Vauxhall Zafira 1.8 Manual Petrol.

[malmac]

There are plenty of these about and we have this 2002 Club model. My wife seems to think that the car will be fine for our towing needs ( she does drive it 90% of the time) and she does have an argument when you see what the old motors used to pull!
We have just spent about £700 pounds on brakes, all weather tyres all round and a full service. Also, a cambelt is due and an MOT in April....so there is another £300 to consider.
Question is, is this car worth persevering with, from this point? Guess I,d like to know how comfortable you would be towing with this car?
Believe a detachable tow bar, with a wiring system to power more than internal van lighting is about £500 fitted. Seems a big gamble to me on a 13 year old people carrier from Vauxhall. The car has done about 90 odd thousand and seems in decent mechanical condition.
If we did change car, my feeling would be to get an auto German or poss Jap car.
All recommendations well appreciated on both or either count.

 

[Grahamh]

You don't say what the caravan is or what weight you are intending to tow. Beware the weight limitation of the Zafira. I traded in my Zafira 2.0 diesel because of the weight limitation (10500Kg). I swapped to a Ford Mondeo because of this.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

You don't say what the caravan is or what weight you are intending to tow. Beware the weight limitation of the Zafira. I traded in my Zafira 2.0 diesel because of the weight limitation (10500Kg). I swapped to a Ford Mondeo because of this.

10.5 tonnes is a good weight limit. hmy:

 

[Grahamh]

Aah you spotted my typo one too may 0's

 

[malmac]

Grahamh

Not bought one yet but it will be a do-upper for four with a tight ££2000 ish budget.
Knew that 1050 kg limit. How will that impact on what we buy if we keep the Zafira?

 

[ProfJohnL]

The Mk1 Zafira was good example of how you cannot assume all models have logical towing limits.
In particular the 2.0 Diesel had an engine cooling problem which meant its towing limit was highly restricted to the now infamous 1050Kg. Other models especially the Petrol engined versions had higher towing limits.
Its very model specific so do your research before choosing a car.

 

[Beachball]

We had a Vauxhall Zafira 1.8 Auto Petrol our match was this a Bailey Ranger 460/2 Caravan it pulled it great we put spring resistors in the springs at the back ( Because before we did this the Suspension used to creak)
We used to see the petrol stations come so quickly we were lucky if we got 27 miles to a gallon .
Make sure you stick to the correct weight and no more than 85% if you a beginner but a experience you could tow more ............

 

[Cento16v]

The other thieves to consider is power to weight.

A 1.8 Zafira is (from experience of a rented one) a car that struggles when fully loaded up of people when faced with an incline, I'm not sure how effective a Zafira full of people and towing a caravan would be when faced with a steepish hill.

I found a website www.towcar.info which although not a uk site seemed quite a good guide in what to expect from the performance of an outfit, I wouldn't trust it implicitly with weights though, but as a rough idea what to expect it seems pretty accurate.

 

[aligali13]

We have been towing with a 1.9 CDTi Zafira for the last 7.5 years. It has been a good tow car which had factory fitted removable towbar and hillstart assist etc. I personally would not tow with less than that. We are currently upgrading to a Kia Sorento as our tow car, which will have factory fitted removable towbar etc.. I love my Zafira but after experience of towing would be unsure that a 1.8 petrol would be able to cope. We had a 'T' reg 1.8 petrol and it didn't have the oomph of our 1.9.

 

[aligali13]

Also bear in mind that the clutch will probably need to be changed at 100,000 miles so that is another major expense of about £1000.
Our 2006 CDTi has done 105,000 miles including the continent.

 

[malmac]

Good points Ali...

Gearchange is getting notchy and the belt will need replacing. I think I have decided to change the car. might have to be next year as we have spent a bit on the Zafira, all in all and the van will be then too! Will post nearer the time. thanks all for the replys. be interesting to know how the Sorrento gets on? is it new?

 

[Eatcustard]

I swapped my Zafira B to a Mondeo, as every caravan dealer said they are not a good tow car.