Zafira help please..

gabyjane

Ok to cut a long story short i have found a Zafira for sale (2001) for £2200..been looking for ages as some dont fit double buggys in.it is from a chap down the rd who has bought a newer car and doesnt need the seats so i have seen it driving around.

INSIDE From new it has had one owner before them and has had seat covers on so the inside cosmetically is immaculate. New stereo and like i said looks lovely BUT tonight i am going to go and give it the once over properly..list below!

OUTSIDE looks immaculate apart from one very small dent which i will prob do after long anyway! other than that very good for age.


UNDER THE BONNET they said it had, had a new engine and told me which garage and i rung them when home, they said it is a great car and they have serviced some of it for the last 5 years and the son of the man who owns it is a so been well looked after. The only thing they said was that the engine had no guaruntee as bought private not from the garage so they couldnt comment but that he had always looked after it properly..again stuck at that point. The man ata the garage said it had always passed it's MOT's and if it had the old engine in still he would have said to buy it now but he cant say yes or no as has no idea where it is from which is fair enough. I will quizz r.e the engine later.

So overall i am happy with it BUT what if they are selling it with a not very good engine in it..how do i know this?..

List to check is: and ive lost bit of paper in last 2 secs grr..off top of my head
INSIDE:

Seatbelts working
Any lights on dash
seats moving ok as 7 seater
Windows working
Does it sound ok
Gears ok?
Heater working

OUTSIDE:

Paintwork again but tbh not fussed about few scrapes
tyres
lights/indicators

So missing anything?

Tax & MOT next year but cant think of dates
Thanks x

Keeping_Positive

Ask when the cam/timing belt was last changed.

Im not v good with cars but know to make sure that is done or it will be another new engine!

Arfa__

Check out this page:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/vauxhall/zafira-a-1999?

Got a good bit on what's good 'n' bad, and what to look out for, as far as common faults.

Also:
Check AC runs cold.

What's mileage of new engine? Check timing belt has been changed every 40K. Bit of confusion here, pre 2003, its officially every £40K, 2003+ its every 60K. But nowt was changed engine wise on 2003 models...

Be aware only the 2003+ models have the newer style back seat, that folds down as 3 separate pieces, has a proper 3 point seat belt in middle (rather than lap belt) and ISOFIX hooks for kids seats.

Does it include the spare wheel underneath boot? On some early models these weren't very secure and were often nicked!

What trim level is it?> Life, Comfort, Design, Elegance etc? Info here on the differences: http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/vauxhall/zafira-1999.aspx?page=7
What size engine is it? 1.6, 1.8, 2.0? Petrol/Diesel

gabyjane

Keeping_Positive wrote: »

Ask when the cam/timing belt was last changed.

Im not v good with cars but know to make sure that is done or it will be another new engine!

Ah yes maybe the biggest part of the conversation with the garage was the fact that when the engine was put in the garage gave them the option of putting a new cambelt in (which they wont know i know yet) this at a cost of roughly £300ish, few people think this is a lot but gives me a bench mark to try and knock him down. Only worry is that he will say no and i will walk away but he wont tell next person..hmm but yeah this may not have been done so is very old.
Fingers crossed they are nice about it and let me knock them down.how much does everyone think? considering he said there wasn't much maneuvere on the price..

Thanks

Arfa__

If you get the cambelt done, make sure they replace the water pump too, regardless of whether its OK or not. Its life span does tend to be better than 40K, but its the same amount of labour to replace it and the part doesn't cost much. So its always more cost effective to replace it at same time as cambelt, since the same labour is involved to reach it. For both of these items, its the labour that costs, more so than the parts. £300 does seem high mind, I'm sure mine was only around £150 parts and labour, can't remember exactly, lot of other stuff was done at same time. I had a standard service, LPG service and tune up, cambelt, water pump, new brakes pads and new discs at front - lot was £480 ish.

johnnyroper

as above get water pump changed when belt is done and also make sure tensioner and the 2 guide rollers are changed aswell.

i take it you are talking about a petrol model if so is it 1.6 or 1.8?

what mileage has it done?

tanith

Do make sure the spare wheel is there as mine was nicked not so long ago... even though I had a Vauxhall fitted lock.. I now keep the spare wheel in the boot but that might be inconvenient for you...

Inactive

Lift up the seat covers, they may be hiding damage, not preventing it.

Strider590

tanith wrote: »

Do make sure the spare wheel is there as mine was nicked not so long ago... even though I had a Vauxhall fitted lock.. I now keep the spare wheel in the boot but that might be inconvenient for you...

Vauxhall sell the jack and toolkit as an optional extra, im sure that includes the spare wheel too... May explain why yours went walkies,

tanith

Strider590 wrote: »

Vauxhall sell the jack and toolkit as an optional extra, im sure that includes the spare wheel too... May explain why yours went walkies,

No mine was nicked in an Asda carpark as far as I know.. the jack , toolkit and wheel were all included when I bought the car.. I wheedled the wheel lock as an extra out of the salesman at Vauxhalls;) , but that didn't stop them:eek:

Strider590

tanith wrote: »

No mine was nicked in an Asda carpark as far as I know.. the jack , toolkit and wheel were all included when I bought the car.. I wheedled the wheel lock as an extra out of the salesman at Vauxhalls;) , but that didn't stop them:eek:

I was actually suggesting that someone had stolen it because they never had one it the first place

The Astra, Vectra and Zafira all use the same diameter of wheel.