Advantages: spacious boot, multi position rear seats, spacious, height, looks good
Disadvantages: Lack of storage compartments, suspension not great

...We brought a Meriva after having a baby to fit all the equipment the little bundles come along with. One of the things we like most is the amount of room in the meriva, both in the boot and seating. The boot easily takes our large pram with lots of room for other things. We can have the front passenger seat right back to allow lots of leg room and still have space between that and the babys rear faciing car seat. The floor of the boot lifts up to reveal a shallow but large and handy storage space which is great for things you always want in the car, e.g torch, umbrella, blanket, maps, etc. The only thing I would say it is lacking in is some handy pockets and storage in the seating area. For example there are no pockets on the backs of the front seats. The rear seats being split into 3 individually moving and folding seats is also very... Read review

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Advantages: Comfortable, spacious, reliable and economical
Disadvantages: Couldn't turn off front passenger airbag for use with rear-facing childseat

...With a baby on the way I was looking for a car that gave me plenty of room, was easy to drive but also value for money and economical. I don't think that any other car fitted my requirements as well as the Meriva. The Meriva drives like a small car but has loads of interior space and is very flexible. The splittable rear seats move on rails and can be made completely flat for transporting large items. The inside feels sturdy and having owned this car for 2 years I have had no problems and am not at all worried about future servicing or the MOT that will be due in November. I have so far only had to replace 2 tyres which only cost me £35 each. Bargain! My insurance is very low (£290 pa) and the road tax costs me £145 pa. The car came with a CD player and air conditioning as standard. The high roof and plenty of leg room makes... Read review

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Advantages: High seating position, sporty engine
Disadvantages: Bulky A pillar & Vauxhall Sales people!

...The Vauxhall Meriva is an unusual car. It seems to have escaped the limelight for some time now, after being launched around a year and a half ago. A recent advertising campaign on TV seems to have ignited a spark though. The Meriva are available in a confusing array of different models, the Expression, the Life, Enjoy and Design. The Expression being the most basic of the basics, with not even electric windows. The Life 1.6 16 V is quite well equipped, with single CD, electric Windows power steering and all the nice creature comforts. The 1.6 is a solid unit, and quite quiet. The 16v version, adds a bit of extra power, nice for over taking, or when you've got a car full of kids! The A pillar, the one down the sides of the windscreen, is spilt in to two sections, and it makes it a little difficult to see people on roundabouts... Read review

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Advantages: A feeling of safety on the road
Disadvantages: Left hand indicator doesn't click off and windscreen bars obscure view

...I bought my Meriva in 2004 and I love it! I enjoy driving it very much. Because you are higher off the ground than a normal saloon car you get a much better view of the road ahead and the oncoming traffic. It is a very comfortable car with lots of leg room in the front and rear seats. There are rear trays that can be pulled down for use when on a long journey which have proved very useful to my children. The rear seats fold down enabling me to carry heavier loads when I need to. I have found that there are a couple of things that could do with improvement. One affects the view of the road from the windscreen - the bars at either side of the windscreen are quite thick and on occasion have obstructed my view to oncoming traffic. Luckily because I am aware of this I am extra careful when going around corners or pulling out... Read review

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Advantages: Plenty of room for tall adults and luggage. Handles well under all conditions.
Disadvantages: The materials used could of been of better quality, petrol consumtion could of been better.

...1: FIRST IMPRESSION I have been used to driving the Vectra and Astra, so the Meriva was a bit of a shock. My first thought, a box on wheels, not good for the image. I felt I was sitting on a pedal stool driving an out of proportioned car or should I say a van with seats. 2: COMFORT I am 5' 2" with 2 children and husband who are around the 6' mark. Their usual comment with cars is not enough leg room. No problem with the Meriva. The car is a lot higher than the standard family car which enables the seats to be positioned higher to give more leg room. The driving seat is positioned so the driver is sitting upright instead of sitting lower with your legs stretched out, this helped with my bad back. 3: STORAGE SPACE As I have already mentioned the car is shaped like a box which isn't that pleasing to the eye. What it lacks in looks... Read review

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Advantages: Spacious
Disadvantages: basic

...You want a small but spacious car; cheap to insure and run then you should definitely look at the Vauxhall Meriva. I found out about this car by accident so here is how I found out about and what I think about it, looking from a females point of view, as I found my partner was looking at things I would not have looked at. I was on a look out for a new car as with having two kids, my present car was far to small and having a 3 door did not help especial when trying to put the youngest in her car seat. So my partner and me set out to find a new car that that is big but not too big, a 5 door, was not to expensive to insure or run and was spacious inside. Tried a few cars and I liked a few, like the Peugeot 307. Then my partner wrote off my little Peugeot 106 so then I had to get a new car and fast as with two kids it is so hard to get... Read review

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Advantages: SPACE,SPACE,AND EVEN MORE SPACE
Disadvantages: I HAVEN'T FOUND ANY YET.

