USED Vauxhall Meriva MPV (03 - 10)

My car

We bought the car at 6 months old with 10k miles (54 reg), after approx 1k I noticed an annoying rattle when travelling on various road surfaces, motorways are ok. Having had it checked at the dealers, they replaced the steering bushes & a few other parts. This was fine for a few months until it happened again. Its been in now 3 times & we still have the noise but this is the only issue I have with the car. Its spacious for our 2 young children, good equipment,reasonable on the fuel, Motorway driving is good, the seating position is comfortable & a good ride height. Visibility was an issue for a few days due to the door pillar but soon overcome. We are now on 27k & still have the original brakes, the front tyres have just been changed. Overall a good car & good value for money, except the rattle which I put down to a 'Friday afternoon car'. We are exchanging in October & I would certainly consider another Meriva, only this time I would go for the higher spec model.

My car

Well, I am back again - last Saturday after the return from the dealer, I drove the car about five miles. It stalled at least fifteen times, often at junctions - lovely.

I phoned Vauxhall Consumer line who sent out an AA-approved service vehicle, which tested the car and found a fault code at last. It looked like a faulty oxygen sensor, so it went back to the dealer last Monday and was repaired withan a couple of hours - but not the oxygen sensor, the exhaust sensor. The sensor changed in late 2006.

I wait to see if it is really sorted.

My car

What your Meriva has no engine? Yes, that is right.

At 67,000 miles my timing belt and pulley broke resulting in a new engine (according to my local Vauxhall dealer) at £3,000. The car has been with the dealer for two weeks, no repairs have been made. The timing belt should replaced every 10 years or 100,000 miles. Something does not add-up. This car is four+ years old with a full Vauxhall service history.

Watch this space...

My car

The Key to Vauxhall is the Dealer for example would you buy a good watch from a shop based on price only? - i rest my case, living on the fringes of middlesbrough customer choice is varied but i place my trust in the nearby market town dealer with decades of experience. the meriva has plenty of nooks and crannies of storage and drive with the same composure of my corsa sxi, having also owning a astra elite and a need for a bigger people carrie i have ordered a zafira design, the meriva is faultless in execution, the only problem was other peoples perception of it. the meriva breeze in ultra blue is no molly looking car but it gets no respect, oh the temptation to get a meriva vxr over the zafira was tempting but commen sense had to prevail - 0-60 under 7.8 seconds would be too mischevious. looked at honda, mazda and various other non descript cars and for trade in, customer service and gains from a zafira compared to the compotition there was no answer, a class, b class i think vxl class makes more sense,if a i want prestige and residuals id buy a rolex watch, if i want to get the family from a to b id get a vauxhall from a reputable dealer. enough said