case of replacing the gear linkages for a quick fix.

Injectors

This can be a big issue caused by water making it past the bulkhead bonnet seal and sitting on the injectors corroding them into the block, this can then be an expensive task needing specialist tools to replace.