Anyone who has had a Vauxhall Zafira- what did you replace it with?

[warmbath]

Love my car, still going strong after 16 years and fab space for carting my 4 kids around - but it's starting to show its age so I need to replace. They are discounted at Vauxhall so need to look elsewhere. Want a car with a similar size as Zafiras are great to park and a 7 seater. Needs to be reliable. Does anytime have any recommendations? Car would be second hand and budget around 10-15k. Thanks

We were looking at Kodiaqs a while back, that might be a good start?

We had a 7-seater Citroen Grand Picasso (I think! It was a few years back).

Another zafira, sorry! If they're discounted why can't you buy from Vauxhall?

Buy a late model / 12 year old one for peanuts and get another 4 years? Mine is doing well.

Not many more modern alternatives sadly, everything went SUV instead of people carrier.

I was looking last year at the Dacia Jogger (ugly back end but cheap), Peugeot 5008, Citroen C4 spacetourer, VW Touran (too expensive). The BMW 2 series gran tourer looked interesting but smaller seats in the back: https://www.whatcar.com/bmw/2-series/estate/used-review/n819

I've decided to keep my Zafira until it dies.

Well I have a Renault Grand Scenic. I love it, but it's pretty old and has cost me ££££ to keep running. It's really difficult to find a good replacement though

Ford Galaxy?

Ford S-MAX. Slightly smaller than the galaxy although a touch bigger than a zafira.
Galaxy is the best car we've ever had and a pleasure to drive. But we didn't need anything that big again when it went to the great car park in the sky so got a zafira.

Sorry meant to say discontinued...

Awful Zafira.
Then a Chevrolet Captiva
.. Then a grande scenic...
Then a Mazda Biante...
Now an Alpha Gulietta.

Which one would you say was best?

I had a galaxy before our zafira, it kept breaking down so put me off a bit but really liked the space.

Looking to replace a Mitsubishi (motability car) some 6 (?) years ago just as zafira were being replaced (but nothing so good). Going to buy a 'grandland' but couldn't actually see one 'in the flesh' so went to smaller vauxhall garage. Was offered lowish mileage 2nd hand zafira. Ticked all boxes (petrol and automatic as my left leg doesn't work). I had given up hope of getting another (we've had them since about 2003) and had a little weep when I sat in it as I was 'coming home'. I expect I'll give up driving when this one dies. Nothing so good.

Wouldn’t buy a Vauxhall. Look at a VW Tiguan. Great car .

I had a zafira and hated it, nothing worked properly, a real Friday afternoon car. I replaced it with a Ford Grand C-Max which was just the best car ever. Sliding doors and totally reliable. When it was time to trade up I got another one, this is still excellent. It's time to think about trading in again and I'm gutted to discover the Grand max is discontinued! Tempted to keep this one forever.
Following with interest.

We had a Zafira for 14 years. Great for families. After we sold it we got a Vauxhall insignia. We didn’t need a seven seater. The people we sold it to told us it was still going 5 years later!

I bought my 12 plate Zafira for the boot space, although the extra row of seats was useful when I needed to transport some of the church youth group to events. I replaced it with a 21 plate Skoda Karoq 16 months ago and I love the Skoda; someone I know loves his Kodiaq.
Friends had a secondhand VW Touran for 11 years because it just kept going (they could have replaced it earlier but they aren't materialistic). Another friend is on his second Citroen C4 Grand Tourer.

I've got a Toyota verso. Chose it mostly because the middle seat is very spacious, so my teen can fit comfortably between 2 car seats. I find Toyotas pretty reliable and not too costly to run as well

I had a Citroen C4, don't do it, then a Renault Kadjar GT Line much nicer.

The Zafira was discontinued before its time because it sat on a General Motors platform and when GM Europe was sold the deal required Stellantis to pay GM a royalty for each example built. The official replacement in the Vauxhall lineup is the Combo Life, which is essentially the same vehicle as the Citroën Berlingo, Peugeot Rifter, and Toyota Proace City Verso. You'd need the XL versions to get seven seats, and although the XL ones have been electric only for a number of years you should be able to find a used petrol or diesel one (not the Toyota, which has only ever been an EV) in your budget range. You'll find they are slightly bigger than the Zafira, particularly widthways.

We have a Dacia Jogger, which works really well for us and several of our Zafira-owning neighbours and friends are making detailed enquiries because they're seriously considering one. Their prices have crept up steadily since it was launched so a new one is out of reach on your budget now, but £14-5k should get you a 2022 model. The third row, in particular, is considerably roomier than the Zafira although the seats don't fold flat into the floor. They fold up against the middle row and are completely removable though. We are very happy with ours.

We love our Galaxy. We have had them for 14 years and are on our second. I can not imagine having a different car. We looked at alternatives when we were selling our first but did not find anything we preferred. Not quite sure what we will have next as by then we might not need the space as one (or more) of our DS might have moved out.

@InveterateWineDrinker how comfortable is the jogger for driver and passengers? Especially adult sized?
I was in a jogger taxi in Lisbon and it felt like a bumpy ride with poor seat padding. But it was a taxi and was pretty knackered looking. No idea how old it was and how many miles it had done.

Also does it feel longer and harder to park?

I think the jogger is the natural choice after a Zafira for a lot of people.

Get an S Max if you can find one. When we bought our many moons ago I looked at and immediately discounted the Zafira.
It will tick all your boxes.

We went S Max after Zafira and the space is great, especially with older teens that are proper human sized. We can stick 3 of them in the back and because they are full sized seats there is no arguing about footwell space and shoulders and boot swallows everything you chuck in it.

@Rollercoaster1920

I'm Portuguese and have had many, many experiences with the Jogger's predecessor (the Lodgy, sadly never imported to the UK) as Lisbon taxis and I know what you mean. I think it's a taxi/Lisbon thing, as you get the same problem in Toyotas and Mercedes cabs too...

The thing to remember about ride comfort is that there are two versions of the Jogger - petrol and hybrid. The hybrid, which we have, is a couple of hundred kilos heavier over the back wheels which apparently does affect the ride dynamics although as I've never been in a pure petrol one I couldn't say how.

That having been said, we've found the ride in ours to be more than adequate. It's certainly far more comfortable on some of the lunar road surfaces around here than most SUVs, and as long as you're not cornering it on its door handles it doesn't roll around like some of them either. On UK roads the fairly tall sidewalls on the tyres make a big difference to bump absorbtion compared to the low profile things on most UK spec cars.

In right hand drive versions the steering wheel is offset to the left slightly, more so than in the RHD Dacia Logan we also have, but we've no issue with the seats except for one thing - the fabric on the top-spec Extreme version is a recycled plastic material called TEP Microcloud which feels like somewhere between artificial leather and neoprene. It's fine to the touch, and as its washable it's also very practical, but it's not the most breatheable material ever created, although the waterproof polymer coating we put on it probably doesn't help either.

I'm 1.78m tall with 34" legs and can get comfortable in the driver's seat. If my legs were any longer I'd have to sacrifice seat height, but it's on the highest setting to begin with. I can travel in the third row no problem, never actually been in the middle row but can't imagine it's any worse.

I came to the Jogger from a Mercedes S-class sized car so can't really comment on parking, but mine's got front and rear sensors and a rear camera. Because it's so boxy and squared off it's really easy to judge where the corners are too. It's is also, by modern standards, fairly narrow.