Opel Zafira

[Tribeca]

My friend's Zafira recently needs a fuel injectors rail change bcoz the engine can suddenly die on the road at anytime.

Cost $2k approximate, she gave up and sold away the car.

I think it is a nice car, but prepare to spend for maintenance.

 

 

Your friend's Zafira is a first gen model right.

I owned one for 5 yrs b4 selling it off. Great

for moving stuffs, bicycles, teko(long bamboo poles)

Extra seats tumble flat into the floor. Handle preety

well for a mid size mpv.

 

It did not give me any headaches or problems.

Nothing normal servicing can't take care of.

 

Regarding cost to maintain, it's only abt

10-15% more than jap makes. And the service

interval is longer too.

[Suxelis]

Owned one for 3 years. ECU failed, quoted $2500. Alternator pulley failed, 600+, DIS failed, 400+, plus 2x timing belt changes 1200+. Constant rattles everywhere. Nice to drive if travelling in straightline. Nice autobox (box made in Japan), good japanese aircon, great second row aircon, doors feel strong but car poor body flex/rigidity, poor crash test results, poor FC. Zafi B much better, except don't know about FC or reliability. German mag autobild and UK Whatcar? voted Mazda 5 better than Zaf B!??! Flex 7 not for tropical weather, to enter rear seats all middle seat occupants need to get out! What if it rains??

 

Saw latest Stream RsZ model from PI at my hifi shop. Looks great, lots of kit, build quality top notch, 17" orig wheels etc, price $74 neg, before COE crash. Third row very tight, nice dash.

 

Friend has Oddessy, done 100k's in 1 year, nothing went wrong, some warrentee claims initiated by agent!, not owner. Luxo MPV for value and features. Good refinement.

 

Best value 7 seater? Wish.

 

Remember, unless agent sells at least 1000 cars a year, difficult to make enough profit to sustain good customer service and aftercare, unless a huge profit is made from mark up.

[Cola80]

To be fair, these things do happen and not just restricted to conti cars, and there may be many other problem-free cars that we never hear about.

 

I had one Mitsubishi MPV a few years ago, changed throttle body about $1200, then somemore problems, C&C suggested overhaul, can't remember how much but was a few k.

Then my next MPV, a Honda had auto gearbox issues, KM gave an indicative quote of $6k+.

[Sony]

$214 is quite norm mar...

 

how much is a japz car servicing like?

[Sony]

I heard the spare parts are expensive. if under warranty then it's still ok.

what is yr current car and how old is it?

 

which car's spare parts is cheap? and how expensive is expensive?

[Suxelis]

I agree. Warrentees are to cover just such things because, yes, they do happen. But some agents do not wish to honour warrentee claims on an unmodified car. In any case, there are some well regarded surveys available that compares cost of repairs after warrentee expires. Makes for interesting reading. I have also long been puzzled why the Europeans tended to place Japanese mpvs such as the Mazda5 above the ZafiraB, good though it is. I did read somewhere that Opels were the most reliable European cars of late, MTA aside.

[Beavc]

agree...i own a Meriva for 2 year plus, no major issues (all normal faults-battery, etc) and the cost of servicing is no different that the Nissan March I had many years ago besides servicing is of a longer interval...

 

in any case, I have also heard of similar problems with Jap cars esp Honda Ody which a friend of mine gladly traded in (prob with gear box after 3 years, prob with water pump, radiator, etc). So such probs are not isolated solely to contis and are prevalent with all machinery, it's all about luck of the draw or on the usage level/style. I am sure if you whack your car terok terok day in day out whatever the make also will die...

 

but, having said that, the only makes i will not touch are French...look around mostly lemons....and my guess is that they are spoiling the good names of other contis....

 

*French are lovers not Engineers*

[Zafira18]

koreans are cheap. My current original hyundai oil filter cost me $3 , my ex zafira cost me $16!! Hyundai air filter $9, opel closed to $30!!

Edited February 23, 2007 by Zafira18

[Beavc]

Seriously, if you change your stuff at AE they will definitely u! So do it at where fellow opel owners go (outside ws)

[Zafira18]

Yes, thats what i usually do for the ex-zafira. The service cost from AE and previous distributor STA are

[M5m3]

I tested the car (2.2L version) last Friday.

 

As a conti, the feel and stability is much better. Pick up is not bad too but as I was testing the car, my right leg is usually very 'heavy'. If I had bot the car, I dun think I'll be driving like that all the time. SE claimed that FC is 11km/l (amazing right ! better than Picnic ?)

 

The promo now is free upgrade to 2.2L when you book a 1.8l and it comes with 3 years free maintenance.

 

2 things made me consider otherwise :

 

1. the 3rd row seats are way too low

2. the vibration - did not manage to see the mileage of the test car but shld be quite low. it is already vibrating as I can hear the rattling sound when the car is picking up and the engine sound a bit rough (from layman perspective, I'm not a techy)

 

and one more thing, somehow it is very uncomfortable on the left leg for the driver. cannot get a good resting on the foot rest (not sure whether there is one or not)

 

Otherwise, I think it is a great car to drive. I would not mind renting it but I will not buy it.

[Toyo]

toyota Vios.

 

3yr 6mths

 

Currently just got my 2nd kid, so the car a bit small for 2 car seats

 

Ic. my colleague also finds a bit cramp with 2 car seats in his lancer esp when he needs to store the 2 seats in the car boot. in the end he bought a colt plus cos he dun really need a 7 seater MPV. he says with the higher roof, he can stack up the seats at the boot easily

U probably bought your vios for 70K? i thk u'll lose at least 30k if u sell now. better to hang on to it.

[Toyo]

I heard the spare parts are expensive. if under warranty then it's still ok.

what is yr current car and how old is it?

 

which car's spare parts is cheap? and how expensive is expensive?

 

Actually i'm not too sure. i have owned a suzuki and a toyota in the past. both never gave me any major problem. i used to be a technician in the army. SAF uses opel astra. no doubt the astra drives very well, furthermore Automatic transmission. but its reliability loses to the older mit lancer. The fiat trucks also not very reliable and they were phased out.

[Sony]

koreans are cheap. My current original hyundai oil filter cost me $3 , my ex zafira cost me $16!! Hyundai air filter $9, opel closed to $30!!

 

 

I don't have my latest servicing bills with me but if I'm not wrong, the price for oil filter and the seal is quite cheap... it's the engine oil that is slightly expensive.

 

Overall, I would say the servicing is still quite ok for me... but if I can use my own oil, I think the servicing shd be on par with others. of coz, there's some that will be much cheaper.

 

Past performance might not be a good indicator of current pricing...

[Sony]

Seriously, if you change your stuff at AE they will definitely u! So do it at where fellow opel owners go (outside ws)

 

actually it depends on what you change..

 

But of coz, buying own stuffs is cheaper. Their markup is usually due to the various changing of hand. Imagine manufracturer sell to GM, and they pass it to GM ODC locally which then supply to AE... so many layer ...

 

At times, I brought my own stuff but let AE do the fitting due to warranty issue. But if I can DIY, I do it myself as well.

[Sony]

in the olden days, people don't buy car, they buy toyota.

 

nowadays, they buy cars, toyota is just one of the choices.

 

No doubt some contis faces more problem but then, the route to the problem is that at times, the car have things which the japz don't have. If the japz car is to be spec as the conti, I wonder what will be the outcome.

[Turbogoo]

Hi bro,

 

I am also interested in the vectra 1.8

 

When are you getting it bro?

 

Sam

[Unic]

Waiting for the SE to confirm if can change the ugly VDO HU to factory integrated HU. Have you test drive it?