30th Jun 2008, 15:29

I was planing on buying a Zafire for my family. But after reading the comments and problems that follow this car like a smell in a space suit I will be avoiding this model.

To say I will be learning from all of your unhappy experiences is an understatement, and I thank you.

Steve.

6th Jul 2008, 05:31

Hi everyone! I have had a Vauxhall Zafira for a couple of years now, and since I have had it, it has been dreadful. For example, when I am on the motorway, or when I am just driving around, it works sometimes but then it just cuts out and no lights come on at all. It is very dangerous when I have to carry my kids around with me. It is in the garage now for the 10th time. It is only 6 years old and it has been in the garage for the same thing every time; I can't afford to keep paying out loads of money, as I have got kids.

8th Jul 2008, 15:40

Hi Happy Zaf owners, I sent an email to Vauxhall and to my surprise I did get a call back from a pleasant lady.

Although she did say that Vauxhall do monitor such feedback of faults and any trends they have no record of any problems with this model. I shared my experiences including having had replaced the ECU at a Vauxhall dealer at a cost of £600 only to have the problem re-occur within 18 months. She said that they only offered a 12 month warranty and therefore this was outside of the period. I asserted that in fact 12 months life for a very expensive component wasn't actually very good. For normal use the 'Mean Time Between Failures' should surely be longer than this unless, their suppliers are producing particularly poor quality goods. Anyway she did say that 'at this time' Vauxhall weren't planning on taking any further action. I note that my wife's 4 year old Peugeot has just been recalled for the replacement of an ABS brake unit, free of charge. So perhaps don't buy a Vauxhall next time, but buy a Peugeot instead!

Mark.

10th Jul 2008, 09:42

Zafira dashboard & rear side lights cutting out. I had this on my DTi 2.0 '04 - Vauxhall after sales about as helpful as ever, blessed are they for they deny to obvious, - in the end my local garage put an in line fuse into some circuit in the back of the car - I believe the circuit that handles the number plate lights - anyway - never gone wrong since - love your car - yeah right.

23rd Jul 2008, 12:52

I last commented on here on 6th May about my X reg Zafira and seemingly never-ending EMS and spanner light problems. I last had the car in the garage on 12th May where they diagnosed the spanner light as being in need of oil, despite the fact we had topped up with oil a week previously!! When I mentioned this to the girl at the "service" desk she just clammed up on me, maybe Vauxhall's train their staff to say nothing so they can't be implicated in any problems?!! Since then, we have to check the oil once a week. Also, during one of my five or so visits to Vauxhall in April and May one of their staff said "you seem to be spending a lot of time here lately, and you are still so cheerful!!" "Well I'm not, I'm putting on a brave face" I said, at which point he went quiet and said no more. Anyway, I have had no problems at all until this evening, 5 miles into a 40 mile trip with a three year old in the back when the EMS light and traction control light come on again - aagghhhhh!! Anyway, I made it home with seemingly no problems - the car doesn't seem to be losing power at all just sounds a little bit rougher, and I am now looking forward to another visit to the garage, maybe my local one though and not Vauxhall's! But I am tempted to print off all these comments and take them to Vauxhall's anyway.

31st Jul 2008, 06:41

With reference to the comment on 27th July (the man who went to Weymouth!). I last posted on 23rd July about my EMS light coming on. Took it to my local garage last Saturday where they had a quick look and suggested it could be a faulty valve or piston. They couldn't do it straight away as said they have to take the cylinder head off to have a proper look - hence five days later I am still waiting for them to get back to me (just how long does it take to take a cylinder head off a car?) However, they did mention it was a "big job" and could be in the region of £600-800. If it costs any more than that then I'm scrapping it as I'm fed up with the stupid thing!

1st Aug 2008, 04:29

It may be coincidence, but my Zafira engine management light comes on after I fill up with supermarket petrol. It goes off if I use traditional petrol retailers. I have no idea why this might be or even if it is just a coincidence, but I thought I would mention it.

4th Aug 2008, 08:03

Hello again, it's the Weymouth man. Just to let you all know my car has now covered over 500 miles without missing a beat. I consider it fixed. I have been told to keep the oil and filter changed regularly, avoid supermarket fuels (which I always used to use), and add the odd can of fuel system cleaner to the tank. This is a common Zafira fault, I hope it helps some of you, because this problem took over my life and bank account for 2 months. If you need any more info, feel free to ask. I will check this site from time to time. Regards Andy.

8th Aug 2008, 03:58

About 6 months ago I had the same problem that Chris had with his stuttering revs, I too have had the maniverter, lambda sensor and had a new coil pack put in, but it still stutters when I try to rev it. But the strange thing is my problem only occurs when the engine is cold, and once the revs drop below 1,000 all is quiet. Also I occasionally lose power on the motorway, for example I could be doing 70mph then suddenly there would be no power from the accelerator until the car went down to about 50mph.

Help please

Phil.