...BEING DISABLED, I NEEDED A CAR THAT I COULD GET IN AND OUT OF WITHOUT A WINCH. I ALSO WANTED SOMETHING WHICH DIDN'T LOOK DOWDY AND OLD FASHIONED. THE OPTIONS THAT LAY BEFORE ME WERE SIMPLE: 4x4 OR MPV. I LIVE IN A TOWN, SO THE 4x4 WAS A WASTE OF MONEY. THERE ARE ONLY TWO PEOPLE, SO WHY DID I WANT AN MPV. THE MERIVA OFFERED SOMETHING THAT MANY OTHERS DIDN'T; THE SPACE AND EASE OF USE FOR THE DISABLED PERSON. HAVING DRIVEN IT FOR A THOUSAND MILES, I CAN HARDLY BE THOUGHT OF AS AN EXPERT, BUT TO ME IT IS A LIVELY, ROOMY CAR WITHOUT ANY OBVIOUS DRAWBACKS. TRUE, I COULD MOAN ABOUT THE FAULTY SENSOR WHICH HAD TO BE REPAIRED AFTER JUST TWO HOURS BUT THE MAIN PROBLEM WAS NOT THE CAR BUT THE SHOWROOM WHO SEEMED INCAPABLE OF SORTING THE REPAIR OUT. SINCE THEN, I HAVE FOUND NOTHING TO BITCH ABOUT. THE FUEL ECONOMY COULD BE BETTER, BUT THIS CAR... Read review

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Advantages: Very practical, superb driving position, great fun to drive.
Disadvantages: A little pricey bearing in mind standard kit. Visability may be compromised.

...Picture the scene if you will, it is the hottest day of the year and we have just collected my beloved Omega from the garage following some exhaust manifold repair work, 30 minutes later at 6.05p.m. we are sitting outside a garden centre 10 miles away and the car will not start. My wife and I have her 9 year old sister, Klaudia with us. She is Polish and speaks not a word of English. At this time of day I reckon it's a slim hope getting hold of the service manager, but I press the button on my mobile and find myself speaking to an old mate, the General Manager. He says "get the car back up here any way you can, there is a silver Meriva demonstrator parked outside the showroom, with the key on top of the rear offside wheel." My wife (and her sister) is so fed up that her only comment is "I don't care what he's left us to drive home... Read review

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Advantages: Roomy, versatile, flexible and fast enough
Disadvantages: Firm ride, hard seats

...OK I'm six months down the line with a new car. Lot's happened since I wrote about the Mondeo - heart attack, redundancy, new company. So when the last company I worked for went bust, the Turbo Diesel Mondeo Ghia CDi Estate disappeared pretty smartly back to the leasors. I managed to borrow an old golf for 3 months, then checked my pennies to see if I could afford another Mondeo - no chance. The choices are smaller when it's not a company car so I thought I'd end up disappointed. I still like estate cars - especially as our local council has decided only to collect rubbish every other week so our "tip runs" are getting more common. My choices were a second hand Focus, Astra, Mondeo or Vectra. Then I spotted the cheeky adverts about the Zafira & Meriva. The Meriva looked small, but I went and checked one out - it should be called... Read review

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Advantages: nice car with good looks
Disadvantages: never get to drive it as the wife always has it

...After the birth of my daughter Molly, we invested in a larger family vehicle a Vauxhall Astra, but with the huge buggy ,bags of toys blankets and changing bags there was just about enough room for Molly to sit in her baby chair. My wife owned a Saxo and after 3 years decided she wanted to change her car. After a few weeks of looking we came across the Meriva looks nice and very spacious. After a bit of carry on with the garage which I wont go into (but why is it so difficult to just buy a car and why are salespeople well just not very nice apologies if anyone reading this maybe a nice sales person!!!!) anyhow we did find a nice garage with nice people and purchased a 04 plate Meriva enjoy for £9,000 star silver with 9,000 miles on the clock, quite high considering it is only 6 months old at the time of writing this. This model has... Read review

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