2005 Vauxhall Zafira Design from UK and Ireland - Comments

Window demisting from new, when setting the ventilation controls to demist as per the manual, the windows mist up. If the temperature is above 4c then the air-con can be run which stops the misting up. Driving at night when the outside temperature is 4c or lower is a real problem.

I had a previous Zafira of the same spec for 3 years (02 Model Year Comfort) and was happy to purchase one again.

Unfortunately within just a few miles I found to problems, one by design the other would seem a fault.

The design problem is with the suspension, Vauxhall seem to have softened both the springs and dampers resulting in at times for me an unpleasant ride. The only road surface it seems happy on is the motorway and cruising at 70mph. However I should point out the rest of the family all like the softer suspension.

The fault is with the window demisting, when setting the ventilation controls to demist as per the manual, the windows mist up. If the temperature is above 4c then the air-con can be run which stops the misting up. Driving at night when the outside temperature is 4c or lower is a real problem.

The cruise has proved terrific and is just as good on the motorway as long runs at 30mph, well worth the £300.

Petrol consumption on a long 200 mile run averaging 46 mph was 31 mpg.

Other than the above the Zafira can fulfil most tasks asked of it, from the school run, shopping and trips to Ikea.

Would I buy another one, yes if the misting up problem can be solved, no if not.

De-misting Problem Update. Zafira 1.8 Auto. 05 year.

Right from the start we had problems stopping the windscreen and all other windows from fogging up. Despite trying all the heater settings we could not cure the problem. The only remedy was to have the air-con on, even so after about 20 minutes in the car it would start to fog up badly. The only cure was to drive with the front side windows partly down.

The Zafira was returned to the supplying dealer to "have a look" and see if they could spot anything wrong with the heating and ventilation. I was informed everything was OK, all drainage holes were clear. They suggested that problems with demisting may be due to the type of pollen filter fitted. Plus the car may well be damp!

Having had a Zafira for three years previously, I knew all about such misting problems and was of the opinion that what my new car was suffering from was far different and worse.

I decided to have a look myself and started by removing the glove-box, with the idea that the pollen filter may have been fitted incorrectly in the factory. Once the glove-box was removed I had a good look around. For some reason I decided to try out the heating controls to see just what they did as I now could see the fan housing and its air valve for fresh or re-circulated air. I watched as a lever moved up and down, fresh air in one position, re-circulated in the other. Then to my amazement I realized the lever was not attached to the air valve. The air vale was stuck in the re-circulated position and pressing the fresh/re-circulated button made no difference.

The connection was obvious, a ball and socket joint. I snapped the ball in place and now was able to see the air vale work.

So for the last 1000 miles from new, all we had to breathe was re-circulated air, hence the misting up.

I have now been able to test the car and can confirm the heating/ventilation/air-con is now working as it should.

Hello, our Zafira is misting up also, we had just put it down to the recent cold weather, and all that expanse of glass.

To be honest... I had blamed my wife for leaving the 're-circulate' turned on, she swore blind, sorry flower.

To de-mist the windows I don't believe in using the A/C all the time, but it seems it's going to be the norm.

I had a vectra that kept misting up inside - I removed the pollen filter & threw it away. it was a soggy disgusting looking thing - never had prob again!!!

We have had ours since Jan 2005 and are over the moon with it, the space and ride are great.

As my partner is disabled its really easy for her to get in and out and the kids love it.

Inside looks have grown on me, red and black trim and silver dash with white dials. not sure about the boot space with all seven seats up, but you expect that from a MPV.

We have the 1.6i model, although the car is big the power is there, moves well at 70mph with good fuel consumption.

We went on holiday with ours on a 200 mile trip with a full tank, when we got there we hadn't even used half a tank, the trip back was even better full tank again and only used a quarter of a tank... not bad I think.

All and all I'm happy with the car and would buy one again.

Oh the misting of the widows happens with us too, but ten minutes with the heat on full works.

