2000 Vauxhall Zafira from UK and Ireland - Comments

Oh my God! On my way back from a weekend away with my young son my car gave an exasperated sigh and ground to a halt! " hours later I find out that the cam or timing belt have gone and I need to be towed back home. We left it outside our friendly local garage who two weeks later inform us that we need a whole new engine or at the very least a reconditioned one. 3,000 quid!!! this is madness, the car is 5 yrs old and had done 55,000 miles!. I urge any Zafria drivers to get their cam belts checked at every service.

Apart from that I have loved my car!

I've stumbled across this site googling for timing chain issues with the 2.2 engine. I have a Astra Coupe 2.2, and it need it's timing chain replacing after 44,000 miles.

This issue is well known, and Vauxhall have admitted a fault with the lubrication nozzle getting blocked. According to posts on the net, certain cars have been fixed free of charge (timing chain, and any engine damaged due to the failure), but other cars are not covered by this "field remedy".

Despite my car's timing chain failing, VX are saying my engine is not within the affected batch of engines.

I expect there are many of 2.2 (pre March 2002) drivers that have paid for this work.

I have a 2001 1.6 Club Zafira, and last night ran out of petrol after the gauge dropped from the 1/4 mark. This seems to be a major fault that needs to be addressed by Vauxhall.

It is a good car, but I don't like the fact I have to worry about keeping it above the 1/4 mark all the time.

My Zafira Comfort 1.6 has run out of petrol out of the blue, 1/4 tank this morning when I returned home from shops, got in car to fetch children from school and the fuel light came on - as this happens frequently and jumps back to 1/4 by the time I get to the end of the road I foolishly ignored it. Parked near the school, loaded children in and car would not start. I was also parked on a slight camber in the road which seems to affect the petrol gauge (this has happened before). I got a can of petrol from the garage, luckily not far, but it was pouring with rain, so you can imagine the moods of the children. Put it in the car, but it still would not start. So I have given up for today and left it where it stands and got a lift home from a friend. I am getting pretty frustrated with this problem as it has happened before. Otherwise car is great and would recommend to anyone else with loads of kids!

I have a Zafira Comfort 2003. It was brand new when I purchased it and have only done 17555miles on it. As I only use it locally and in an around the city centre, recently the engine light came on. I took it to the local garage and was told that the EPR (Exhaust Pressure Regulator) valve was clogged up due to UNDER USAGE of the car. It would cost me Euros 400 to replace it!!!Has anyone had this problem and can it be EPR valve be cleaned?

I have owned a 2001 Zafira Comfort 1.8 for nearly 2 years now, I really like the car, but the niggly little problems are starting to get to me, as mentioned in previous posts I have the petrol gauge syndrome, the rear brake calipers seem to bind on a regular basis causing pads to wear quickly, oil disappearing with no warning, and today after another set of rear brake pads my odometer light has gone out so I have no idea how many miles I have covered. I am nearly at my whits end.

Our Zafira 1.8 Elegance also has the "fuel gauge problem", but I can assure you it's not an issue with the gauge that causes the car not to start.

We are currently speaking to our local dealer about this and a fuel leak issue, and he has told us about a known issue with the tank on early Zafiras where the swirl pot is located in the wrong place at the bottom of the tank. when I suggested it was a design fault he said he could not comment, however Vauxhall had previously replaced tanks on cars under 3 years/60,000 miles.

We're waiting to see if we can get the tank swapped under Network Q, but failing that I will be expressing my concerns to Vauxhall direct to get it sorted.

If there is a known "design fault" then I don't see why the manufacturer should put an age/mileage limitation on the fix!

Hi I have a 2002 1.8 zafira can anyone tell me where the outside tempreture gauge is as no longer reading on my screen and we cannot find it? also is 40,000 the best time to have cam belt done as cannot find anything in my book? Also I have same problem with petrol gauge once under 1/4 of a tank (causes many arguments with me and my husband as he thinks I have left it with no petrol in!!) thks corrine - NOTTINGHAM.

Hi I have a Zafira 02 plate and have owned it for 4 months I'm currently having the problem when the car gets warm I just cannot change gear, vauxhall have said its the alignment, but its clearly not otherwise it would do it all the time. I have to stop and turn the engine off for the car the to cool down and then it works fine again.

Has anyone got any ideas??

I have owned a 1.6 16v Zafira Club 2003 model for 16 months and I am very satisfied with with its performance. I would recommend to all that has one to check the oil level at least once a week, keeping it topped up to maintain performancce. My only moan with the car is that I don't think that it does many miles per gallon. I get 30 MPG, can anybody please advise me if this is right?

I have a 2005 Zafira Life. It's done 16000 and I hate it.

The fuel gauge is crap, and the power steering cuts out now and again.

On top of that, I only get about 26 mpg. Don't buy one, buy a Ford instead.

I have a 2001 Zafira comfort 1.6 and when I first star it up the milometer shows InSP. Can anyone tell me what this means?

Hi all! We've had the Zafira for just over a year now and I really love it. It's very comfy and great for the extra seats.

However, the consistent problem with the petrol gauge is driving me round the bend (pardon the pun) it will fluctuate between flashing 'petrol extremely low' back to 1/4 tank. Very irritating, especially when you are parked on a slight slant, which cannot be helped sometimes depending on the area you are parking in. Just last week I had to ask my colleague to rock the car back and forth, this didn't work so we had to push it further up the road so it was on a flat surface before it would start!

Also, I find the design of the window obstructing when you are at a Zebra crossing for instance, so pay attention to this when you test drive it.

Other than this, love this one and will be getting the new model as soon as finances allow!

I recently bought a vauxhall zafira it's a 2.2 and I only got 223 miles out of £40 worth of petrol I'm begining to think I have made a mistake. I noticed the petrol light coming on at 1/4 of a tank and then going under has anyone else got this problem?

Hi we've had a Zafira comfort bought second hand for 9 months and have had nothing, but trouble with it. air con packed in, E.R.G valve stopped working, electric mirrors don't work remote alarm and locking don't work, but the most annoying of all has to be the engine management light that constantly comes on when you accelerate up hill resulting in loss of power. also the engine cutting out when it feels like it.