Vauxhall Zafira Review (2005-2014)
Vauxhall Zafira cars for sale
2.0
Expert review
Pros
Lots of car for not much money
Performance models are surprisingly good fun
Space for up to seven with clever and flexible seating
Cons
Reliability is a serious concern
Disappointing interior quality
The Zafira Tourer is a better car, if your can stretch your budget
The CarGurus verdict
There’s much to recommend about the Zafira. It’s well thought-out, extremely practical, very affordable, and drives well, even if more exciting alternatives are available. There are plenty on the market, and there’s even a fun performance version if you want something a bit different.
But more than most cars, reliability is a concern, and it’s vital to make sure you get a good one. We’d recommend you get any potential purchase well looked over by a trusted mechanic before you hand over your hard-earned. Do that, though, and you could land yourself a bargain.
What is the Vauxhall Zafira?
This is the second generation of Zafira, released in 2005 and sold until 2014, when it was replaced by the Zafira Tourer.
It’s essentially a Vauxhall Astra that’s been stretched upwards and outwards, wirh an extra row of seats jammed into the boot. The net result is a very affordable people carrier that’ll happily carry a large family in comfort.
It’s not sexy or glamorous, but it does its job very well. As a seven-seater compact MPV, the Zafira had plenty of competition in the shape of the Citroen C4 Picasso, Ford S-Max, Volkswagen Touran and Renault Grand Scenic. The Zafira was given a facelift in 2008, with some minor visual tweaks and extra safety kit.
How practical is it?
Space for passengers is impressive, especially in the middle row. Row three legroom is tight, so it’s best reserved for children. Do note if you’ve got the rear seats up then the boot space is tiny at just 140 litres. If you need to take a full car on holiday for a week, invest in a roof box.
However, with the third row of seats folded down, you’ll have a very generous 645 litres to play with, and if you fold all five rear seats flat, there’s a huge load area of 1,820 litres.
The Zafira’s clever Flex7 independent seven-seat system was revolutionary for the time; it means you can fold the chairs down and customise them in lots of different ways. You can flip them up, collapse them, and slide them back and forth. More modern cars have copied and improved on this idea since, but it was very new in 2005.
What's it like to drive?
The Zafira focused more on comfort than fun. It’s not a patch on the zingy Ford S-Max and the ride is on the firm side, but it’s comfortable enough for a long motorway trip, and doesn’t wallow in corners. The exception to all of this is the sporty VXR model, which we’ll get to shortly.
There are several petrol and diesel engines. Early cars offered 1.6, 1.8, 2.0-litre turbo or 2.2-litre petrols and a 1.9-litre CDTi diesel with either 118bhp or 148bhp. In late 2007, the 1.6-litre petrol was boosted from 103bhp to 113bhp, and a 1.7-litre diesel replaced the 1.9 in 2009.
Were it not for reliability (more on that below) we’d say the diesels were best suited to the Zafira, but the 1.6-litre petrol is actually the one to go for. Get a post-power boost model and it’ll do everything it needs to do, even if you have to work it quite hard when the car is fully loaded.
Technology, equipment & infotainment
The interior is utilitarian and was of average quality at the time. There are some soft-touch plastics to be found, but plenty of hard, scratchy ones, too, and it hasn’t aged particularly well – especially if children have run rampant inside.
This is a car that predates touchscreen infotainment systems, DAB radios and Apple CarPlay, but most models had an auxiliary input for MP3 players, just in case you still have one of those kicking about. Some later models had Bluetooth, too.
Vauxhall Zafira running costs
Zafiras are very affordable, and you should be able to get a decent pre-facelift example for a couple of grand. Factor more in for the VXR model, though: they’re unsurprisingly rare but surprisingly sought-after because of their oddball status, so they tend to hold their value well. Later models cost more, but make sure you don’t spend over the odds; at a certain point, you can get an early Zafira Tourer, which was a replacement for this version, and better in almost every way.
When it comes to fuel consumption, you’ll get more MPG from the diesels than the petrol, but keep in mind that they’ll be pricier to fix if anything goes wrong. Stick with the more efficient post-2009 1.7-litre diesel if you must have one, as it’s more economical and costs less to tax than the admittedly more powerful 1.9.
