USED Vauxhall Meriva MPV (03 - 10)

My car

I purchased an ex Vauxhall company 1.8 Easytronic with just a few months Vauhall ownership and 4600 miles on the clock. Purchased from a local main dealer as an 'as new' vehicle with initial service and inspection fully stamped up. After 1 year of very carefull and gentle driving it became due for its First Service at 10600 miles. The local dealer from whom I purchased it insisted that this should be a Major Service (2 yrs or 20,000 miles) and reluctantly I agreed to this although actual mileage was half this. During the Major Service it was established a drive shaft boot clip was missing and I assumed that this would be covered by the warranty. No such luck - an additional cost of £98.93 was added to the service bill. I cannot prove that the clip was not fitted at the time of manufacture or at the time of pre-delivery inspection so I had to stand the cost.(The 'Service dept' say a stone may have knocked it off! If thats a sensible statement - how do vauhall ever manage to rally cars). The car does all its asked - but if Vauxhall inspection & warranty is as bad as I believe then it will be my first and last Vauxhall.

My car

This is my wifes car which we bought to replace a Seat Ibiza to make it easier to get out 18 month old into her car seat as well as being generally more flexible.

10/10 on the flexability from with plenty of room. Its OK to drive. Its no drivers car but it is comfortable and quiet.

Reliability has been acceptable. It has the clutch judder when cold which has been mentioned elsewhere as well as a couple of electrical faults. Occasionally the hazard lights come on for no reason and won't go off and sometimes the EPS warning light comes on when the electric windows are operated. Does anybody else have these problems? I'll get it looked at when its serviced next week.

Overall a good car. I just hope it stays reliable!

My car

We bought our 04 Meriva 1.6 8V life in Jan 07 with 5000 miles on the clock at a cost of £7000. The car is very practical and comfy on long journeys, it can swallow loads of luggage, its reasonably reliable but there are issues which people need to know about with the Meriva range. The Meriva take an age to warm up from cold. Changing to a new thermostat will not cure the problem. The Meriva air con unit can wail very loudly and become obtrusive - even when given a pass on a health check at a VX dealership. The Meriva wash wipe motor is extremely loud and sounds like a horn when operated. The dash boards rattle. The clutches (16V engines are most affected) can be juddery when cold. This can seriously damage the engine and affects other Vauxhall vehicles (check VX owner websites for info). Some new models still only come with a radio cassette. How stingy on a £10K+ motor. The gearing is set to cope with the size / shape of the car. At 70mph in 5th gear the 1.6 is already pulling 3500rpm, so its noisy at motorway speeds. We won't be buying another but will look for a C - Max next year. I had one as a company vehicle and it was far better than the Meriva. Family car - maybe? Good car - nope. VX need to try harder.

My car

The car handles very well. Some road noise, but not too bad. suspension on the firm side - maybe the penalty of the good handling. Very comfortable seats which are easy to access due to high driving position.

ERG valve was cleaned or replaced under warranty at 28000miles and again 6 months later, just out of warranty but no help forthcoming from Vauxhall. The power steering failed (known fault) and was dealt with under warranty. Petrol consumption overall 39mpg

I like the car, but worry about the above.