2002 Vauxhall Zafira Elegance from UK and Ireland - Comments

Engine uses oil.

I own an import Vauxhall Zafira Elegance 2.0 TDI

I am very pleased with the car; it is comfortable, very good on fuel and has lots of little refinements built in.

However, there is one problem. The engine uses oil.

I was nearly caught out by this, but have always regularly checked the oil levels on my cars.

I have owned Nissans, Fords, and classic cars that have not used oil, but my new Vauxhall has used 2 litres of oil in 3000 miles.

The car has been checked for oil consumption over a 500-mile period and the dealer stated that approximately 0.3 litres of oil use was acceptable.

I do not think so!

This oil usage is supposedly only on the Turbo Diesel engine and the dealer has assured me that it will improve as the engine runs in.

Has anyone else had this type of problem?

I have since heard reports of engine seizures as a result of oil loss.

Yep, same problem with mine. See "Nice engine management light" review on this site.

Vauxhall still say that this amount of oil usage is OK, I don't think so, I can't believe that they designed the engine to do this.

It looks as if the oil problem is common on the turbo diesel, something to do with the polished bores!

My dealer assured me that the oil consumption would improve and it does seem to be better now after completing 5000 miles.

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.

Hello Steven, sorry to hear about your oil usage. I am however here to help. Having worked at a vauxhall dealership for the past five and a half years I know how they tick... As you know this is a european problem which was rectified some time ago by our opel counterparts in Russelheim Germany, they had special oil made to cure this problemof which vauxhall new nothing about until two years ago. These are sent to dealers in the form of tecnical bulletens, but not all staff read them or even get to see them. (My number 01387266595 (Barry) Please contact)

What you have to do is contact your dealership and ask for a feild engineer to check your car and request the special oil be fitted. Usually the charge was paid for by vauxhall, but I'm sure you won't mind paying.

We have just purchased a Vauxhall Zafira 2.0 DTI and whilst we think it is a great car we are not too happy with the oil consumption after a short time. But it will take longer to make a proper assessment and this posting is based on the previous experiences of others at this stage. I read that Barry in the last post stated that a special oil was available in Germany for Opels. Can Barry or anyone tell me where to get this oil in the UK. I would be most grateful for this information.

Can anyone help me with a problem I think I may have.. I have read from the comments above that there are problems with the Zafira's oil consumption being excessive. I own a 2003 Astra SXI (Astra G model)and have found out that I have a problem with oil consumption - I need to top it up every 2 weeks approx, it blows out smoke sometimes when starting and it has only covered 3,500miles - are there any details available where the oil as described on previous comments can be obtained in the UK or can I ask the dealer to replace mine with it - help!!

Be carefully with oil level!!!

I own a 2001 Opel Zafira. One week ago I had to leave my car at the Opel technical service due a massive leak of oil from the filling cap and subsequent engine complete failure. The true is that the engine lost all the oil and the pressure warning light DID NOT LIT!!!.

The dealer said that this warn only lights on when there's only half liter of oil in the reservoir or below. Until then there's still pressure!!! The fact is that my engine was destroyed due a missing lubrication and the light still did not come even there was no oil in the tank.

Can anyone believe that a pressure warn light should only indicate pressure failure with only this amount of oil? Do you think that this amount is enough to bath all the engine without warning the driver that there's a leak or an oil problem? Isn't this an engine design mistake?

I bought my Vauxhall Zafira Diesel 2.0 in Jan 2001. At that time I was not aware of an oil consumption problem and was never warned by the dealership that a problem was present. During the summer of that year I was driving around the UK on my family holidays when the oil warning light came on. When I checked the oil nothing showed up on the dipstick. This was a bit of a surprise as the recommended service date was 20000 miles or 1 year.

Shortly after this time I noticed that the Vauxhall Service Departments of most dealerships had 'Top Up Oil' (for new cars) on sale so obviously they were aware of problems with their cars.

Since that summer I have had the car serviced every 12 months and an additional oil and filter change every 6 months.

The car, although it is 4.5 years old and has 47000 miles on the clock, still uses oil (not as much as at first). What is more alarming is that a patch of oil has appeared on my drive. It would seem that this might be coming from the cylinder head gasket!!! Investigations are still ongoing.

There have also been other problems with the car, but I'll write them elsewhere.

I agree totally with the findings on oil use I have just bought a year 2000 Doti and was surprised to the oil consumption in such a new car 68000 mils it works out at half a liter every 1500 mils I'm glad I kept an eye on it.

To read these comments is very good as I was beginning to think I had some for of engine ware.

I have recently bought a 2001 zafira on an x plate and it seems that oil loss is very hard to track down the problem.

My engine is a 1.6 xe multec and bought the vehicle to take the family to disney paris, whitch I did covering 1000 miles and using 5 litres of oil. All seemed fine until dover when the management light came on and starting to missfire. on return to the midlands investigations found a burnt out valve whitch has now been repaired along with new stem seals unfortunately not fixing the problem. dealership tells me pistons need to be changed at aprice of 1200 pounds, surely not at 54000 miles. IT was also suggested that some of my models pistons were not machined correctly any help considered.

Hello all zafira dti owners!!!

Sorry to hear about big oil burning problems.

I'm a mechanic with 20 yrs under my belt and bought my 03 dti

from new. I had planed a 2 week holiday to france when I baought the car. the car had just 60miles on the clock when I drove the car hard across france was not to botherd about

running it in. the car has now done 290000mils and has not missed a beat nor burnt a drop of oil I use a 10/40 semi oil

and change every 100000miles. thank you vauxhall for a reliable car. I am planing to buy the new shape zafira, but not shaw on the fiat engine that they are using.

Same here, We have a 2002 Zafira and it uses loads of oil!

I can't understand why this is because there is no leaks or oily exhaust emissions.

I bought a an O2 plate zafira last june, within 3 months I needed a new engine as the engine was "absorbing" oil, not burning or leaking. It is now in the garage again this time it is burning oil. I really don't think an engine should go after 26,000 miles and then again after 18,000 miles. What do you guys think?

I have a 2004 petrol vauxhall zafira design. has started using lots of oil. on occassion engine making clacking noise - hence no oil - but no warning light came on. this is just madness. putting oil in every week now. no leaks - apparently oil is being burned.

I have exactly the same problem, heaps of oil being used, I have used 10 litres in less than 1 1/2 years. I had my BMW for 2 years before than and only topped it up a little once! Oil light never comes on. Will never buy a Vauxhall again.