Since this Summer has been an unusually high "consumer" month at the Cade household, I'm considering doing a few reviews of some completely unrelated products ( Our new car and much journaled, Digital CamCorder).
Anyway, to start what may become a regular feature, here's a review of the 1999 Vauxhal Zafira
| Make | Vauxhal |
| Model | Zafira- Elegance |
| Price | £17,750 |
| Notable Features | Air Con, ABS, CD player (Wow!) and perhaps most notably the self contained folding-into-the-floor-rear seats |
| Colour | Burgandy Red (like the snap above) |
| Engine | 1.8 Liter Petrol |
| Passengers | 7 (although the 2 rear passengers are a bit cozy with their windows and could get uncomfy on long trips, this is a nice feature and perfect for the kids. |
| Acceleration/Power | very nice. After having a Clio (very nice car, no complaints) with too small an engine, we wanted enough power to overtake (US=pass) and this 1.8 will do the job and more even when all 7 seats are full! |
| Handling | A car enthusiast friend informs me (after I bought this car) that this car was made "from an estate chassis up rather than from a people-mover chassis down" thus giving it handling more like a car and less like a van. I can't vouch for that as I don't have THAT professional a handle on it. It seems okay to me but I can't remember how different or similar it is to the Toyota people mover I drove last year. Anyway, I hear it should be good in the handling department. You'll have to take or leave my 2nd-hand testimonial. |
| Fuel capacity | I think it cost me 35 pounds to fill 'er up (Americans are FREAKING OUT reading this, as it would cost them about one third the price for the same amount of the same fuel: Trivia point: In UK over 90% of fuel cost goes toward taxes) |
| Mileage | Not sure yet, let us drive it a few weeks and will update this field then |
| Service Perks | Vauxhal gives free courtesy cars while yours is being done -- that is cool! |
| Summary | We bought the Zafira to give us more space to take more people (friends, visiting relatives, the boys playmates) while saving 2 or 5 thousand pounds off the price of a full-sized people mover like the Galaxy. The fold-away seats are actually better on this car than anything else I've seen, so in that respect no other estate (US=station wagon) or people carrier can compete. We also wanted enough power, ABS and A/C. We managed to get all this and to our satisfaction while still getting a good price and having loads of flexibility between people space and boot (US=trunk) space. We'd recommend the Zafira to anyone with simlar requirements. |
