Vauxhall Meriva 1.3CDTI

[Captain Sisko]

The Meriva CDTI

After the Astra I got this little MPV to do a bit of chauffeuring for a family friend

Now this review should be a little more meaty.

I'll admit when Vauxhall first launched the car I thought the suicide doors were a gimmick.......but this ar has changed my opinion.

First thoughts upon getting in were oh hell not another electronic parking brake!!!

But after that things improved.

The 1.3 CDTI pulls well, the gear change was nice and smooth and it even handled pretty well.

Equipment it was equipped to the same standard as the Astra with cruise, mp3 stereo, air con etc...

On the motorway there is a lot of tyre noise but it didnt affect me much.

I read reviews afterward saying the 1.3CDTI struggles. OK I wasnt carrying anything to taxing other than 1 passenger and a sewing machine but it seemed like it would cope well with a load and didnt mind cruising.

I almost didnt want to hand this one back.

[FellyMagic]

Its also £130 a year RFL! A mate who is a long time Vauxhall driver was thinking about one, and road tested one. He's now ordered a Focus 1.6 diesel instead, because the engine is much better, has better economy surprisingly and only costs £30 a year in RFL.

[Scirocco Steve]

I run 1300 cdti Astra's as taxi's (90 pound per year rfl) and totally can't complain, they are both cracking onto the 200,000 mile point now and I have spent half on them that I did on the Octavia tdi and Mondeo TDCi's I had in the past in the equivelent time scale. They are pretty willing for the size of engine even when fully loaded (and with taxi's that really is loaded! lol). Gearlinkages are weak (just like pretty much every vauxhall ever made) and engine mounts need keeping an eye on they go regulaly and can cause big damage. I seem to have had the only unreliable Octavia diesel ever as every other taxi owner swears by them, but hey theres always one and mine was an early shape on an 05, so one was one of the stragglers which may have had something to do with it. Oh I have a Focus estate as well now 1.6 diesel (90 pound per rfl) and I haven't had it long enough to give you the full low down on the reliablity, but I actually prefer the astra to drive, but opinions are split with the drivers so 50 - 50 on that one lol

[ukcruiser]

we had a 1.3 CDTi 90bhp Corsa SXi for the wife (new shape when the 1st came out in 2006/7) and what an AWFUL car that was! - many Mechanical and Engine problems, it was off the road for over 2 months in the 10 months of ownership! - we got rid of the car before it reached 10,000 miles it was that bad!

Al.

[hertsnminds]

For my money the rear space in the Roomster was much better than the Meriva so I never even got as far as a test drive.

[jrw]

Its also £130 a year RFL!

No it isn't - Its £20, £30 or £95 depending on which version of the 1.3 you have. The Ecoflex Stop/start is £20.