I have a new design Zafira, September 05, with approx. 4,000 miles on the clock. After reversing out of my garage on the 31st of december my rear window suddenly, and without prior warning, imploded.

Vauxhall have not heard of any other vehicles with this problem, subsequently I am left with a bill of approx. £700.

This type of problem is not unknown with other vehicles (Smart For-two sunroof & rear window). Mine may be an isolated case, it may also be the start of a series of faults. BEWARE.

Hi.

Update to ride / suspension problems.

As stated the ride quality of the Zafira from new was below what we had come to expect from our previous Zafira. Namely the ride was two soft, the car bounced around a lot and showed all the symptoms of worn out shocks or weak springs, this from what was a new car!

The car was checked by the dealer within a few weeks of purchase and they pronounced the suspension A1. Over the next 11 months the ride quality slowly worsened, a number of sounds started to come from the suspension. These sounds became worse and at times we were sure something was about to fall off the car. The car was looked at again and we were told the ride was within limits, but was a bit on the soft side. But the sounds coming from the suspension needed to be investigated.

The car went in for it's first service with some 7500 miles on the clock, and following that it was booked in for work on the suspension. Several components were then replaced, the drivers track rod, fixings for the anti-roll bar to name, but two. The result was no more suspension noise that had plagued the car for almost 12 months, was now at long last gone.

But the best part was the total transformation of the ride quality of the car, by fixing the noise coming from the suspension, which was a symptom of the underlying faults in the cars handling. The ride was returned to what it should have been from new.

Please note: that until we were able to point to the sounds coming from the suspension the dealer was unable to even believe the was any problem at all. But by curing those sounds the ride problems were also cured at the same time.

Two more years to go on the lease, sure hope we can at last have a car that performs to the standard that Vauxhall claims.

I have enjoyed driving petrol automatic Zafiras for six years. Very practical, bags of space and relatively cheap to run for the size of vehicle. But I now have a 1.9 CDTi automatic and that has proved to be something of a disaster. Main problem is noise. It rattles and knocks like it's about to fall apart. That's when the trouble really started because although Vauxhalls found a demonstrator 'same spec' car for comparison, which proved to be much, much quieter they do not accept there is any fault. My only option now is to go legal because dealer and manufacturer do not want to know. Buyer beware.

Hi, does anyone have a 1.9 cdti auto (new shape Zafira), because I was wondering what does the range on the trip computer read, because when I fill my car up, it only reads 375-390, and I was told by the dealership that this is normal. So I was just wondering what yours reads?

I'm thinking of getting an "almost new" Zafira (new shape) 1.9 cdti 120bhp six speed automatic. Does anybody know if the auto box can be shifted into a manual mode, where gear changes can be made up and down by shifting the gearchange lever forward and back similar to the "tiptronic" type of shift fitted too many VW's? The brochure is very vague and even an email to Vauxhall was replied to with some very confusing technical jargon, that still didn't answer my question? Anybody got the new 6 speed auto, and is it as good as it sounds?

We recently bought a 1.9 CDTi Zafira Club that is almost 3 years old, to replace a 6 year old 2.0 DTi Zafira.

I have several things to say about this car, firstly it is SO much more noisy than the original shape 2.0 DTi, the engine is noisy, the car is noisy.

The controls are completely different and in both my wife's and my mind are screwed up.

It steers a lot more erratically, you hardly have to touch the wheel for it to swerve around a corner rather than drive round like the previous model; also the suspension is very soft and the car seems to roll more around corners.

It doesn't seem to have as much go as the old 2.0 DTi, even though it has more horsepower.

I haven't tried towing the caravan with it yet, but we shall see about that.

I do have 2 worries though:

1st it loses coolant, has done since we got it, it is booked in to get this remedied though.

2nd when you switch off the ignition, there is a loud low groaning noise coming from inside the front drivers side wing. No-one seems to know what this is and the dealer thinks we are making it up. Well I'm going to make sure they know about it when I take it in on Thursday next week.

Does anyone else have any idea what this noise could be?