abbott

I have come to the decision it is time for me to grow up , i have a 3rd kid on the way in the next week and realise that the scooby i have been saving for is just realistically not gonna have enough space for 3 kid seats (all under 4 years old) anyone had one of these or had a drive in one have any views or opinions on the family busses ?

thanks in advance ...

RobEvo5

iTrader: (9)

We have one as our main family car. Love it to bits, 7 seats which is great on the odd ocassion we want to ferry the inlaws about. We have 3 kids, and the Zafira is perfect in size for a 3 child family with it flexi seating etc.

But the drive and general build quality is great. As a real world road car its really quick and haven't even contemplated getting it mapped as even in standard form its quick.

The turbo is small enough to drive like a turbo diesal with instant pick up and torque and unlike a deisal if you hang on it will keep pulling. In allot of respects its a much quicker car than cars I have had with near twice the power.

If you start to push it really hard in the twisties you start to get reminded its a zafira but all things considered it does the job of cornering pretty well as well. But lets be honest the only time you might be pushing it like that will be when you own your own in the car, which for me is a rare ocassion.

Personally I would avoid the lairy blue ones. I have a black one and like the silver. I think blue it defo a bit mid life crisis

Great cars and highly recommend.

abbott

lol cheers buddy , im almost embarrased to admit it is an Arden blue one i fancy , mid life crisis most definitely but im only 27
as you say the handling isnt too much of an issue as the nippers will be in it most of the time and i dont drive like a tit with them in the car , could be a laugh on the lonesome though from the idea im getting .

I just got an insurance quote for one im very very pleased with (compared to my classic WRX anyway) im going to go get me a test drive pronto ...

thanks for your input buddy !

jim16v

hi, ive just sold my 04 plate zafira gsi, was a great car, i had quite afew bits on mine, it made it a fun car to drive and sounded great, all round good car but once played with very crap on fuel,

johnnyroper

no idea about the gsi,but i worked for vauxhall for several years and found the zafira to be one of their better models.

the build quality was good and reliability was far better than the vectra's and other vaux crap.
they had some teething problems at first but they were ironed out,as i said no idea on gsi but the 2.2 normally aspirated engine i always found to be quick enough and reliable but could also return reasonable mpg if driven sensible.

also as with all vauxhalls parts are cheap to source from motor factors and are simple enough to repair yourself.

just make sure it has full vauxhall history and negotiate a good deal as they do suffer fairly high depreciation

abbott

depreciation damn right !

2002 GSI for circa £5 its a deal its a steal its the sale of the funkin century

Andy M3

I am 27, I have 4 kids under 5 - I doubt you can get 3 across comfortably in a Zafira. The seas in the back will be pretty difficult to access with x2 seats already in the middle row.

I personally prefer my family car to be nice and steady for obvious reason’s. Not sure what to suggest TBH – there are a few out there, but practicality and versatility should be high on your agenda.

RobEvo5

iTrader: (9)

Anymore than 4 kids, then I agree and would get one of the bigger people carriers. The rear seats really are for occasional use, and once up you have no boost space left apart from a push chair and nothing more. (Not a pram)

The GSI will stop on a penny, has plenty over overtaking power to get you out of trouble and in trouble if you not sensible, Handles much better than the bus people carriers if you need to manouver out of trouble, and has shed loads of airbags, and good safety rating.

Because its a bench type seat at the back my 3 kids fit comfortably in it. Aged, 7,5,and 2. All with child seats.

So in some respects I would agree with a going with an all out sensible family car. But on the other hand there is no reason why just because you have kids that you can't have a people carrier that puts a smile on your face, and that you enjoy driving. Rather than perhaps a car that just get you from point A to point B.

The Arden Blue does look nice - Each unto there own mate . As a car its a good allround car that cover most bases.

Only thing I find a little anoying at times is the turbo is too punchy at low revs. Its easy to have the traction light up most of the time if your heavy footed. Thorney do a remap which takes them to 240bhp but irons out the turbo surge a little. I like the surge and punch it gives and can control it with my right foot. The low end punch makes it a very Zippy car.

RobEvo5

iTrader: (9)

You should be looking for a 2003 model as they changed from 2x3point and a lap strap to 3x3point seats belts in 2003.

abbott

QUALITY !! i knew would get some descent advice here ... thanks guys

Mifo

iTrader: (10)

we have the 1.9 turbo diesel , it doesnt hang about ( for a people carrier!)and mpg is pretty damn good.
its an 07, so not sure about the older model diesels but this baby gets nearly 500 miles per tank beleive it or not!

Mikkel

Why do you need a performance people carrier? The concept is ridiculous IMHO.

By all means get a people carrier if that's what you need but why does it need to be quick or handle well? There's just no point. Look at creature comforts if you want a car like this, not performance.

If you still want a quick car for when the kids aren't there get a second car or a project car if you can't afford that. If you have to grow up, grow up... don't make a half arsed attempt at it and end up being IMHO frankly sad.

Sorry, just my opinion all be it a strong one about these types of car.

