[homenclean]

We have been looking at a new car itis 57 plate zafira 16000 miles on the clock 1.6 petrol in good condition at £6500.

I am hoping there is somebody, in the know out there who would kindly give an educated opinion on these cars, performance, reliability etc.

Any advice would be appreciated as i am no petrol head.

Many thanks
John

[AshWhite]

Hi John,

I was employed a car salesman/business manager for 8 years until very recently.

The Zafira is a good family car, provided you need the space they provide.  A diesel engine in this size car would always be more desirable for resale.

I must say that £6500 doesn't sound like a cheap car - but if you'd like you could give me the full reg number and I'll supply you with a proper valuation.

They're generally good sellers - just make sure happy your with the cost of road tax, and the fuel economy (knock a minimum of 10% off the official figures).

The only thing I would say is to check the interior quite thoroughly, as people carriers in general do tend to get knocked about a bit by rowdy kids - look for loose/missing plastics etc.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Ash

[AshWhite]

Oh, and make sure you take it for a decent test drive - some people find the 1.6 a bit underpowered, and don't forget to bear in mind that you may be using the car fully loaded with kids, luggage etc which will only hamper performamce even more.

[derek west]

i had an 08 plate 1.9 ctdi sport, turbo blew and sucked water in or something like that. cost over a grand to repair it and that was on the cheap.

never have one again but i guess i was just unlucky.

[derek west]

ps...

would never buy from arnold clarke again either, there customer service and warrenties stink of beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

[homenclean]

Thanks guys, your comments are appreciated.

John

[homenclean]

Ash did you ever hear of the zafira having problems with the head gasket?

John

[jasonl]

That car is 4-4.5 k in the auctions  direct from a fleet . unless you want finance I do not understand why people pay retail for cars and vans.

Warranties can be had online these days .

[derek west]

One other annoying thing with the Zafira B is that theres no spare wheel, you get a can of tyre foam instead, so if you get 2 punctures your stuffed, and the tyre foam makes it a bitch to get the tyre off of the rim, not that that bothers owners, just the poor sods who have to change them 

Oh, and if its a "Life" model then its ex mobility scheme, they get serviced to death but check for dodgy smells or stains on the upholstery...

isn't anyone stuffed in that situation.

[AshWhite]

Personally, I don't see the issue with the repair kits.  Statistically, your only likely to have a puncture every 70k miles (Granted, 87% of statistics are made up on the spot).  I recently had a puncture when we had the snow, it was a LOT easier to use the repair kit in 12 inches of snow with a 2 yr old child in tow than it would have been to change the wheel - and thats before you consider the benefit to women, the elderly etc.  I think that as long as you've got a good breakdown repair cover as a back up then it should be fine.

As for the list of common faults, not a massive amount of point scaremainering as a similar list could be knocked up for EVERY car on the market.  If you're buying from a garage, you have a 30 day warranty as a minimum (against major faults at least).  If you're buying from a dealer, then a 1yr warranty may be standard - or you could certainly push for one (Just make sure it's manufacturers warranty, unfortunately a lot of 3rd party warranties are still not worth the paper they're written on).

Personally, I would always buy from a dealer (you'll probably find that the price premium would be about £250, nowhere near as much as you'd expect).  Avoid car supermarkets.

Also, you can guarantee that the garage hasn't paid any more for the car due to it's low mileage - they normally kick a car to death for high mileage, but won't make any concessions for low mileage when buying/valuing part exchanges.

Good luck,

Ash

[AshWhite]

Are you recommending that someone who has confessed to not having much knowledge about cars should go to a trade auction to pick up a family motor? I've been to numerous auctions, and I've still managed to get stung on a few due to unseen faults, I've seen people get over excited and bid far more than they had planned to.

Apologies if it came across like I'm criticising you 2 Sheds, that wasn't my intention. 

Car supermarkets as a rule (I'm not talking about independant dealers) buy cars cheap from fleet companies, spend an absolute minimum on recon. and make their margin on finance & insurance packages.  There are of course exceptions to the rule, and if a local place has a good reputation and a thriving business then I'm sure it's deserved.

My point about going to a dealer is that you've got a point to escalate any problems via the manufacturer.  Also warranties from reputable sources in general are quite good - if you're familiar with the FSA's regulations you would know that these companies can't refuse payouts if it's a valid claim.  The problem with a lot of aftermarket warranties is the list of exclusions - Manufacturers warranties tend to be far more comprehensive.  If a main dealer receives a car for work which is covered by warranty, then they will obviously process it as such - they get paid by the warranty supplier, customer satisfaction is greater= more chance of repeat custom in the future.

My point about low mileage valuations was aimed at buyers for the trade, a car may be more desirable if it has lower than average mileage, but they wouldn't necessarily pay a substantial amount more for it (although they will of course try and charge more for it!).  Same as everything the world over, an item is only worth what someone will pay for it.

As you know, you can check a car over and over until your blue in the face, but that doesn't mean it's still going to be fine in 6 months.  Things go wrong with cars - that much is a fact.  The Zafira is however as sound a car as any, not without it's niggles/problems but then as you rightly pointed out, similar could be said for any car that you have knowledge about.

What an in depth discussion on cars for a carpet cleaning forum.. 

Ash

[klinger (spa clean)]

If I was in the market for a car using my hard-earn't all though not as involving to drive or look at I'd buy Japanese. A close friend of mine has had a car repair business for over 30 years and says he does less maintenance on Jap motors than any other....he also says he's seen numourus ones with over 200k on the clock with no oil leaks...so I'd go Toyota verso...

[wynne jones]

I wouldn't recommend one for carpet cleaning.

[homenclean]

Having given it some thought i have decided not to buy the car.

The advice and comments are greatfully received and helped me make the decision that this isnt the car for us.

We will be looking more towards new or 12 months old, as we have always done.

It seemed like a deal at first but after taking all the advice into consideration it doesnt feel right.

I have a habbit of buying on impulse and i am glad i held back as the 1600 will just be too sluggish, like cleaning a carpet with a single vac machine, fustrating.

Once again many thanks to all who contributed.

John

[Kinver_Clean]

I worked for some engineers who did a lot for Vauxhalls a few years ago-before Luton shut down.
The length of a car could vary by 4-3 inches and stiil be in tolerance.
They had a habit of experimenting and then put the car n the lne to be sold as normal.
I saw too many things to ever contemplate a Vauxhall ever.
My son never pays more than a grand for a car and the best was a 870 Volvo estate for £400 and did for 4 years with no further cost.