Advantages: The extra rear seats are always with you folded under the floor
Disadvantages: You have to empty the middle row to get the rear row out, no sliding doors

...Introduction ---------------- In 2003 I took the option to opt out of our company car scheme and use an allowance to purchase my own vehicle. I bought a Vauxhall Zafira Elegance 2.0 DTi from new in July 2003. This was the top of the range diesel and I added to it Vauxhall's Technical pack, Winter Pack and Climate Control. Vauxhall of course are part of the American General Motors (GM) Company and you can find the occasional GM sticker on it. Other parts of the world know them as Opel. The Zafira is generally classed as a mini MPV, it's essentially based on the Astra (old model now) floorplan and is a bit like an Astra estate that's been stretched upwards. There are a lot of mini MPVs on the market now but the Zafira is (certainly was) one of the few to fit a third row of seats into this space. I'm sorry but a vehicle... Read review

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Advantages: Sheer Varsatility,Loads of space,7 seater
Disadvantages: Windscreen wipers,Blind spot at A pillars

...Vauxhall Zafira Elegance 2.0 DTI I originally meant to write this report 7 months ago,immediately after taking delivery of my new Zaffy as I was so impressed with it. Now that it is run in after covering some 10,000 miles,I feel I am in a better position to pass comment. From the outset,I had never really taken any notice of MPV’s/People Carriers or what ever other label takes your fancy. I had been a Vokswagen man for the past 17 years,driving all sorts of Golfs but last year my Mk4 (Still under Warranty) developed a niggling problem that their Customer Services just showed me 2 fingers. So there and then,I decided to ditch it and look for something different. VW make great cars but unfortunately because of the attitude of their Customer Services,I will NEVER buy another car from their stable. Having... Read review

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Advantages: Economical 7 seater. Versatile seating arrangements
Disadvantages: ONly lap belt in middle of middle row. Blind spots

...I have had this car for 18 months (it was 2 years old when bought) so now feel qualified to comment on it. It was bought due to the imminent arrival of our fourth child. We needed another seat and found that the Zafira offered the most at the price we could afford. We also took into account fuel economy and the price of insurance. Running costs are not significantly more than the 4 door diesel saloon we had previously. The Zafira is neatly packaged. The seating system is very clever. Easy to use and versatile. It is quick and easy to put up an extra seat in the back at any time as it folds into the floor. With 5 seats up there is great boot space but with all 7 up there is precious little space for shopping, etc. Only the smallest of buggies fit win the boot with all seven seats. We took our family of six people... Read review

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Advantages: Seating Versitility / Interior Space
Disadvantages: Spare Wheel / Blind Spot due to A Pillars

...I decided to buy an MPV when my third child was born and we could no longer fit in our old Nissan Sunny. It was the large boot or the option of two extra seats that clinched it for me. I also worked at a port where the Zafira's were imported and they were described to me as 'well put together' by the lads that drove them off the ships (seeing the way they drove these vehicles this was a good endorsement) and they were right it is well put together, it feels very sound and strong. Once settled on the Zafira finding one proved more difficult that I had imagined, second hand ones were still quite expensive (a good sign!)and new ones were either too expensive for me or too basic (man's got to have a CD player!). Anyway I found a company on the net that were importing Zafiras for that same price as a two year old secondhand one. Now I... Read review

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Advantages: Flexible design, Large load capacity when empty, Good fuel consumption
Disadvantages: Poor driver left/right visibility, Poor load when full of passengers

...The last time my company car came up for review, I had to find a vehicle that would still assist me to do my job (IT Field Support), but also able to carry my family of five kids. After carefully looking into price, features and versatility the Zafira came out as a clear winner, here is why. Price The Zafira range starts at under £13,000, which for an MPV is amazingly good value within itself, but when you include things like air-con as standard it is even better. The model I chose was the 'Comfort 2.0Dti 16v,' which was £16,500 at the time, but can now be picked up for about £1000 cheaper. The main reason that the car is cheaper is that the basic design is based around the existing Astra range, so it did not need to be designed from scratch. Features on this model 'Flex-7' seating, which allows you to convert the car... Read review

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Advantages: Price and design
Disadvantages: Low on features but I guess that's because of the price

