Vauxhall Meriva Review (2010-2017)

What is the Vauxhall Meriva?

If you want a small car and practicality is your absolute priority, then a compact hatchback might not do the trick. Boot space, accessibility, and a lack of seating flexibility can conspire to make small cars far from ideal in such situations. That’s where the Vauxhall Meriva comes in.

The second-generation of the small MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) was launched in 2010, discontinued in 2017 and shares much with the dependable Vauxhall Corsa. It pairs the compact size of a small hatchback with a taller body and an extremely flexible interior. It's considerably smaller than Vauxhall’s other MPV, the Zafira, but borrows some of its renowned practicality features.

That means it rivals other small and practical cars, such as the Nissan Note, the Ford B-Max, the Citroen C3 Picasso, and the Volkswagen Golf Plus.

How practical is it?

This is the Meriva’s trump card. Every version was fitted with Vauxhall’s ‘FlexDoors’ and its ‘FlexSpace; seating system. The FlexDoors open particularly wide, and the back doors are hinged at the rear instead of the front. This makes it much easier to access the cabin, so it’s really easy to, say, fit child seats.

The FlexSpace seating system debuted on the Zafira, and bolsters practicality further by allowing the outer rear seats to be moved backwards, forwards, or diagonally inwards for the best layout to increase legroom or luggage space. They can be folded flat, and into two-, three-, four- and five-seat configurations.

The Meriva’s boot can swallow 397 litres of luggage in its standard configuration. For comparison, a Ford Focus from the same era had just 316 litres

It's roomy enough for four adults inside, and the interior is refined and the seats supportive. The Meriva also achieved the maximum five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash test of the time. Newer five-star rivals are safer due ever-increasing testing standards, but they’re usually more expensive.

What's it like to drive?

At launch, the front-wheel-drive Vauxhall was offered with petrol and diesel engines that ranged from 74bhp to 138bhp. Five-speed and six-speed manual transmissions were available, depending on the engine, as was a six-speed automatic in some variants.

The Meriva is a straightforward car to drive. The controls are light and easy, and it’s responsive and comfortable. It handles in a predictable and quietly composed fashion and doesn’t feel unhappy on the motorway.

Some of the engines lack power, though, resulting in slow and arduous progress, so you’ll want to aim for the more powerful and modern options. It is not, in any way, an exciting car to drive but that’s not the point.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

Four trim levels were initially available: Expression, S, Exclusiv, and SE. Basic equipment levels weren’t great, mind, and you needed to go for Exclusiv or SE models if you wanted features such as air-conditioning as standard.

Later models had different trim names, including Life, Club, and Tech Line. Despite the paucity of equipment with the lower trim levels, the Meriva doesn’t otherwise feel like a cut-price car.

The interior is smart and finished to a good standard, although the array of buttons in the middle of the centre console can be a bit baffling.

Vauxhall Meriva running costs

You’d expect that a small Vauxhall to be cheap to run and, that is very much the case with the Meriva, but there are a few things to watch out for.

When it comes to fuel economy, the best of the line-up are the diesels, and you want the 1.6-litre CDTi model for the best outright economy. The official average for regular models is 64.2mpg, although an MPG figure of around 50-55 in the real world is more realistic; frugal EcoFLEX versions are claimed to average up to 74.3mpg but again, don’t expect quite that much in the real world.

The petrols aren’t excessively thirsty, though. At launch, the 1.4-litre petrol was reputed to average 46.3mpg. The 118bhp turbo version also clocked in at 46.3mpg, while the more powerful 138bhp version averaged 42.2mpg. However, models fitted with an automatic gearbox – be they petrol or diesel – are notably less economical.

What’s worth looking out for is the annual VED (or road tax) cost. CO2 emissions for the Vauxhall vary considerably depending on specification, so you need to check the details of the car you’re interested in carefully.

Insurance costs shouldn’t be horrendous and general maintenance should also be low. All versions have a service interval of one year or 20,000 miles, and the petrol and 1.3-litre and 1.6-litre CDTi versions have timing chains. The 1.7-litre diesel has a timing belt, however, which needs changing every 10 years or 60,000 miles.

Vauxhall Meriva reliability

You shouldn’t have too much trouble with a Meriva, provided it has been well maintained, because it’s a relatively simple car, but Vauxhall does have a somewhat patchy reputation for reliability and customer service. It finished 29th out of 31 manufacturers in the 2024 What Car? reliability survey.

If you want to avoid such question marks, you’re probably better off going for a Toyota, a Hyundai, or a Kia, all of which are known for good reliability.