[Walter Mitty]

Personally, I would only buy another Trafic/Vivaro/Primastar if it was brand new - and then run it for five or six years before selling on (that would be less than 60,000 miles for me).  It's been a fairly decent van for the most part but when something goes wrong, it does it properly.  I've had periods where there has been no outlay (other than routine maintenance) for a couple of years - and I've had other periods where it's been on the back of a pickup lorry twice inside a year.  If you have a contingency plan for potential downtime it's not such an issue I suppose.  I use a good garage which often means a wait until they can look at it.  So if it's going to be more than two or three days, I rent something and backpack it - unless it's a slack work period.

[Spruce]

I'm not convinced that vans out there are built to consistently carry the weight we do as window cleaners. The van maybe rated at a 1100kg payload for example, but I wouldn't be surprised if a 'clause' was included in the design criteria such only carrying that weight for limited % of it's working life etc.

Designing a van to consistently carry it's maximum payload is probably considered to be over engineered in today's design terms.

So should a 3500kg category van (payload +- 1500kgs) be the minimum I should be contemplating with a 650 liter tank?

[Bart Olin]

can usually tell its a faker somewhere at work  if the replacement engines mileage ends in an 8

  such as 58k,  68k 28k 

[Clever Forum Name]

I'm not convinced that vans out there are built to consistently carry the weight we do as window cleaners. The van maybe rated at a 1100kg payload for example, but I wouldn't be surprised if a 'clause' was included in the design criteria such only carrying that weight for limited % of it's working life etc.

Designing a van to consistently carry it's maximum payload is probably considered to be over engineered in today's design terms.

So should a 3500kg category van (payload +- 1500kgs) be the minimum I should be contemplating with a 650 liter tank?

Wouldn't they undersell the payload though? If a van has a payload of 1000kg i am sure the suspension wouldn't fail if it was loaded with say 1050kg for the rest of its life.

The best part of our weight (window cleaners) is it reduces during the day

[Dave Willis]

Garys doesn't.

[Smudger]

In engineering terms items like cranes lifts etc..  Used to be able to handle 3 times the weight that was swl - this meant it would function for years safely with no danger of failure, and should you accidentally overload you would still be relatively safe.

Now, with computer designs, more complex structures and machining the 3 to 1 ratio has eroded to under 2 to 1 the safety margin is less and less, this could be the same with regards to van weight limits etc..

Darran

[Clever Forum Name]

Garys doesn't.

 

[duncan h]

Never liked them anyway. Ford, Nissan, Toyota. Audi and BMW don't make vans yet.

The Vivaro/Trafic/Primastar is made by Nissan, mate.
This thread has come up before.
Im on my 2nd Trafic. There are more Nissan branded parts under the bonnet than Renault.

I agree, but yes and no.
Example. Ford Galaxy.also made by  Volkswagen and Seat variants. All had VW engine. Spot on. But loads of other parts were from that manufacture only. End result. Ford were fine other than electric gremlins. Pretty much same with VW. but Seat was a pile of