SE 1.6 16v People Carrier

Better than the Meriva

Having got fed up with poor Vauxhall Meriva reliability I began to search around for something with a similar amount of room in a smallish MPV. Looked seriously at the Berlingo, C3 Picasso, Doblo, Soul and one or two others but could not find one with a decent petrol engine (I do not want to know about dodgy DPF's) which also had a decent sized boot. One day we were coming out of the supermarket and HID says "What about one of those?" pointing to a nearby pale blue Roomster. I had already looked at said vehicle but written it off due to a certain reviewer mentioning that engine mountings were dodgy (subsequently proved to be untrue!) Anyway, off we go to the nearest dealer and test drive a 1.4 petrol engined version. We like it but that engine seems a bit gutless. "Isn't there a better engine?" says I to the dealer who retorted that I should consider the 1.9 diesel. "No, no, I don't do a lot of miles and I don't want to know about DPF's", I replied. "Well they do a 1.6 petrol but you will have to wait because we don't stock it." "OK I will wait, cos that's what I want!" .... Best decision I have made for ages although I understand that the new 1.2 engine cuts it too but will it last as long as I suspect my 1.6 will.
I would sum up by saying that it could have a tad more width but other than that, for my money it beats the Meriva hands down in virtually all aspects.

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