2001 Vauxhall Zafira Comfort review from UK and Ireland

A weird sound has recently developed, it's intermittent, but annoying. It sounds like a cat screeching (or Diamanda Gallas) and tends to increase in intensity, although in common with another reviewer, it reduces quite markedly when the brakes are applied. The noise tends to disappear as mysteriously as it appeared.

The engine management light appears and turns off randomly. I haven't bothered to find out why.

The paint chips very easily, annoyingly so.

I'm also the proud owner of a buzzing noise just above the glove compartment, that appears again randomly, but to be honest I'm used to it.

The problems outlined above would I suppose be serious, but as I bought the car used, I'm rather philosophical about their seriousness, really there's more to life than worrying about niggles.

Oh yes, one more niggle, you can't put a child safety seat in the middle row of seats, then expect them to collapse to allow people into the third row of seats, as most if not all child seats do not collapse. This means if you want seven people seated, the child seat either has to be in the rear or front passenger seats. This is an issue for me because it's an absolute pain to constantly take out then replace the child seat, if you haven't got kids yet thank your lucky stars!

Having said that we love the car. It's practical, I can haul the whole family, wife plus three kids and the grandparents with ease.

The turbo diesel is very useful, god knows what 2.0 diesel owners have to endure, because on motorways it's absolutely essential, especially up even slight inclines. Engine noise is surprisingly muted in the cabin, it only feels "tractor-like" in 1st and 2nd, and since the car is low geared, you spend the majority of the time in 3rd or above, so it really doesn't come into the equation.

Great car, in that it admirably fulfills my expectations of it, although it does suffer from minor annoying niggles, my kids dub it "Super Zafira". At 48 mpg I call it super too.