USED Vauxhall Zafira MPV (99 - 05)

My car

i brought this car as there are 6 of us and thought this would be a reasonable car to run how wrong i was we have owned this car for 15 months at first the steering rack whent costing a fortune the seats are all very well saying they fold away but causes alot of wear on the clips then the fuel pump went costing £1500 now my central locking is playing up the boot wont unlock the rear wiper wont turn off and certain doors wont lock never ever would i recommend this car as apparently all of the above are common faults with the zafira dont ever buy one !!!

My car

My mum bought this car back in 2001 or 2002 on a W-plate. It had done about 28,000 miles, and she was really happy to own this car.

Nothing went wrong with it at all - it was very practical for the amount of children that she had and we would always go on long journeys to Cornwall or Somerset and the six of us with loads of stuff could easily fit.

Then my Mum got bored with it and she got herself a VW Beetle, but a year later she had to get rid of it due to another baby. My dad had to get rid of his Toyota for the Beetle, so got stuck with the Vauxhall. He wasn't very happy at all - he said it didn't drive very well. You really had to go over 4000revs to get any power from it

Then, after covering 42,000 miles, the door hinge started to come loose, the stereo started making funny noises and the engine sounded very bad - a bit like a diesel. He was very unhappy with it and very basic as well for the amount of money you pay for it.

The new one is much improved over the last one. My Dad got rid of the Vauxhall for a BMW 3 Series, which is a lot better. I have nothing against the Zafira - I think it's an excellent car but not a lot of people would think so, and Vauxhall don't have the best dealerships in the world, either.

My car

I am so so disapointed. I was hoping to have a reliable car this time, but it's not to be. It keeps going into 'limp home mode'.

My Vauxhall garage changed a sensor costing me more money than I've got, and it still does it, although not every day, thankfully. It just tends to be at 70mph on the motorway, but the problem is getting progressively worse. The garage says another sensor must have gone. How many sensors does this car have?

Tyres cost a lot and it's a heavy drinker (oil and deisel). My wipers have got tangled up twice, too.

I don't know much about ride quality but I had a hire car the other day and it was a lot smoother, drank significantly less and was very comfortable inside. It was a Vectra.

I don't know if I'd recommend a Zafira. Probably not

My car

I bought a 2000(w) three years ago when it was four years old. For what type of car this is, it is actually excellent. The rear two seats sit flat in the boot so you don't have to take them out and leave them in the shed when they are not in use. The only problem there is that the removable parcel shelf doesn't have a place to fit in the car when you need to take it down.

It's nice to have a high driving position so that you can see over normal traffic, however I find that the front corner window frames can cause a blind spot when you want to see in that direction.

It's nice to have all round electric windows, aircon and remote locking.

For moans, well, simple repairs can be very expensive. I had a failed rear window due to wires in the door and faulty brake sensors.

Overall the car is reliable, cheap to run and reasonable for repairs.

But these do have a lot of electrical faults. The ride is very soft so cornering is quite a lean and towing a caravan the car acts like an HGV. Worse bit is down country roads, where the car bounces from front to back.

The wife loves it but I prefer my cheap Fiesta for driving.