Smashed my van or How NOT to spend $600...

[pred8r]

Valentines Day.....

Here I was reversing out of work and WHAM!!!! F@CK!!! a 40ft bright blue shipping container jumped out from behind a bush......

the result (and costs):
moved the container 8" across the yard
Smashed stoplight/indicator ($200)
crushed 1/4 bumper ($210)
Smashed rear foglight ($160, and who uses these apart from excel drivers anyway?)
Scratched the door hinge
SLIGHT dent in main rear bar (not noticable enough to warrant a newy)
and get this...
ABSOLUTELY NO PANEL/DOOR DAMAGE

Got the 2 lights same day (now fitted)
Bumper is ex-france (3 weeks) so got out the heat gun and more or less reshaped the bar back to normal-ish
Sanded back hinge to flat (Renault dont supply lightning silver paint WTF???) this will have to wait


Wife wasnt impressed with the $600 Valentines Day present.....

I am SO glad that it was the van and not the barina, after all, what would it have looked like after shifting same container 8"?

[JasonGilholme]

What van did you end up gettin???

[MatsHolden]

and who uses these apart from excel drivers anyway?


And BMW drivers...

[pred8r]

What van did you end up gettin???

Renault Trafic DC 100 aka Opel Vivaro
1.9lt(?) 73kw(?) Turbo Diesel

weighs 3tonnes empty (with driver) and has consistantly returned 7-7.5lt/100km
Now its run in, the economy is getting better, so its probably closer to a 6.5-7

4 months old and 26,000kms


I would highly recommend it UNLESS it will be thrashed, the clutch/gearbox is their weakness. I find it shudders occasionally and I dont give it a hard time, or rarely anyway.

[Kippa-Dee]

Ive been considering one for some time with the amount of **** I have to carry for music.

Renault have always been bastards when it comes to any work done on them, ESPECIALLY in warranty.

I recall my father gettings figures near 10 times on what an indie would do it for.
Same with mine calling Holden for a minor 75,000km service on an 8 year old Barina "between $580 and $760 mate, excluding parts which could be up to a couple hundred"
Call a garage "around $96 including parts)

[JasonGilholme]

you'll be surprised what i can fit in my barina. lol

I get a 2 full length keyboards, stand with rack, 2 PA sized speakers, rack mount container thats got my mixer and effects deck, then theres a few bags of leads and other equipment.

barina ftw! :p

[EL BURITO]

you'll be surprised what i can fit in my barina. lol

I get a 2 full length keyboards, stand with rack, 2 PA sized speakers, rack mount container thats got my mixer and effects deck, then theres a few bags of leads and other equipment.

barina ftw! :p
but u have no rear seats. but before i had thte install u could get 10boxes of fries and 1 or 2 boxes of cups in the back. so there is space if u use it right

[JasonGilholme]

nah the seats are back in now. i just fold them down.

I had to remove my sound install so i could put the seats back in :( Passengers piss me off now. lol

All my hard work is at the tip now :(

[EL BURITO]

nah the seats are back in now. i just fold them down.

Passengers piss me off now. lol

All my hard work is at the tip now :(

and slow u down :eek:

did u ever get any stick from the cops cos u were not reregistered as a 2 seater?

[JasonGilholme]

and slow u down :eek:

did u ever get any stick from the cops cos u were not reregistered as a 2 seater?

Nah man. i got pulled over and they went through my car.

They gave me a warning about blue dash lights and that was it. They even made me pop my boot to see what was back there. He commented on it and then I shut it lol.

As long as you don't drive like a **** you can get away with alot of ****. (i only got pulled over cause i took a corner too fast lol)

[pred8r]

Ive been considering one for some time with the amount of **** I have to carry for music.

Renault have always been bastards when it comes to any work done on them, ESPECIALLY in warranty.

I recall my father gettings figures near 10 times on what an indie would do it for.
Same with mine calling Holden for a minor 75,000km service on an 8 year old Barina "between $580 and $760 mate, excluding parts which could be up to a couple hundred"
Call a garage "around $96 including parts)

Thats fine, first 2 services are free, due to some optional dents installed, at no cost to me, when they installed my cage. So far NO warranty issues (except when it was stopping for no reason, was a BCM plug/socket fault).
Besides I'll be out of warranty in 12 months anyway (100,000kms or 3yr) at the rate of kms i do.
I will be looking around for another service centre (just for location) and have learnt a lot about buying a new car and will be asking for a lot more next time, now i think ive worked out their basic margins.

Ill also probably stay Ren unless someone else releases something as nice and as economic in 3 years. (Although the Vito's cruising around on AMG wheels make me jealous. TRY and find a 5x118 ANYTHING here.....)


you'll be surprised what i can fit in my barina. lol
I can fit a 2 seater couch, and if i had ramps, possibly a Smart Fortwo.

Im considering a Triumph Rocket3 (to cruise on) or Hayabusa (to die on), both of which will also fit (currently just a pipe dream though).

[RudeOne]

i saw one of theses vans on the road and noticed it was front wheel drive - how does it handle?

[pred8r]

i saw one of these vans on the road and noticed it was front wheel drive - how does it handle?


Just like a car (you just need to remember its a lot bigger).

Better fuel economy than my Barina (which is almost 3 times lighter)
It keeps up with the traffic, could be a little slow on take-off for some people, but then its for carting stuff around, not for track days. Remaps are available from O/S to add basically 25% power and torque, but I dont feel the Gearbox/clutch would hold up too well with the increase.

When I took it for a test drive (I had NEVER driven a van before) it felt just like a car, I was sold, all they had to do was 'magic' with the finance.

Oh, one thing which may put off some buyers..... ATM they are only available in a manual. The facelift version, if we get it, is available with a robotized box (effectively a clutchless manual).