...We had been planning to buy a second hand people carrier like a Ford Galaxy or Seat Alhambra for about £10,000. However after looking at what we would get for our money (something about three years old), we discovered that for an extra two or three thousand pounds we could buy a brand new Vauxhall Zafira. We are now convinced that we made the right decision. It depends what you are looking for in a car. The Club version of the Zafira that we opted for is a basic no frills car. However it has everything that we want and of course if you pay more you can get something with more features. A definite advantage of going for the 2.0 DTi is that air conditioning comes as standard. We have just been to France in the recent heatwave and it was a life saver! As far I'm concerned it's not worth going for smaller engines as they would... Read review

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Advantages: Loads of torque for towing, excellent seating system, looks great
Disadvantages: Not as much interior space as some rivals

...The Zafira SRi 2.0DTi was the 1st modern car to come to my home since 1981, and it doesn't dissapoint! Although initially dubious about buying a new car, this one came up second hand with £1000 worth of black leather seats (The front two are heated), bodykit, dvd player AND the diesel engine I was looking for (not to mention the brilliant 'Flex-7' seating arrangement system). I had to have it. At a smidgen under £14k it was a bargain too. The original criteria for buying the car were that it could seat 7 comfortably and have the power and torque to tow a fully laden trailer, this car fitted the bill perfectly. And more! The SRi is distinguished from the rest of the Zafira range by its sexy (If I'm allowed to use that word for a people carrier?) bodykit, identical to that featuring on the 200bhp GSi Turbo edition... Read review

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Advantages: Economical and environmentally friendly
Disadvantages: Sometimes finding those autogas filling stations is a challenge

...THE VAUXHALL ZAFIRA The Vauxhall Zafira was launched in 1999 with the 1.6 and 1.8 litre petrol or 2.0 Di diesel engines. Air conditioning was standard in all but the entry level model. However, in 2000 the entry or base level was discontinued and the Zafira was left with the Club, Comfort and Elegance models. In April 2002 the Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) / petrol dual fuel option was introduced with a 1.8 litre engine and by August 2002 a 1.6 litre LPG dual fuel option arrived in Comfort trim only. Later in the year there were 1.6 and 1.8-litre LPG Design dual fuel models available. The Zafira was innovative when it was launched. Seven seats over three rows were squeezed into the people carrier, but due to the pioneering Flex7 system, you could fold up to five of them to suit any journey. Safe handling is also ideal for drivers... Read review

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Advantages: 7 seats, decent drive. Ours is silver.
Disadvantages: Not a lot - a bit ugly.

...Pleurisy now diminishing, what say I launch into a 5-year progress report on our much respected, if not exactly loved Zafira. According to Wiki, the Zafira was named after a Hungarian porn actress called Zafira. She recently underwent breast enlargement because one breast was larger than the other. Hey - same's true of my hands. We should meet. Here's an early disclaimer: I know bugger all about cars. I let mankind down. I am as worthless as a worm. I can drive. I know where the petrol goes. So, purpose of disclaimer is to get people who watch Top Gear off my back from the off. There will be no talk of bhp, torque or carburettors. Hey -I spelt it right. No red line. Cool. This will be a simple explanation of experience/costs/likes and dislikes and practical stuff like wot I do know about. All technical stuff will be dispelled... Read review

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Advantages: Space - lots of it. Good cruiser, hatch-like handling
Disadvantages: Poor build quality

...Some mixed feelings about my Zafira. I've had it now for nine months and 10,000 miles, having bought it as a "nearly new" (four months and 8,000 miles old) at one of the big car supermarkets. I had spent a couple of months making my decision on which load lugger to buy, and test drove a number of MPVs and 4x4s before settling on the Zafira. It took a fair while to find a model with the light interior trim, as the standard dark grey/black trim had struck me as being a little hearse-like. And do I love it? Quite frankly, no I don't. I don't despise it, but for me it is too flawed. I previously owned a VW Passat Sport 20v, which I did thoroughly enjoy driving and owning, but had to sell for practicality's sake (along with it being about 400 miles short of 100k). The Zafira easily fufils my practicality requirements, having managed... Read review

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