Eccles

OK guys I had a Meriva (virtually new) for three years but finally got fed up with it's general reliability and that is what matters so much to many of us. As a direct comparison the 1.6 Roomie definitely has more shove than the 1.6 Meriva in my experience for a start and for going round corners the Roomie has it beat hands down. What really annoyed me was the number of times the Meriva let me down with basic stuff which really shouldn't happen with a newish car: The ECU packed up at around 35k miles and had to be replaced and the boots on the universal joints started to part company at only 28k - fortunately my mechanic noticed the problem before it got too expensive. Generally the Roomie is far easier to work on under the bonnet than the Meriva where all the bits seem to be crammed in and awkward to get at. I suspect that Vauxhall has a way to go before it reaches Skoda (Volkswagen) reliability and the figures on the available reliability surveys pretty well prove it. Although many people don't consider reliability too much, in reality it is a quite important cost element - how much petrol can one buy for the £100 it cost to have the Meriva ECU replaced?

Had our 1.6 petrol for 4 months now, it replaced the previous 1.6 Meriva which I got fed up with because of minor faults which should not have happened. HID loves it: 1. Easier to park than Meriva and better turning circle. 2. Corners better than Meriva 3. Has better visibility than Meriva 4. Has better fuel economy and acceleration than Meriva. 5. Can take seats out to give loads of space plus has lower loading platform than Meriva. Why do folk buy ruddy Merivas?

Yep, they have certainly well and truly b****xed the Berlingo now, looks like some kind of light tank and probably drives like one. Why do manufacturers do this over and over again? Remember the almost fabulous Golf Mk. 1 - now a sad memory due to VW's design stupidity. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Remember the Ford Escort Mk 1 - I had one and for the time it would go like stink for a 1300 due to it's light weight build but they had to make it bigger (and worser). Please, please Skoda, do not be tempted to make the same mistake by trying to make the Roomy look bigger and fatter for no good reason. There are thousands of folk in the market who need and will buy a simple lightweight VAN/CAR AND THAT IS ALL THEY NEED!

Conclusion: They still haven't got it right, unless top notch fuel economy is a real issue for you (it isn't for me because I only do 10k per annum) get a petrol engine and avoid all the hassle!

I bought a new Roomy in February (to replace a Meriva) and within a few weeks I was wondering if I should have paid out and got a Yeti instead. A closer look at the Yeti has told me I was not wrong. HID thinks the low cill and huge space at the back of the Roomy is great (for all that shopping of course) and one does not get that with the Yeti. I can think of a few improvements I would like to see but there does not seem to be anything else around at present which quite hits the mark. I very much agree with the comments of others about lack of visibilty and excessive styling which other makers are going for but I am not that stupid. I did take a serious look at the Citroen C3 Picasso (just too small inside), the Berlingo (problems with their DPF) and the Doblo (also problems with their DPF). My final comment is that someone needs to come up with a practical and possibly slightly larger vehicle where they don't bother too much about style, has good visibility , bags of room and with the DPF problems sorted and they have a winner. There does not seem to be such a vehicle on the market at present.

Just a comment:- Irrespective of the car I am driving, my pads and discs always last for years. Quite simply this is because I don't brake unless I absolutely have to. It amuses me no end to have others rush past me coming up to roundabouts and traffic lights and watch them slam their brakes on as I begin to approach them at a slower speed. My style means I get a lot more out of my tyres too - usually around 30k.

I think we have a good demonstration here of just how much difference a good driving style can make. Some folk drive like rally drivers all the time for some unknown reason; it never seems to occur to them that it's a great way to spend a small fortune on fuel, brakes and tyres. Personally I learned the lesson over 20 years ago and have never looked back. No I am not a 25mph coffin dodger but I see no point in going racing with some of the other loonies who inhabit our highways.