NotoriousREV

Exactly why can't it be quick and handle well? How odd it must be to live your life wearing blinkers

Andy M3

I can see where Mikkel is coming from - my wife has a 140hp auto 1.5 tonne people carrier, you simply enjoy the quiet, comfortable environment, and benefit from the cheap running costs. It will handle 70mph with ease and cruise through Europe at 140km/h etc fully laden.............

With the money saved you could take the family to the Caribbean every winter - I would recommend

wrxjay03

i agree mate

surely people carriers are supposed to carry 7 or more people, you stick 7 adults in one of these and it wont b quick atall or handle well, so you are kind of defeating the object

NotoriousREV

But that assumes you'll be carrying 7 adults at all times, which is ludicrous. In fact, thes very thread shows that most people carry 2 adults and 2 or 3 kids regularly and occasionally 2 additional passengers. So what's wrong with having a car that's fun to drive when you're on your own, has a good torquey engine when you've got the kids on board and plenty of grunt for when you're fully laden? Sounds ideal to me.

Andy M3

^^^ It's the expense of owning and running the car for the rest of the time when you have the family in.

GCollier

I completely disagree. My wife has a Ford S-Max 2.5T (220bhp focus ST engine) which we use as our main family car and it's a very decent drive. Of course it's no substitute for a full-on sports/toy car, but the point is it allows some element of driving fun in every journey, not just the weekend blast in my car which won't fit the whole family.

Gary.

jonny_693

iTrader: (5)

I agree to both arguments partly. A guy at work has just bought a gsi and is finding it horrendous on petrol. As a compromise how about a diesel sri zafira? Take it somewhere like courtenay for a remap and in the real world it won't be far off a gsi! Then buy yourself something for the weekend with the money you save

NotoriousREV

You pays your money, you takes your choice. I think my Skyline is a perfectly reasonable family car while we've only got the one child, he has loads of legroom and the boot fits his crap in easily. If we had another 2 kids, I'd definately go for a Zafira GSI as it would fulfill the things I'd want from the car: fits family, goes a bit quick.

Certainly if I was going up a class size to Galaxy type vehicles, I'd just spec it up to the hilt, select the largest diesel motor plus auto box and have done but the Zafira's aren't so big and unwieldy.

magepaster

iTrader: (2)

Why WOULDN'T you want a people carrier to be quick and handle well?
If my kids are in a car I want to know that it will be able to pass slow moving traffic or obstacles safely and handle well enough to cope with avoiding the unforeseen and take bends without slopping around like jelly. Buying a car because it can't do those things seems a little daft.

Andy M3

The fact you consider passing slow car's is deemed more dangerous than me in mine who will not. Taking a bend 40% quicker than me only ups the chances of you coming a cropper laden with the only thing in the world you really give a to55 about.

I am not against owning a powerful or fast people mover, but some of the arguments for aren't really substantiated.

GCollier

You're putting words into the guys mouth. He's not said anything about unsafe overtaking or hammering around bends 40% quicker. Driven sensibly a car with greater limits is always going to be safer than one which is more compromised dynamically, and that's all magepaster seems to be referring to.

Gary.

magepaster

iTrader: (2)

Thanks GC
Seems some people have a six speed mouth linked to a two speed brain

Andy M3

Your right, he didn't say anything about unsafe overtaking. I said it is more dangerous to overtake something than not overtake it, I would say that is accurate enough.

I used 40% as an example it could be 10%, but a sporty mpv is going to perform better than my own regular mpv.

Just to reiterate, I am not against powerful or fast MPV's - I agree that in some instances something more powerful will have better brakes/suspension to help keep your cherubs safe, and that is a good reason to own one.

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

View My Scoob.

Dog, Grandkids (x2), me and the wife.

Puuurrrfick!

Fabioso

Poor *******s.... you have my sympathy..........

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

We have the new Galaxy Ghia, 2.0 tdci which is biggest they do and its actually pretty useful, enough to catch a 944 driver unawares, much to his chagrin, I struggle to see the point in a fast people carrier but did have a T5 Estate for 4 years which was kind of in the same vein. 0-60 in 9.5, 120 mph, its plenty fast enough, I am sure it would be lovely with the ST engine but they dont do it in the Galaxy and I wouldn't want the wife burning even more fuel than she already does.

we have 3 kids so we have 5 seats up and a massive boot most of the time, the seats folding into the floor is a godsend after the old Sharan where you had to lump them out, especially as ours had integrated boosters that made them even heavier.

One thing to watch for is whether 33 child seats will fit, a lot wont, we had an integrated on in th eVolvo which was narrow enough to allow the other two to fit, the Sharan was great as they were integrated but I don't know what Vauxhall offer, and whether they will fit ? its basically an Astra platform, plus when we looked the Zafira had an utterly pointless boot when all the seats were up, its a 5 seater car with 7 seats, even a big one like the new Galaxy isnt overburdened with boot if all seats are up, you need a Grand Espace or Voyager for that.

I know performance is compelling but don't base your whole decision for a family motor on that.

magepaster

iTrader: (2)

That would be a hell of a big people carrier