2004 Opel Meriva 1.6 Ecotec from Greece

Summary:

Good for travelling, do not raise high expectations

Faults:

A general feeling of cheap plastic, though leather seats add to comfort. Annoying noises generated from front panel when heat vent is on. Bad assembly causes the door panels to creak when speaker volume exceeds mid (and I am not a bass-freak!).

Consumption 9+ ltr / 100klms??? Tech not very Eco.

General Comments:

Seats are comfortably high, although front-side visibility might trouble in some cases. Travels very comfortably and reasonably quiet over long distances, while the tight suspension keeps it on the road.

I would buy it again for the spacious interior, the height of the seats, its concise body and vibrant engine. I can live without fine plastics...

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 5th February, 2010

2003 Opel Meriva Comfort 1.6 from South Africa

Summary:

Nice car... if only Opel could sort out the small hiccups with service and spares

Faults:

Generally I am happy with the car.. If only you could buy replacement spares without replacing large and costly assemblies for stupid faults.

1. At first, I had problems with the car dying on me and refusing to restart (usually accompanied with slow driving). I traced the fault to a bad connection between the battery and the clamps. The problem was fixed by grinding away some of the metal on the clamp, ensuring a tighter connection.

2. Then it was the gear shifter popping out at 35 000km. The inferior plastic part was replaced by an all metal part... in my view this should have been a warranty repair... But anyway.

3. At 50 000km, the rear window winders went... a small plastic part broke on each window, and Delta insists on replacing the whole window winding assemblies at roughly R7000 a side. In my view, this is a design flaw, and should also be a warranty repair.

4. At 70 000km, the air con compressor broke... another R15 000. Which brings me to another point. How can they justify a R400 rand PAPER filter for the cabin?

My next car will definitely NOT be a Opel.. I drove a twin-cam Corolla previously - roughly 450 000km trouble free with only minor cheap repairs.

General Comments:

The ground clearance is nice.

Visibility is bad around the "A" pillar, especially approaching a intersection when the other vehicle is driving from the right and is driving at the same speed.

The armrest between the driver and passenger seat takes some getting used to in the down position, when trying to disengage the handbrake.

Ample head room.

Passengers in the rear seats are manhandled when driving a dirt road.

The radio is nice, as the kids can listen to their stuff using earphones while you are still able to enjoy the radio.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 8th September, 2008

15th Mar 2011, 15:02

Hi. I have had the same problem with my passenger windows on my Meriva. The first went at 60000 service and the second at 75000 km service. Both were a clip that broke. R7000 on both occasions.

2005 Opel Meriva 1.7 turbo diesel from South Africa

Summary:

Loved the car, but reliability makes it a non-starter

Faults:

Engine would randomly just not start. Engine would turn, but not take. Dealership tried fixing it, but the issue kept on coming back. Suspected diesel supply problem.

Minor issue was a rattling noise from the boot area.

General Comments:

Car is very comfortable, economic, quick & safe.

Only real problem was reliability.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 16th October, 2007

2003 Opel Meriva Njoy 1.6 from Slovakia

Summary:

Not very reliable, but good in a city

Faults:

At 91 000 km the battery warning light suddenly went on in the middle of a 60 km trip. Rewed the engine in higher RPM and next time after starting the light was off. Happened again later, but the reason was never discovered when checked. After that, the light stayed off when driving.

Left lever at the steering wheel had to be changed, because after turning left wouldn't return automatically (50 EUR)

At 92 000 km the gear shifting lever suddenly stopped working and the mechanism had to be replaced (300 EUR). The car had to be towed away.

Car had to be towed away again as one of the circuits was completely dead (including injection) - the mechanic blamed the alarm and changed some fuses. An electrician later said the alarm was OK - probably an attempt to bill more for changing fuses :- (

About two weeks after the fuses, the tachometer light (distance driven) went dead. The "tacho" still works, but is almost impossible to read.

General Comments:

The car handles better than the Nissan Almera '96. It is floating less in curves. However, one has the feeling as if sitting on a pendulum with the fixed part being the tires.

I'm getting tired of getting it repaired. The car was previously owned by a car rental company. Don't know if that is the reason why so many things went wrong, but the car had to be towed away twice in 4 months.

The car is a little bit "lazy", acceleration gets really poor as soon as more people sit in it.

The cover inside the trunk is of the foldable type. There is a hook, but nothing to hold it, so the cover folds by itself.

The seats are comfortably high, which is the reason why my father bought it.

It is very good when parking - you know pretty well where the car ends.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 8th October, 2007

31st Dec 2007, 12:51

Now, a few months later, I found one more thing, which bugs me about this car: when traveling at high speeds (130 km/h) in wind, steering becomes a bit complicated - when the car is tossed to the side unexpectedly, it requires more steering than you would assume. The steering seems tight enough under all other conditions.

It is a good car in the city, but handles terribly at high speed and I cannot recommend it to those who travel far. Not to mention, some of my colleagues at work make fun of its size.

Oh, and that battery warning light still goes on all sorts of strange occasions.

4th Jan 2008, 09:49

My friend it seems you got a lemon!! Buying a car that was used by a rental company is asking for trouble!! Everyone that rents a car doesn't care at all about it and people tend to do things with them that they never will if the car was theirs.

19th Jan 2016, 07:12

I do not agree with you. This summer I rented a car in France. The car was a new one. I drove it very carefully and handled that car with respect.

24th Jan 2018, 03:02

Rental cars are a gambling buy. Many people drive them fine, but many don't. Not to mention the possibility of body repairs, small accidents, etc. In cold weather, drivers will abuse them, not waiting for the engine/transmission to warm up.