Blimey, a bit late now for me but I would snatch their hands off at that price, a real bargain! Yes, folks you don't want to know about DPFs unless you regularly do a decent run at 60 mph or more. No manufacturer that I know of has got this sorted properly yet and they all give expensive trouble eventually. As a lot of my driving is poodling around locally at 40-50 mph, I went for the 1.6 Petrol. Yes, it could do with a bit more oomph but for me that is not the real issue; I bought it for reliability and the ability to carry loads of junk when I need to. Had a Meriva before but that had issues which I was not prepared to put up with any longer. Shame really because it also was a nice roomy vehicle but just too many inherent faults.

Find that hard to believe - the Road tax would be sky high if they didn't have. This is why I bought a 1.6 petrol - DPF's can be a problem unless you regularly make trips involving longish runs above 60 mph. Various manufacturers have tried various ways of solving the problem but none of them work well enough in the long run. Blame the government, they are nuts about diesel soot even though we have all lived quite happily for the last 50 years without being harmed by diesels.

Quite surprised with this arm rest topic; my brand new SE doesn't have one and I can't even see where one might be secured. Maybe Skoda have recently given up the idea..... Changing subject;- I decided to pay the extra £40 and have a spare wheel. Actually got round to having a look at it yesterday and it appears to be a full-sized tyre albeit mounted mounted on a steel wheel whereas standard wheels on SE's are alloy. I was a bit surprised about this because when I ordered the car, the dealer told me it would be a "temporary" and "small" wheel.

For what it's worth, I still chose the 1.6 petrol very recently:- 1. I do very few long runs and don't want to get involved with DPF problems which can get very expensive. (A friend recently got a £400 bill for sorting out the DPF of his FIAT Blobbo). I guess I would have got the diesel if I did enough longish runs at speed but I don't so that's the end of it. 2. I seem to be getting around 42 mpg but a lot of my driving is semi-rural so average speed is probably no more than 35 mph. Being an "economy" driver (I once did a course on this), even when I do occasionally use dual-carriageways, etc., I cruise at 60. I am advised that this is probably the best cruising speed for most cars because going faster than that sends the air resistance factor up very significantly. Apparently this is the main reason why fuel economy drops off at speed and for the average 20 mile journey, the difference between driving at 75 mph and 60 mph is no more than a couple of minutes. 3. I tried the smaller petrol engine but for me it simply did not have enough acceleration away from the lights, etc.

I agree with others - going to make meself something out of flooring quality MDF. Should be easy enough with an electric jigsaw and a modicum of brain power.

I bet it's the DPF unit - seems very similar to problems which friends have had on their DPF diesels (FIATS and Vauxhalls). This is the main reason why I chose petrol. If you (or the previous owner) don't do enough miles at 50/60 mph the DPF's can clog up after a while and then create a burning smell while the engine tries it's best to burn it clean.

Having just got a new 1.6 Roomy meself my friend, I am rapidly coming to the conclusion (not yet confirmed) that you are right and the cams are chain driven - can't see any sign of a toothed belt under the bonnet. This is actually a welcome surprise if true because going on past experience, chain drives go on for ever - certainly did on a Nissan Almera I used to own.

For what it's worth I hummed and ha'd over similar problems for the best part of two months before finally going for the 1.6 petrol. Why?:- 1. I have heard far too many expensive stories about DPF's not only with Skoda/VW but virtually every other manufacturer as well! They just haven't got it right yet and unless you regularly do a 20 mile run doing 60 mph or more (which I don't) you will finish up with an expensive bill of some sort eventually. 2. Having done a test drive in a 1.4 petrol, I concluded that I wanted something with a bit more shove as I quite often carry heavy stuff around (main reason for getting a Roomy in the first place). In this connection I took a serious look at the Citroen Blingo and FIAT Blobbo only to discover that their petrol engines are totally gutless and of course they both have DPF's on their diesels. 3. The 1.6 petrol Roomy seems to have that extra shove I was looking for and the fuel economy difference between the 1.4 and the 1.6 is so small as makes no difference unless you are a regular 80 mph merchant which I am not. Yeah I know, the Road tax is an issue too but is it really (£150) when one is spending at least £1200 per annum on petrol?

Bought a new Roomster 1.6 SE a month ago after much research. Self and HID very happy with it so far although I wish it was a bit less complex in a few areas, never mind, that is the way cars are going these days so I guess Skoda has to keep up.