VAUXHALL ZAFIRA MPV REVIEW

My car

I bought a 3 year old 1.6i Club one year ago with 20 odd thousand miles on the clock for £6.5k from a car supermarket and it has been the best used car bargain we have ever had. The Zafira is a perfect run-around family car with bags of space and lots of great features. The car has always felt well screwed together and it has withstood the rigours of my children + dog very well. The most pleasant surprise has been that parts are very inexpensive. I bought a full set of Vauxhall mats from the main dealer for only £35 for example.

We have had no mechanical problems whatsoever. The 1.6i engine was never going to turn the car into a performance machine, but once you accept that then it gets around pretty well. Most of our usage is around town plus occasional 250 mile runs packed full of children, animals, luggage and a roof-rack. Even fully loaded it will sit comfortably at 80+mph on the motorway. It is quiet and comfortable. Fuel economy is nothing special - c early 30's mpg for us.

Previously we owned a 1 year old 2.2 Dc Privelege Espace. We lost more in one year's depreciation on the Espace than then Zafira cost us. Further, the seats on the Espace were large, heavy and difficult to remove and store. The fold flat seating on the Zafira is a lot more convenient.

We plan on keeping the car for quite a few more years, I definitely recommend it.

My car

The average fuel economy never got above 36.5 mpg. The steering was vague in the straight ahead and the car 'dived' in corners. It is the worst handling car I have driven.

My car

Surprisingly enjoyable car to drive considering its size, with one big caveat: the front supports block your vision. We've had it for five years, though, and it's been reliable all that time.

Space-wise, the main issue is width. We'd like to have three child seats in the back, and though it is just about possible it's a squeeze, particularly for the middle child in a bumper seat.

My car

Zafira SRI XP 2.2 petrol on a 2007 plate. I owned this car for a brief period of 5 months. I purchased as a used car as I required a large family car with 7 seats. After a period of 3 months the car kept breaking down with Engine Management and electrical issues. Basically the car just lost power and stopped as you were driving along the road. Several visits to Vauxhall later, the problem remained unresolved. They had carried out Engine management resets and software upgrades which temporarily resolved the issue, but never really fixed the problem. I eventually gave up with this car and accepted a trade in valuation of £3,000 less than I paid for it some 5 months before, just to get rid of this very dangerous car. I would not purchase another Zafira, in particular this model, which was poorly equiped, had very stiff suspension, which made long journeys very tiring and poor fuel consumption of around 25 miles to the gallon, which in today’s market makes it a very expensive car to run. Other MPV’s are far better to buy and own and I have now traded to a Ford S-Max which is far superior.