VAUXHALL ZAFIRA People Carrier 2005 on

I have owned this Zafira for 2 years now, its the 1.9 diesel and we use it for trips to town and the odd hall across Europe to our second home.I purchased the car when it was 3 years old, Its first MOT was due a week after I collected.With in 2 weeks of owning it I had a DPF fault which cost me £170 to fix. Since then luckily I have had no other dreaded DPF problems.The build quality in my eyes is not good, I shut the drivers door to have some of the trim button fly across the car. The handle that pulls the two rear seats up came off twice, I have since had to glue it in place. The sill trim fell off, so I have had to glue this as well.I also cannot figure out whay Vauxhall have made a low front bumper, the rubber bit around the bottom has been ripped off twice in potholed carparks taking my son to football. I have also had a fault with the heating fan, it wont work on settings 1, 2 and 3 but only works on 4. This is a common fault cause by a blown resistor. This can be fixed for around £25, however it goes again very quickly. I have now been told the fault is with the fan motor and its a £250 to fix all!The steering wheel controls are failing, some days they work other days they dont... Watch out for the models with no spare wheel... annoying when travelling Europe as you have to buy a spare and chuck it in the boot.The Diesel engine is not a good Cold Starter, compared to the fords at work you really have to turn it over before it fires. A couple of times I didnt think it would start.The MPG is disspopinting for a modern diesel, on a long haul caross europe averages at 44 mpg loaded, I did get 46 when it was just two of us. However when back in the UK and just going to town and back I'm lucky to get 35MPG which is very dissopointing for a diesel. When its going it goes well, its smoothe and changes nicely. The 120 BHP is ideal for long drives and can keep up with traffic in Germany with out a problem. It just purrrrrrs along. Handling is good for a car of its size. When its not loaded to the gunnels it handles well almost sprightly! Its the best bit about the car. Would I buy another... Nope. which is a shame as I have had a few Vauxhalls and loved my old Zafira, Im just not impressed with this one.

This is a superb family MPV, and there's a good level of equipment with it

It's excellent for the little ones in the back and perfect for those trips

Come on guys...how many negative reviews are there on this thread that complain about a failed DPF? If you're not driving more than 20,000 miles a year...do NOT buy a diesel-engined vehicle!

Diesel engines are not designed for a quick 3 mile school run or trip to the supermarket - they are for pulling vehicles on the long haul. No wonder so many owners have failed DPFs if they are just poodling about locally! Owners are thinking that they'll get a diesel because it has more power, is cheaper to tax/insure and does more MPG...false economy ...buy a smaller engined petrol unit if most of your miles are local. My 1.6 is fine locally and copes adequately on the motorway (yes, more power would be nice, but motorways are not my majority journies)

...and no, Vauxhall don't need to be warning potential buyers of DPF issues...it's a fact, if you're not doing the miles, don't buy a diesel - and this applies to any vehicle.

...simples!

(My only complaint is that Vauxhal continue to be stingey on the level of standard equipment...and the Zafira is no exception!)

We chose the car because our old car (Citroen Picasso Exclusive) died. We wanted an automatic and this car seems to fit the bill. We owned it for 6 months.

I have driven many autos but this one is a good one with plenty of torque, if you are not careful the wheels will spin on wet road if pressed hard on the pedal. Usually this is not possible with automatics but this car proved me wrong as it is very easy for the wheel spin.

The car has a tow bar fitted to tow a caravan, it pulls really well and it need to be towed in a manual setting on the motorway rather than the auto setting due to constant changing up and down. Other times use the auto setting which makes towing a breeze.

The car seems to have an habit of changing up a gear in a higher revs than usual, it can be solved by turning the engine off and start again then it settles down.

The good points - plenty of space, hard wearing interior, plenty of grunt, fuel economy is good on long run but around town is quite thirsty, very easy to park, feels very solid.

The bad points - diesel tank is rather small, harsh ride, diesel engine is not refined which feels more like a taxi, the heating and defrosting gives a lot to be desired. No cruise control which we missed terribly and it cannot be installed by Vauxhall. We are looking into having it installed by someone else.

I only had this car for 2 months as completely lost all trust in it. During the 2 months of ownership it had the following repairs done to it:

Clutch and dual mass flywheel replaced.

EGR valve replaced

Inlet Manifold Replaced

Glow plug replaced.

The car spent more time with the mechanic than me actually driving it and cost me alot of money. Apparently these are all the common problems with this engine model.

Even after all this work it still would lose power during driving. Not a nice ride and the engine was noisier than my previous Vectra. Had to replace the car for a more reliable one for my own peace of mind.

This is a truly horrendous car to drive, and I have driven Ladas and an old style Nissan Prairie! The gearbox is awful; selecting first or second is like sticking a land rover into low ratio gears without engaging the clutch and the stupid reverse selector means that a quick manoeuvre is impossible.

The electronic indicators either fail to engage or then fail to turn off and the wipers are equally awful to try to use. They just don't work. The clever seating system would possibly be the only benefit of the car but even that is clunky and the very rear seats sometimes fail to lock down properly.

I bought the car because our third child was on the way and we needed the extra seats however the car has little power and has been the worst car I have ever had the displeasure of owning, or even driving. I shall be getting rid of it ASAP.

Practicallity wise i really cannot fault this car, it has acres of space inside and ive never found myself wondering if i will have enough room in it. We even moved house with this car!

When i bought the car i knew nothing of the DPF issues that this car suffers from however after 8 month i found out, the DPF went and was replaced under warranty. Ive found that with a few simple adjustments as to how we use the Zafira we can get along just fine although i do think that in the year 2012 a machine should be built to with stand every eventuallity of driving.

PROS:

Plenty of space

49 MPG on a run

Endless amounts of grunt and power for a big car

A decent driver

CONS:

Reliablity worries

Hard suspension (not very forgiving)

Overall i would recommend this car, just make sure you do some longer journeys to clear the DPF.

My daughter purchased a zafira diesel one day she was going down the road and suddenly it went to top rev,s she lost control of the engine turning off the ignition made no difference the road behind her was obscured with smoke so much so some local telephoned the fire brigade who attended after she finnaly managed to get it stopped long and short of it engine destroyed about £3.500 to get it replaced this is in a car with less than 19,000 miles on the clock zero help from vauxhall would never look at another vauxhall left a very dirty taste..

This is a great car. It is practical spacious and comfortable compared to most other 7 seat cars. It is economical to run too.

Great car for families. Drives smoothly on all kinds of roads. Being big and heavy still can do 46mpg on motorway and 39mpg combined. One disadvantage - 120bps seems to be too little - especially when your previous car was 150bps avensis ;)