VAUXHALL MERIVA People Carrier 2003‑2010

i would advise against buying one of these cars, we bought one and 2 months later the engine blows yay DO NOT BUY

I've had this car for 3 years now. I bought it with 1 year warranty

(good job). Firstly the starter motor failed, then the management light came on,- it was the e.g.r valve. these were done under warranty.

but after that ,two water pipes,-split diesel injector pipe,another

starter motor,and now the turbo is starting to fail. also the power steering light has come on twice with loss of power.- very scary!

Also,I found the blind spot on drivers side window. very unsafe.

All in all, an expensive, unsafe, unreliable car. Good riddance!

I bought this car when it was 6 months old.First the good, it has been very reliable with only 2 front tyres needed in 5 and a half years of ownership.It has passed all its m.o.t's without anything needed. We have been to France 4 times taking 5 people and their baggage and it returned nearly 60 mpg on the long journey in France ( 2000 miles ). It has been very practical for taking things to the dump, doing car boot sales and bringing all sorts of things back from the D.I.Y supermarket.

Now the not so good, the front visability is very poor, it suffers on the motorways with cross winds.

bought this with 55,000 on the clock.had to get new abs rings fitted and a few brake pipes under warranty. Its now got over 120,000 miles on the clocka after 3 years of ownership. The suspension seems to be a weak point, 4 new springs, track rod ends and anti roll bar links. The engine still purrs, once warmed up and always getting 53 mpg. It doesn't look good but does everything you throw at it with ease, After 6 months of looking for a replacment I decided to to keep it. may even replace it with another one.

Acquired an 04 plate Meriva back in 2007. Our first journey ever, back from the garage, was in heavy snow so it had a baptism by cold! Handled very safely and sure-footedly on snow and ice and didn't get stuck going up hills (highish ground clearance perhaps) and this set my opinions firmly in its favour for the rest of our ownership of the car.

The only problem we ever encountered was a failed gear linkage at around 50k. I imagine this would have been expensive to replace at a main dealer but at a private garage it was around £150 for parts and labour.

For a 1.6 it did seem heavy on fuel consumption - though this was the 8v version and I suspect the 16v would be slightly more frugal. We replaced it a couple of years ago for a smaller diesel car for this reason and have regretted it since. Our family has grown since then and for a number of other reasons we are now in the market for a new car - it will be a Meriva for sure.

I love the driving position of this car. I like to sit upright and in a slightly elevated position and have my knees bent rather than stretched out to reach the pedals.

The other great thing about this car is the short bonnet. You can easily see how near you are to things.

There's a lot of room inside the car and quite compact for parking.

I bought a Meriva 1.6 Life 53 reg with 36,000 miles in September 2011 for £2695

To be honest when I first came to look for a bigger car for the family I didn't really want a Meriva I fancied a Scenic or a Picasso. I found one at a local garage with only 36,000 miles on it whilst casting my eye over a Picasso. Due to low mileage me and the misses decided to take it out for a test drive and I was pleased that I did cause I ended up buying it.

Fantastic drive, feels really solid compared to the scenic and the picasso. Nice interior and ample room especially that you can lay the full back seats down flatt which comes in really handy. Touch wood not had anything go wrong with it yet so I am pleased with it. Comfortable drive and very practicle for myself and my familyit has a lot more space than you may think at first sight.

Cons: Tax is high and petrol running costs can be high but not too much difference along side others in its class. I wanted a 1.4 to keep the running costs down but unfortunatley couldn't find one. But i must admit i am really pleased with this one.

I personally would advise anyone to buy a Meriva. Really good buy.

This is my second meriva ive had they are very ecomnomical if driven sensibly.All the seats in the back lay flat as a van giveing a great load space good for the odd boot fair.

Good all rounder for medium size MPV.Has suberb turn of speed with Turbo to get out of trouble quickly & is really quite economical with 50+mpg av. on diesel compared to other types of Meriva's.

Used daily by my wife for work & she also likes it so much she is not keen driving my other car which is a Ford.

Service/Insurance costs reasonable.The car has been a wonderful workhorse & for adjustable boot/hold space for carrying fridges/small furniture etc during my son's & our house moves & great for family luggage/outings etc.

2 critisms are the front pillars do obstruct vision to some extent & the electric power steering seems to be a major fault problem.Other than that, have done 63,000 miles of happy motoring!

Great, affordable, economic, roomy, flexible, high driving position, family friendly car and powerful, nippy and fun to drive in 1.7 cdti diesel form with > 40mpg on mixed driving.