13th Aug 2007, 16:11

I have a Zafira 2001... never had any problems until a couple of weeks ago; crappy starting every day and spitting a load of black stuff out; took it to garage who changed the heater plugs and changed the cold starter, but it still didn't work. Eventually I got onto Vauxhall who told us it's a common fault and the fuel injector seals are blocked!!!

A week later with no car and it's only just being fixed (fingers crossed). No idea of the price yet!!

22nd Aug 2007, 14:33

VAUXHALL ZAFIRA 2.0 LITRE DTI

I purchased my Zafira exactly 12 months ago, and have had nothing but trouble with it!

Firstly the front stabiliser ball joint went, then a few months later suffered sudden power loss; in garage for a new air flow meter, and had a bill for £230.

Next engine warning light came on a week later; back to the garage again, and it needed an engine temperature sensor for £85.

Engine light has never gone out since; ignored until now when the MOT is due. By this time it is puffing out black smoke when accelerating and engine juddering when cold. Garage had a look and heater plug blown; when trying to remove it they snapped it!!! Head removed and engineering company cannot remove any of the plugs because of heavy sooting.

Most recent bill £1000. I had hair this time last year. Now I am bald and skint!

Trading in A.S.A.P.

25th Sep 2007, 13:59

I bought my Zafira Elegance 2.0 dti October 2004, 6 months old with 9,500 miles on the clock. To date the car has been great, had a few quirky probs with middle seat catches flying off and had to replace. It has now got 39,800 miles on the clock and is due a service, but due to the expense will not be going back to Vauxhall!

However, today, whilst taking my daughter to work an indicator light of a car with a spanner through it came on, then it went off and then it came back on again. I spoke with my brother who had an older model until recently and who had problems with the engine management light coming on intermittently resulting in a £1200 bill!

I am somewhat worried as the light that he described as engine management is now called Exhaust emission according to my owners manual.

Does anybody have any bright ideas to really getting to the bottom of this warning light without too much expense being incurred.

I would love to keep my car as it has been so good, but I do not want to start throwing money that I haven't got on it!

21st Nov 2007, 03:48

Cannot believe the number of problems regarding the engine management system or the emission system or the whatever its being called today system.can anybody inform me of vauxhalls responce to these faults. Mark.

12th Sep 2008, 17:00

Interesting to read about the car being heavy and having the wandering feeling. My car is so heavy and wanders that I some times it feels as if it is trying to pull me over to the central reservation. Have tried tyres without any joy. Has any one else got this problem, and is there a fix, as I am starting to hate driving it.

13th Oct 2008, 07:47

I have just been told I need new wheel bearings on my Zafira 1.8 (front passenger side). The car was registered 11/10/2004 and has done 25,450 miles - I have had it from April 2005 (3600 miles) - no rough or heavy driving. It appears to cost several hundred pounds to replace the 'hub'- would I have a case to claim from Vauxhall even though the warranty has expired?

13th Jan 2010, 09:29

I have Zafira Y reg 2001 mode petrol automatic.

Overall happy with it until this week. The original battery dies after 9 years - fair enough, replaced it with Bosch from Costo at £60.

Then the next day the Power Assisted Steering (PAS) dies. The PAS fuse, oil and voltage across the PAS pump OK.

Took it to a Vauxhall garage who wanted £48 to do an ECU check. It 35 minutes and an illegible report came back with 4 codes and recommendation for further checking. The garage wanted another £97 to decipher the meaning of the codes. That's nearly £150 quid to tell me what's wrong without the work even starting - these ECU's are joke!.

Well I didn't pay the 48 as I was mislead that that part of the service tell me what was wrong.

The car is now with a private garage. The mechanic is saying a new pump, but I find that hard to accept; having opened washing machine pumps, it's usually the bushes wearing out or a bad connection

- Any helpful hints welcome.

17th Jan 2010, 09:50

Have a 1.6 Zafira Design.

Problems with high oil consumption? Check.

Problems with engine management light (car/spanner) coming on all the time? Check.

Loss of power when engine management light on? Check (on longer journeys).

Vauxhall dealership able to find any faults = No? Check.

This car is a constant worry and a money drain. £90 every time Vauxhall plug in the diagnostics computer, and never find anything to fix. I am hesitant to have them 'tinker' when they don't have a clue what problem is... They are more than happy to suggest expensive works though!!! It is a joke.

With all the problems like these on so many Zafiras, they should be offering the diagnostic checks for free (or at least after you have paid for one to no avail). I'm afraid to drive anywhere without checking the oil level and topping up!

Shame about these problems, as the versatility of this car for a large family/camping trips/trips to the tip etc etc is brilliant, and for a back pain sufferer, the access and driving position is great. Can't wait to swap it for something else though now - roll on the last loan payment!

14th Mar 2010, 16:47

I used to have a Vauxhall Zafira 2001 1.6 16v.

Well let's decide on should I have bought the car.

Firstly, as everyone has had, the engine management light came up, so I brought it to Vauxhall, and they put it on the ECU and they said, oh, you need a new recycling valve, so I said OK, coughing out £90 for the scan, and £100 for the valve.

But the light didn't go away, so I took it back to Vauxhall and they put it on the EPU, which cost me £90 just to tell me that there is nothing wrong, and the light will turn off when the car's computer sees it's fixed; so I drove home angry as ever.

The next day I took my family to a fun fair, and on the way back the engine turned off at a roundabout; the worst place to break down. This happened for 1 month until I took it to Vauxhall, and they put it on the EPU and told me that one of the cylinders (out of the 4) had broken and went out of beat, so all together = the EPU scan that cost £300.

And it kept breaking down and breaking down, and one day my wife was picking up the kids from school, and she felt the gear stick was shaky, but she ignored it, and when she put her foot down, the car went up in smoke, and the children were screaming, and my wife pulled over with the power steering failed, and my son ran for his brother and told him, so my wife and children walked home and the car got towed away.

The car got towed to a garage, so we used my wife's dad's car, and when we picked up the car, we were told that when my wife started the car, the starter motor key was put in, turned and got jammed, so my wife and child collected the car really scared, and the car had cost us more than its original price.

So in April 2009 we sold it to Ford with the car still broke; they fixed it and we bought a 2006 Ford C Max 1.6, and so far the car's been the best car we have ever HAD!!! The car so far has been running good, and has cruise control and air conditioning as standard. I wouldn't recommend the Zafira to anyone; I would recommend the new Zafira, because I had it because the C Max was in MOT, and they kept it for a week because it was its first MOT, and it was all good, especially the room you have. Hope this will help you.