2001 Vauxhall Zafira Club from UK and Ireland - Comments

I can forgive the squeaky drivers seat, turn the radio up and it's soon forgotten.

At about 2000 miles I found that the engine management light kept coming on. This caused a real problem when pulling out from a junction as it would slow the car down to about 20mph and infuriate following drivers who think you are doing it on purpose.

I took the car back to the dealers at 3000 miles and complained about this problem, they took a look and told me the oil was low. I asked them if the oil should be this low at this mileage, they said that the Zafira Diesel engine does use a lot. I changed the oil myself at 5000 miles and was surprised to see how little oil drained out. I filled up with Castrol Magnatec diesel oil, no cheap stuff.

Air-con packed up shortly after.

I took the car into another main dealer at 9,600 miles for its first service. I told them about the air-con not working and about the engine management light and performance slow down, they fixed neither of them, telling me that there was no problem.

I booked the car into the same main dealer to look at the same problems, this time they actually managed to fix the air-con and topped the oil up to do a 500 mile oil test.

After the requested 500 miles, I returned. They checked the oil level and found that the car had used ¾ of a litre of oil, now I had their attention.

I booked the car in for the following week for a 4 day strip down and rebuild, I sorted my insurance and took the loan car, 4 hours later I received a phone call to tell me that the car was ready, they had done nothing.

To date the car still isn’t fixed, I wish I’d bought the Chrysler Voyager.

I like the design of the car, a lot of thought has gone into the clever seating arrangement.

This is my 3rd Vauxhall diesel car, the others being second hand purchases and mostly very reliable, but if I'm spending £14,000 of my hard earned money then I expect better than this.

You don't mention if you have tried raising this with Vauxhall's customer service team in Luton. I have found them very good at giving the dealers a bit of a shove and getting results; the dealers hate it when they get involved - I suspect it creates a lot of hassle for them and gets them a poor reputation.

Update on this car (from the owner)

No change with the oil usage, Vauxhall still say this is OK.

Just had the low vacuum problem fixed and a new sensor fitted to the clutch. The technician did a road test from Reading to Newbury, I don't mind this being done, but at a cost of 1/2 a tank of diesel and another two days insurance for the loan car, why should it come out of my pocket, after all, it's their faulty goods.

The Oil consumption problem is now well publicised all over Europe. Apparently the bores were machined with too high a gloss. Running in oil has been used to attempt a quick fix, but this has been known to cause other problems. Vauxhall/Opel will not accept liability because it would mean expensive repairs to most 2.0Dti Vauxhall/Opel models. Several pressure groups are emerging to try to get Vauxhall/Opel to take responsibility.

Www.zafirauk.tk

www.peachorlemon.co.uk

www.zafira.tk (Dutch)

I can fully understand your woes. I purchased a 2001 (x plate) with 8,000 miles. It has been back to the dealer 18 times now (I am loosing count). Interesting to hear the engine warning light problem. I had the exact same thing happen and after about 5 or 6 attempts and getting Vauxhall involved they tracked it down to fuel pressure \ vacuum. I have had a new ecu, new fuel tank, new fuel pipes, new tailgate lock, fixes to brakes, immobiliser,and numerous visits and re-visits etc.

I have had enough and am doing a deal with the dealer to swap to a vectra (god help me!!). I must say, though, it sounds like your dealer isn't the best. My dealer has had its moments, but has seen right by me so far (even when they broke a coil in the cylinder head and needed to send it off - they booked me an astra SRI for a nearly two weeks at thier cost..)

Update from the owner.

The car is now three years old and has just come out of it's warranty period, thankfully the oil consumption has now slowed down, I'm not using anywhere near as much oil as I was.

The engine management light still comes on, but again not as much as it did, seats have shut up too.

I'm happy with the car, I'm not saying that the original problems with the oil and light were acceptable, they weren't, but in general I'd recommend the model to anyone looking for a small people carrier, the new models should have had these problems ironed out by now.

I bought a 51 plate 2.0 DTi, and since the week I bought it in Sept 07, the engine management light comes on and off regularly. The garage didn't want to know, giving me the pass off every time I phoned. It's been like it now for 8 months and still drives as it should. The light never stays on more than a minute or two, making it impossible to have the car tested.