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Sun 23 May 2010 21:22

Vauxhall Zafira DTI - Simple replacement for my trusty Zafira - westbarbary

Hello all

My trusty Zafira has been mine since I bought it new from Motorpoint in Derby in 2001. It has done 108000 miles and I have had little trouble with it except for a couple of minor niggles. It is pre-common rail so it has a traditional diesel with a turbo. It is chain cam - I have changed the oil regularly - and does not have any of the additions that seem to plague the modern diesel such as a complex common rail system or a diesel particulate filter. Unfortunately its reliability is not recognized by the Government who now want to tax it at 200 per year because its emissions are a little high (is everybody else with an older car grumpy that the taxation is retrospective?). So now it is time for a change and I have narrowed the choice down to a Kia or an Hyundai. However I am worried that it may not prove to be as reliable and I have considered trying to buy a dead simple diesel, chain cam, no common rail and no DPF. Does such a car exist?................ or do I have to buy a Prius?

Edited by westbarbary on 23/05/2010 at 21:31

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Mon 24 May 2010 00:16

Vauxhall Zafira DTI - Simple replacement for my trusty Zafira - R2-CMax

I would keep the Zafira if you like it and it's proving reliable. The depreciation you'd suffer from a newer car would make the £200 pa road tax look like very small potatoes. It might be worth keeping the Zafira until it has a terminal event. I had a look on BCA Auction View and there's one listed with 244000 miles under its belt.

You'll be unlikely to find any "non complex" diesels - common rail etc... has been forced into cars by compliance with emissions regulation and to provide driveability. Also worth noting that most of these technologies have been fitted for a few years now, so I suspect that problems will become less common as manufacturers understand how/why they fail.

I'm interested in the statistics about how reliable modern diesels are (or aren't) - I can't help thinking that some of the problems have been accentuated by the growth in diesel market share in the last decade, and whilst there's a lot of anecdotal evidence, i've yet to see anything quantitative.

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Mon 24 May 2010 01:14

Vauxhall Zafira DTI - Simple replacement for my trusty Zafira - Avant

Even without stats I think that's an excellent summing-up of the position. The diesels that are now going wrong are the first cars to be fitted with complications like DMF and DPF. However laudable the reasons for introducing them, there is work to be done - quite possibly being done or already done - on making them last longer.

There's another element which isn't helping - people are buying diesels to use in town for low annual mileages, when they'd be better off with petrol engines.

Westbarbary - at 12,000 miles a year average you are right on the margin of whether a diesel is beneficial. Would you consider a petrol? The Prius, despite its complications, has a very good reliability record. The new model is much less frenetic at motorway speeds than the Mark 2, and it's very roomy in the back - although it's not as versatile as a Zafira for carrying people and things.

Edited by Avant on 24/05/2010 at 01:19

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Mon 24 May 2010 13:15

Vauxhall Zafira DTI - Simple replacement for my trusty Zafira - Zub

If your car is reliable then don't bother changing it. £200 road tax is a paltry amount really. The depreciation on a newer car will cost you far more.

I went through the same line of thinking as you with my diesel Passat. I decided to keep it going and service it myself, currently at 137,000 miles and going strong.

Keep running it until it blows up, you will get far better value for money that way.

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Mon 24 May 2010 22:19

Vauxhall Zafira DTI - Simple replacement for my trusty Zafira - westbarbary

Many thanks for all your responses. I concur with your thoughts. The car is worth far more to me than it is to another owner because I have owned it from new, have looked after it and know its history. Funny how the old diesel argument is beginning to wear thin in the face of new petrol cars. I had myself down as a diesel man through and through but I am not sure that I would buy one again because the maths no longer add up. Petrol is beginning to look simpler and more cost effective and some cars, the Honda Jazz for example with economy up to 50 mpg, no longer make the expense worth paying. I guess that I will keep it going until it fails badly and then make the change. The Exchequer will be the winner in the short term.

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Tue 25 May 2010 21:11

Vauxhall Zafira DTI - Simple replacement for my trusty Zafira - Glenn 42

I had a SEAT Ibiza SDI which was very short on gimmicks by today's standards and struggled to reach 100 mph, but for all it would be old fasioned now was almost completely faultless even after 100,000 miles and always started. Also economy of 50-60 mpg still stands up well now.

I have been considering diesel to replace my current car, but the extra cost of purchase and at the pumps makes any benefit from extra mpg almost nil and the complicated technology fitted to modern diesels could make repairs very expensive. 40- 45mpg for a petrol car is good enough for me and I notice Which seem to rate many modern diesels as less reliable than petrol cars.

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 16:16

Vauxhall Zafira DTI - Simple replacement for my trusty Zafira - Alf B.

Diesel cars will always work out cheaper than Petrol Cars, because fuel is so expensive and because they use so much less of it than Petrol Cars do.

I used to have a 2003 Mazda 2 1.4D TS2, with 180000 miles on the clock, which was capable of 70mpg and averaged over 50mpg round town, irrespective of how hard I drove it. No Petrol car in existance could beat it for economy. I only paid £1900 for it, when it was worth £3500, so depreciation has never been an issue and I have been saving money on fuel since the day I bought it. Sadly it could only tow a 750kg braked trailer legally and my boat+trailer combo weighs over 900kg so I started looking for a replacement car with a greater towing capacity. I put it on the Swapz website and eventually ended up doing a direct swap for a white 52 plate Zafira 2.0 DTi with only 87000 miles on the clock, with no cash changing hands at all. OK, it cannot match the little Mazda for economy but its still a lot cheaper to run than any Petrol powered Zafira, and it seems to average at least 50mpg, even when I get a heavy foot. I bought five Vectra 15" starfish alloys for it for £60 on ebay to replace the heavier steel rims it came with and it has made a noticable difference when driving it...The steering is slightly lighter and it rides and handles even better than before.

The biggest difference is the road Tax which is about twice as much as the little Mazda but as the others here have said, its a price worth paying for such a great car.

The best bit is that fully comp insurance is only £4 more per month than the Mazda!

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