Faults:

The paintwork is thin, two coats at best and therefore any stone chip or touches on the car from contact with a bike, bag, another vehicle's door, show up all the more. Several stone chips appeared from motorway journeys, costing too much to have remedied.

The cradle holding the spare wheel externally is far too easy to manipulate from outside the vehicle, and as a result the spare wheel is taken with ease, a common problem that has been happening to owners like myself since 1999.

Needed to replace rear wiper and found it is one of the most difficult tasks to do, for a layman and an experienced mechanic. One manufacturer outlet wouldn't aid at all in removing it and I had to improvise.

General Comments:

Economy is not suitable, full tank goes down by the third day and by the current prices you spend £20-£30 a week re-fueling.

The extra 2 seats that make 7 when unfolded are easily done.

For a 1.8i 16v engine, it lacks the expected power for when you want to move quite rapidly. The engine size seems to relate to achievable distance rather than power.

Faults:

Nothing to date.

General Comments:

Diesel engine is not as refined as I thought it might be.

Bland interior.

My only reservation about buying a diesel was the one regarding oil consumption, but in the last 2000 miles it has used none.

I drove 1400 miles last week, and found the car to be ideal for me, the wife and two kids, plus luggage.

Wind buffeting is a bit of a problem with one window open. The noise is unbearable, but is easily solved by opening another slightly. I hope to have this car for a long time, as I hate buying anything that depreciates, so I avoid changing my cars unless I have to. My previous Astra served me well, and at 10 years old shows no signs of rust. I hope the Zafira is the same.

Faults:

There have been several occurrences of brake failure which required "pumping" to correct. This was checked out by the dealership who found no fault, but it hasn't happened since!

At the same time we had the engine tuning checked out as it was giving 22mpg at best. We were told there was nothing wrong, but to bear in mind that it does use a lot of fuel during the first 2000 miles.

General Comments:

This is the ideal vehicle for me as I am disabled and in a wheelchair. The vehicle is hired under the Motability scheme. The automatic was a must as my main problem is with my left leg.

This is our third consecutive Vauxhall having had a 1.8 Vectra and a 1.7TDi Astra. We have been amazed at the awful fuel consumption, still getting no more than 22mpg. The Dealership say talk to Motability, but I can't seem to get a correct figure for normal fuel consumption from which to present my complaint. As far as pre-purchase information is concerned I do not remember being quoted anything so ridiculously low as that. If I had I would never had got the car.