Having been told the van would definitely be ready on the Friday of this week (New Nissan Primastar LWB). I gently pursuaded them to do everything they could to get it to me by Thursday.
I took the insurance cover note in Wednesday and the salesman said they had done one job on it and the second job would be ready later that day.
"So if I wait half an hour I can take it with me then eh? :)" came my reply.
"...second word's off :)" he replied - or words to that effect.
He said definitely Thursday (the day after), will see what he can do about that day.
At around 4.30 pm he told me over the phone I could pick itup that afternoon - yippee! :)
At approx 4.40 pm I received a call on my mobile whislt my FiL was driving me in and about 3 miles into our journey.
"Sorry Hugo we're having problems with the computer system. Getting the vehicle registered and taxed is giving us problems. :(
No probs, tommorow it is then - thanks for all your help to date.
This may seem boring to many of you but this is the first time I have ever bought a new vehicle.
A little gift for the guys that worked on it and the salesman is in order here. Despite their computer problem that stopped me getting it on the Wednesday, they seemed to have done one hell of a lot to get it ready. I am acrually very impressed.
That's Mumfords of Plymouth. I believe I got a good deal - not the cheapest in the country I'm sure but if I get a fine balance of value for money and service I can't complain.
So, the first trip is up to London with some of my late mother's furniture for my sister and my father, then to collect a spiral staircase on the way back for our house.
H
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I was in the same position when I bought the MPV. Having paid the deposit and then the full amount a day or two later I naively thought I'd be able to drive the car away from the dealer as soon as it had been valeted. No such luck - it took several days for them to get everything sorted although how much of that time was really required I don't know.
Hope it all goes well anyway H. You'll be travelling to work in some style now.
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Hey that looks posh H! I just had a look on autotrader to see what one looks like. Better than a Trafic! I didn't know they were Nissan; I thought they were Renault or Vauxhall or something - presumably it's rebadged like the Peugeot Expert and Fiat...Duplex or somesuch...I can't remember it's name.
Happy driving
Adam
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Yes HJ, the Nissan Primastar is the same as the Vivaro and the new Trafic.
Nissan is one of few manufacturers I don't see being slated on this forum for poor aftercare.
I picked it up on Thursday and took in a few cans of beer for the guys that did the pre delivery work and a bottle of red for the salesman, just to say thanks for the effort in getting it ready in what was 2 days (agreed to it Monday 5pm).
Now Mumfords in Plymouth is a Renault and Nissan dealer, so having bought some genuine renault pads for my last van on ebay for a tenner, I took them into the parts dept on the Renault side and asked if they would fit my Nissan, telling him where I bought them from.
The parts manager took me outside and we checked the chassis details on my new van. "Those won't fit your van but we can take them back into stock and - here, these pads will fit yours". He simply swapped them for me for the right ones for the new van! They were apparently the same retail price (£39.50) and he assured me that they sold stacks of the ones I had all the time so getting rid of them would not be a problem.
I then came back to the house and loaded up the furniture to take to London. Then set off on my 2 day round trip to Kew, Hazlemere, Petersfield, Chippenham (Wilts) then home again, just under 600 miles.
The bulkhead behind the seating area is a real plus. Not only do I feel protected against the load but it makes the van a lot quieter as well. This van just happened to have rear windows and wipers, which I considered a bit ironic when the bulkhead was fitted. I suspect that vans fitted with the rear windows don't usually benefit from the bulkhead as well. Apparently the rear windows would normally have been an optional extra.
There is however a panel in the bulkhead that can be removed to allow rear visability via the rear view mirror. I don't currently see the need to take it out though. The wing mirrors provide excellent rear visability and I have the reversing sensor kit in there as well.
I was very impressed with the service interval - 18000 miles or 2 years!
It seems to have the performance better than the average mondeo, which surpised me, as the last van I had was regularly overtaken by snails and zimmerframes (and sometimes a combination of both), especially after the gearbox went.
The 6 speed box takes a lot of getting used to. This was a factor in deciding to go for a late or new van. The top gear is only for cruising really, although some acceleration in 6th is possible under certain conditions.
