5th Jul 2019, 16:08
My Meriva has started having malfunctions and it's only 5 years old. Today the steering suddenly got stiff, and malfunction lights and many others came on too. Was very dangerous in busy traffic. Drove direct to the Vauxhall garage, who told us to call next week as it's late at 2.30pm and they will contact Vauxhall. It's a disgrace that a newish car has this fault. The car should be replaced; would never have bought a brand new car had I known this model was known for this fault. Why were they still selling them!! Awful. I wouldn't pay £1000 for a fridge if i knew it would fail within 5 years; actually my fridge had a 10 year warranty.
15th Jul 2019, 16:09
Simple - The reason they keep selling them is because people keep buying them.
Unfortunately people will buy any rubbish nowadays. Not to get too deep into a debate on a car reviews site, and you could say this is a problem with "consumerism" in general and not just cars, but I'm astonished at what people put up with and pay thousands into. Not to spark an old debate, but back in the day I never had so many problems with cars as I do now - but some dealerships would have you believe new/newer cars are perfect and any problems are a thing of the past, and if you get a problem, you are just unlucky, but the reality is these complex electronics on modern cars are in their infancy and are just rubbish. Yet they have convinced people it's normal to pay thousands for major repairs at a young age/mileage.
Not just Vauxhall as they are as good (and as bad sometimes) as any manufacturer, but look at the review patterns on here and other reviews sites - many people were happy with their 1990s cars (myself I had many a Cavalier / Carlton from Vauxhall that were excellent) and you can read positive reviews. I kept a record and can confirm I spend much more (even when you take into account inflation/time/other such variables) on modern repairs on my last 2 Vauxhall Insignias. Not a bad car by any means, but far from perfect. Have a Meriva in the family as well, not a great car to be honest. Even "premium" cars like BMW, Audi, Mercedes, etc (have had a few of those) are not as "solid and reliable" as the image suggests.
24th Apr 2016, 10:14
Old cars without EPAS were easy to turn because you were only turning the wheels; now try to turn a failed electric motor as well as the wheels. When the motor fails, they become so hard to turn; it's dangerous, check out the "Watch Dog" program on YouTube; even a strong bloke finds it difficult.