Zafira 1.6 - my opinion after 14 months (Vauxhall Zafira Club 1.6i 16v 5-door MPV)

Member Name: hotline

Product:	Vauxhall Zafira Club 1.6i 16v 5-door MPV
Date:	07/05/01 (1434 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Seating flexibility, Reliability, Performance

Disadvantages: AM Radio (Grrr!)

Having owned my Zafira for 14 months and driven 14,000 miles, I have to say I am really pleased with it.
I have a family of four; a wife and two children aged 11 and 6. The reason we originally bought the Zafira was mainly because we had previously owned a Vaxhall Corsa, and whilst we we happy with the make, we definately wanted to 'stretch out'. We opted for the Zafira, fearing that it would be a little on the large side for our needs. Well, in the last year or so I have lost count of the times we have been glad of the ability to carry six/seven people. My eldest has some kind of juvenile radar for spotting his mates in town who we could invite home for dinner! It may, perversely, be a disadvantage that having such flexibility does seem to turn you into the local taxi.
Anyway, the good points about the Zafira are the seating flexibility (I drove to Liverpool and back from Torquay to watch a football match with six adult passengers, and no-one required physiotherapy), reliability (no problems at all), performance, fuel economy, handling (far better than my old Corsa!), equipment level, and overall build quality.
The negatives are few, but worth a mention; Oil - I never had to top the Corsa up. Never. I am glad I checked the Zaf 'cause it drinks oil! To be fair, the manual does mention this as being the case in the engine's early miles, so it should ease off.
Plastic clips - the plastic panels on either side of the boot that provide access to the rear light bulbs, and provide a useful storage area, are retained by some clips. These have broken twice and although are cheap at 65p to replace, should be stronger.
Radio/CD - The CD is excellent, and I really like the facility to have the radio increase in volume automatically as road speed increases. The AM part of the radio is pants however! I am a big fan of Radio 5 Live and Talk Sports, both available only on AM. My radio has a very annoying habit of buzzing to make recep
tion of AM stations impossible. I have complained to the Main Dealer, but they maintain this is a common issue with no remedy.

All in all, the pros far outweigh the cons, which to be honest are trivial. I hope the next fourteen months are as enjoyable drive-wise as the last.

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