Being a longer wheelbase, manovreability can be an issue, especially where my father lives, and, as I found out today, in multistory carparks!
At the end of the run though, about 20 miles from home - no not the gearbox (not even I can be that unlucky!) the amber engine heating light came on and stayed there. "Electronic system fault - Contact your Nissan Dealer ASAP" said the owner's handbook. The van also became sluggish, which apparently is the ECU limiting the engine to 3000 rpm to avoid any damage.
So today I did. I just phoned up Mumfords in Plymouth and asked to speak to their service dept, who asked me to take it in. When I started it the light was not on. When I arrived two salesmen (including the sales manager) stood up and greeted me assuring that the problem would be resolved. The sales manager then went and fetched the service receptionist, who immediately orgainised a technician to come out and plug the diagnostic kit into it. This was within 3 minuites of me arriving.
I assured them the light was on yesterday but not now. The fault had been logged by the ECU as a previous air intake sensor fault, so the technician checked the relevent connections, diagnosed the fault as a poor connection, fixed it and reset the memory. Sorted. And that was within 20 minutes of me arriving!!
Their response was indicative of professionals who were concerned that the fault had occurred and were waiting for me with resources at the ready to rectify the problem as soon as I arrived. Now that IS service!
So, problem sorted. Van has little over 600 miles on the clock, so the trip to London was a good shake down for it to find any faults. Well that's one found - hopefully it will be one of few, and the same level of service - well you can't complain really can you.
H
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Today saw me ply lining the floor of the van.
Well, it is so pristine that I would hate to damage it!
Anyone who has ever ply lined a van will know the problems of using standard 8' x 4' sheet ply. They aren't big enough to do the whole floor in one go!
So after going down to B and Q and picking up 3 sheets of 12.5mm general purpose ply I set to work, dodging the rain.
Now, although I am self employed in property repairs etc, I cannot call myself a skilled joiner. Instead I have invested in a handful of tools to deskill common joinery tasks for me. However I think I have done an OK job on the whole.
Not wanting to put any holes in the floor I simply cut three panels to the correct size and shape and slotted them in. They are currently held down by tight fits below the securing eyes that are littered around the load space.
I am hoping that the weight of my tools will stop them springing up.
In addition I have given the ply a coat or two of quick drying floor varnish on the top to prolong its life
I could have ot this done by the dealer, though I shudder to think of the cost, and I wanted it done quickly. Total cost just over £40 for three sheets and I have nearly one sheet left over.
The next stage is probably either line it up to 2 feet above the floor or build some racking for my tools and materials etc.
Does anyone know of good proprietory racking systems for vans that I could look at before embarking on home made??
In addition the roofbars went on today. The van seems to be designed to deflect some of the wind away from the roof bars whilst they are unladen and although I did hear a bit of wind noise, it was nowhere near as bad as with the old general purpose bars on my previous van.
The strange thing is that the garage have given me 4 roofbars (included in the purchase price because I haggled) but the van can only take 3! Though there does seem to be a mounting point above the cab for something. I wonder if it is for some sort of wind deflector.
Hugo
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Hi hugo,
Glad it all looks OK, for you & the new van!
Check www.thevanliners.co.uk bit dear, but nice kit!
The additional locating holes, over the cab will be for looooooooooong ladders & stuff, I'd guess.They even have them on Escort vans & we've fitted a few racks, for customers, that wanted extra carrying ability.
Don't forget to put a good seal of mastic around the ply & on the joins. The number of times we've ripped a worn out lining up, to present us with, what could have been a 'brand new' floor, only to find gunge/rust/paint/oil & goodness knows what seeping under the timber!!
VB
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Just looked at the Nissan web site, Isnt that the Renault traffic with a new badge on it?
Have to say Renault make terrific looking vans ;)
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Just looked at the Nissan web site, Isnt that the Renault traffic with a new badge on it?
Yes it is the Renault with the Nissan badge on it.
