Vauxhall Meriva

Woby_Tide

I've found teh 1.6 Petrol a tad thirsty and would have probably gone for diesel due to driving patterns in hindsight. Driving position etc. is all down to personal preference. Last few cars I've driven have varied vastly from having seats that now feel extremely low to the Meriva that other people think has seating position like a van. I prefer the van style myself and found it quite easy to adapt, only occasionally do I double check ropund the pillar for blind spot but i did that in other cars just at different junctions

Gambler

Gambler wrote:

looking at an 05 plate (july here), 4K £9995.

Parkers says my part ex is worth £3,600 but I emailed dealer for a valuation and they said £3-3.5K depending on an inspection.

Is it possible to get a discount even when you have a part ex?

I'd settle for my car + £6K.

Offered us £3,600 for our car so paid £6,400 to change earlier this morning for a 9 months old car with less than 3K on clock. I think it's a good deal.

Done a lot of research on all sorts of family cars including lots of online deals but couldn't be bothered waiting for brand new and have just saved over £5K on brand new.

Gambler

anybody know what category of immobilser is fitted please or where I can find out?

bazza1603

Hi,

My wife loves the car, but I still have problems with the pillars. I dont like that the way that cars can hide behind them if you travelling at the same speed.

I had the car for an hour, and had to stop at most roundabout, just to make sure.

Apart from that its a really nice car. Far better than a Corsa which surprised me. The 1.7 Diesel is a little unrefined, but can still shift with the best of them. Really Powerful mid range.

I am off on Holiday next week for a week to Centreparcs. I have rented a 1.4 Life for £185 for a week. I will drive it approx 400 miles and hopefully will be happier when I return.

Either a waste of £185, or an investment to save myself £5000!

Regards

Barry

golddustmedia

Don't buy a NEW one!!! - get it half price 2nd hand!

I bought a Meriva about 2 months ago and managed to get a great deal. I found privately a 54 reg meriva that was late registered so in fact only 1 year old. I picked it up for £6350, a massive £6000 less than the price 1 year before. Also considering the car only had 3800 miles on it I think this was a total bargain!

Now for the news on it...
It's not totally been without fault. We had the missfortune that a water pipe burst on the motorway (first sign was engine temp going up) and before we knew it the car broke down. Got towed to Vauxhall and the head gasket had gone and engine was cooked, total mileage on car was 5048 miles!!! However, even though bought privately the car was fixed under warranty so got a brand new engine.

Other fault is I'd often come back to car and find the radio was on...? Very strange. Got garage to check it and they reset it but still happened so got a new radio/cd under warranty too!

My view about the car:
As others said, the A pillar is a problem on roundabouts or turning right as creates a big blind spot at the 1pm position.
The rear seats are EXCELLENT for flexible layouts, however the boot is surprisingly small.... We pretty much totally fill the boot with a pushchair for new baby.

If buying petrol consider performance. We bought a 1.6 16v model, although we test drove a 1.6 8v model and I have to say the 16v engine has a lot more oompf!

If you want to retain 2nd hand value/sellability consider a safe colour like silver or black (as we bought). We tried LOTS of vauxhall dealers to get the car we wanted and in the end went private. Near all dealer models were silver, couldn't get a black one as demand so high. Although a burgundy/blue one may be nice for a while think about how much demand there is for it if you want to sell in a couple of years (for comparison check how much lower yellow/gold VW passats are than silver ones!).

My conclusion:
Nice car.
Not as spacious as you'd think.
Beware 2nd hand values. OR grab a 2nd hand bargain.
If you can afford it consider a SEAT Altea.

bazza1603

Hi,

I am after a 55 plate Meriva 1.7 CDTi either Design or Breeze. Dealer prices are 10500 to £9500 which are a lot better than new. Want either Star Silver or Lightening Silver.

I live in the North East, so may travel Sheffield/ Edinburgh distance if i can save another grand.

Regards

Barry

Gambler

we couldn't make up our mind which colour to go for, the dealer had 2 almost identical cars, one black and one silver.

Although we would have liked to have gone with the black (as current car silver) it was already showing up the scratches far too easily so opted for silver instead.

xycom1

golddustmedia wrote:

Now for the news on it...
It's not totally been without fault. We had the missfortune that a water pipe burst on the motorway (first sign was engine temp going up) and before we knew it the car broke down. Got towed to Vauxhall and the head gasket had gone and engine was cooked, total mileage on car was 5048 miles!!! However, even though bought privately the car was fixed under warranty so got a brand new engine.

Nice!

golddustmedia wrote:

Other fault is I'd often come back to car and find the radio was on...? Very strange. Got garage to check it and they reset it but still happened so got a new radio/cd under warranty too!

This is a common fault with the first CD30 and derivative CANBUS audio systems in Vauxhall cars. Early models of the New Astra had the same problem - and the same fix - replace audio unit under warranty.