The petrol engines are more affordable and simpler to fix but they’re harder to find than the diesels. The 1.6-litre model looks like the best bet in terms of fuel economy and tax thanks to its lower CO2 emissions, and the larger 1.8-litre and 2.2-litre models will be more expensive to run.
Zafiras need a new water pump, belts and other accessories every 40,000 miles, so try and buy one that’s had this done recently. The same goes for the cambelt, which needs replacing every six years or 100,000 miles.
You’ll need to service your Zafira every year or 20,000 miles, but unless you’re wedded to the dealer network, we’d go for an independent garage, which will be far cheaper. Almost every mechanic will be familiar with a Zafira, and parts are cheap.
Vauxhall Zafira reliability
Here’s the rub: good value though the Zafira is, it doesn’t have a great reputation for reliability, whether on owner’s forums, word of mouth or through surveys. More than ever, it’s important to check over any potential purchase carefully, and it’s probably a good idea to budget for repairs.
The Zafira’s raison d’etre was to haul loads around, often loads that paid little attention to whether they were dropping food or scratching the paintwork, so used examples could have been through the wringer during their lives.
Check that all the seats fold correctly, and pay close attention to the boot, as owners often report issues with the mechanism. Have a poke around the interior to make sure the upholstery is in reasonable condition, too.
Watch out for smoke or unusual noises from the engine, particularly when cold, and a slipping clutch could be a sign that it needs replacing. Diesel engines are a particular risk; the 1.9-litre model had several common issues affecting everything from blocked particulate filters to water pumps. Repair bills can be expensive, so if anything seems off, walk away, and find another one.
Cars with automatic gearboxes also have several well documented and expensive issues, so avoid them unless an auto is a must. Avoid cars with xenon headlights, too, as these are prone to failure and pricey to replace.
The Zafira went through a serious PR problem in the mid-2010s, following a spate of fires. Vauxhall recalled some 220,000 UK cars in 2015 to upgrade their heating systems, and a second recall was issued in 2016. All affected models should theoretically have been sorted, but with the sheer number of cars involved, it’s worth a look on the government’s recall checking site and asking a Vauxhall dealer if the remedial work was carried out.
- Vauxhall introduced a replacement for the Zafira, known as the Vauxhall Zafira Tourer, in 2011. It had sharper styling and was better in almost every way, but its predecessor was such a success that it stayed on sale, alongside the new car, for three whole years, albeit at a considerably lower price.
- In the mid-2000s, Vauxhall was very keen on its VXR performance brand, to the point where it put powerful engines into almost every car it made. Hence, we have the performance oddity that is the Zafira VXR: a seven-seat MPV with a body kit, Recaro seats, sports suspension and a 237bhp engine. It’s remarkably good fun, although the kids might complain that the ride is rather bumpy. If you can hear them over the sports exhaust, that is.
- Vauxhall continually fiddled with the Zafira’s trim levels throughout its life. We reckon there were at least 13 different versions on sale, with names including SRi, Exclusiv, Life, and Active, and that doesn’t include the VXR or all the special editions. They range from fully loaded Elite, with leather seats, to the Expression, which is very bare indeed.
- The most economical: On paper, you’ll get 53.3mpg from the 1.7-litre diesel EcoFlex model, although in the real world, something in the mid-40s is more likely. With the caveat about diesel reliability, which you can read below, this is the model to go for to eke out all the miles you can from a tank of fuel.
- If you want a big hot hatch: The Vauxhall Zafira VXR is fitted with a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine with 237bhp, and has uprated sports suspension and a boomy exhaust. It is, frankly, very silly, but it’s surprisingly fun to drive. If you have family responsibilities but still want to join in with the youngsters in the McDonalds car park from time to time, it’s the one to go for.
- The best all-rounder. With diesel engines prone to issues, we’d go for a 1.6-litre petrol with a manual gearbox. The Design trim strikes the best balance of cost and features, and will give you alloy wheels, air conditioning, and electric windows.
- If you want all the toys: Keep an eye out for the top-spec Elite model, which was loaded with kit from heated leather seats to climate control and satnav.