They don't try very hard to hide the fact, as all the side panels are clearly marked RENAULT on the inside!
Not to mention that the roof bars are for the Renault Trafic and the Vauxhall Vivaro.
The Nissan I understand has a slightly better spec than the Renault. This one has electric Windows, electric mirrors, Central Locking with deadlocks, reversing sensors. This is probably why there are plenty of Nissan Primastars on the roads.
H
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Hugo,
After 20 years of running assorted Transporters(currently Hiroof LWB 2.4 5cyl diesel)I am looking to replace after 7 years of good service. I plan a test drive of the 2.5 Primastar shortly, preferably in LWB Hiroof guise...if my dealer can locate one. Did you compare to the VW Transporter before purchase, and are you still happy with your new van? Too early to get true real world mpg figs yet, but hopefuly around 35 with the larger diesel engine on combined running.
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Legacylad
To be fair I chose this van very quickly and did not even consider many others at all.
I went on the basis of advice being given by Commercial Vehicle Contracts and Vans Direct etc, as being the best value for money. As someone else on this thread said, Nissan were giving some huge discounts on their list prices, and we're talking £10,900 plus vat for a 100bhp LWB low roof. Similar vans are being offered on e bay for within £500 of that price up to 6 months old with mileage of up to 4000. I even saw one for the same price with 3000 miles on it.
I also chose it because of its 6 speed box.
The likes I have of the van is that it's quiet due to the bulkhead I had fitted (included in the price). There is a bit of wind noise from the ladder racks but this is not irratating. The ladder racks I got with it are genuine Renault ones (The Primastar is a rebadged Renault Trafic). The bolt down with cap head screws taking an allen key.
The sixth speed is not really for accelerating but I use it as a cruising gear. If I need to accelerate after decellerating I change to 5th or even 4th if conditions stipulate.
The engine will not overrev due to a limiter installed. I like this as it's an anti monkey device when it comes for MOT. However, it's a good idea to get to know the van before overtaking as you would in a car. Running out of power in an overtake can be quite disconcerting. The engine won't rev faster than around 4000 rpm. Sometimes a quick gear change when overtaking is necessary to get a higher gear and lower the engine speed.
One or two things I don't like about it:
It's been back to the dealer to have 2 things fixed under warranty. Firstly the engine management light came on and the vehicle went into limp home mode. This was put down to a loose connection. Secondly the reversing sensor decided it wasn't playing in the wet. Hence a new one had to be fitted. This fault meant it was at the dealerships for two separate days, one for them to identify the fault and one for them to fit the new kit when it arrived.
The height of the roof is actually lower than in my old van. I really think the designers missed a trick here. They have included a slightly raised cab roof but then it slopes down for the cargo area. If they had kept the roof the same height all the way along they could have got an extra 2" to 3" head room. This doesn't sound a lot but when using it regularly it can be quite a lot. Having said that this loss of height has not affected my use of it.
Compared to the demonstrater with my local dealership, this one is a little flat. Now that could be due to the fact that the demo has done some 9000 miles and mine has only done around 1800, but I will ask a dealership person to take it out for a spin and get their view.
Would I buy the same again? Yes I would. However there are a number of vans out there and I would want to look at more next time.
MPG - I have estimated at around 36 on a reasonable run on Cornish singe carridgeway roads. That's not too bad at all. I guess the motorway would yield higher MPG, especially when you can use that 6th speed for longer.
I'm glad you're going for the LWB. They quoted the loadspace in the SWB as being 2.4m Long, However this is the maximum loadspace and loading sheet material could be an issue if you want to load them on one side secured against the van. The LWB has a quoted loadspace length of 2.8m. This tapers down to just over 2.4m when taking into account the bulkhead (or seats if you don't have a bulkhead). This allows me to insert the 2.4m long sheet materials such as plasterboard etc on their edges to avoid all the other junk I have in the van. In addition the LWB has around 200kg more payload capacity
A friend in the village who is also a builder has just got the Vauxhall Vivaro SWB. I suspect he may regret going for the SWB
H
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