Vauxhall Zafira - come and tell me about yours ...

[Plonker]

...do you like it?

First and foremost, is it reliable?

Are parts easy to come by / reasonably priced?

What do you like most about it?

What do you like least about it?

...and VERY IMPORTANTLY - Would you recommend it?

My beloved Scenic has died a very painful and premature death so unfortunately we have had to cut our losses and look to a new car - we are looking at the Zafira.

It looks lovely and practical and seems to fit the bill for us (have 3 dc but regularly look after my dn(neice) and dn(nephew) so the extra seats would come in very handy.

However, I don't know anyone personally who has this car so please come and tell me about yours ...

All replies gratefully recieved

My Mam had a Zafira and I sat in the back on journeys when we were all in and it was ok. Wouldn't have liked to have gone on long journeys but had been in it up to 45mins and was ok (am only 5ft though) I also had sat between 2 car seats but would only go for very short (up to 10 mins) as there wasn't a lot of room.

She liked hers though it was reliable but she got rid of it when she no longer had a wheelchair to put in and out of the boot.

Well the back is big enough to fit this in!!

I have 3 dcs and a Zafira and we've had no problems getting 3 seats across the middle, despite having an older model with a lapbelt in the middle. We've had an infant carrier, Stage 1 and HBB, then 2 Stage 1s and a HBB now we're on 2 HBB (one each side) and a Stage 1. If we have an extra adult we put one HBB in the boot and the adult on the end of the middle row, which has been absolutely fine.

I really like the extra boot space and height, it's nice to drive and not too hard to park! I find the visibility okay but I'm 5'6".

The boot is miniscule when the seats are up but I can still fit a double umbrella fold buggy behind them and the footwells in the middle hold loads if your kids are in car seats and don't need the space. We 've taken 3 dcs, a 15yo, DH and I plus associated luggage/buggy etc up to Scotland for a week and it was fine, space wise.

We haven't had to do anything other than routine servicing to ours (It's a 52 reg, we've had it 3 years now) and it's pretty good on petrol on long journeys. The petrol consumption isn't the best - we get about 350-380 miles a tank (55 litres - I'm hopeless at maths so can't work out the consumption) but it's not terrible.

My biggest bug bear is the horrible interior - it's really basic, there's no handy cubby holes in the front, all the trim is plastic and it's all a bit van like, tbh.

In an ideal world I'd have a Grand Picasso (more luxurious, slightly bigger, indiviual seats in the middle row, lots of added extra as standard) but they're so much more expensive that I'm quite happy with the Zafira.

Fantastic info! Thanks all

I do agree with certain stage 1 seats in the middle you can get 3 seats across the back but you have to be very careful of buckle crunch. I wondered if the M&P pro tec would be a good one in the middle because it's very high up?

We have one and I love it. I am 5ft8 and sat in the extra seats at the back when 7 months pregnant. Dh did have to haul me out though .

We have had ours for 5 years.

Great for a family of four, I feel, with two baby seats or a family of five with no booster or baby seats! We have four kids and although it's been brilliant we feel we need more space. Can get a single buggy (telescopic folding one) behind the boot seat
but there really is no extra room, lovely car for a small family, ours was cheap ,2005 reg, reliable but it's time to move on

We have a zafira (after a very very very bad experience with a scenic- never again!) and it's been great.

We have 3 car seats in the back and, although the seatlbelts are a bit difficult to do up, it is easily do-able. Our kids are 4 1/2, 3 and 13 mths. We also transport a fairly big pram and 2 dogs, which fit in the boot no bother.

Ours is an 03 reg, and seems pretty reliable (although for some reason 1 windscreen wiper has decided to stop working- hmm!) We've had it 2 years and done quite a few miles in it. I find it comfortable and easy to drive and park. On the couple of occasions we've had the back back seats in place, it's been fine- even though my dad sat in them and he is 6'1"!!!- don't think he was hugely comfortable, truth be told, but it was only for a shortish journey!

Downside is definitely lack of storage space- for wellies, waterproofs, toys, potties, shopping bags...the floor in my back seat is chocablock with stiff, but a small price to pay, after the renault scenic from hell! And I think the newer ones have better storage.

We've got a 1.8, and it's a bit chuggy. Have heard the 1.6 is too chuggy - from a guy who bought one and hated it. we fit 6 kids in for school rota, but the middle seat has to have no booster - but that is legal even if your child is smallish, as it's safer than cramming 3 boosters in, when the seatbelt buckles get all mashed (I see people doing this a lot - but the expert fitters in Halfords said DON'T do it.

It is plasticy and little things like the door handles being stiff drive me nuts, but has a good safety rating, and it's alright really - I love to hate it!