Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
  • Vauxhall Zafira as a bike wagon
  • Kahurangi
    Full Member

    Does anyone have any experiences of a Zafira as a bike wagon and general purpose vehicle? I’m currently pootling around in a 1L Yaris, which is officially my mum’s but I might get something for it from one of my siblings (of whom 3 are taking lessons at the mo). Whether any of them can afford the insurance and I’m asked to give the car back is another matter.

    However One has come up through the classifieds at work: ’04, 1.8 L petrol, 26k on the clock, asking £3600 ONO. Owners emigrating.

    I’m hoping that the rear row of seats will lift out and I then have a wagon capable of taking 4 people plus bikes inside, or generally me and one bike in security.

    I ride to work so the hit in MPG won’t be too bad.

    I’m really not sure about thinking about this too much. The yaris keeps running, with a rack on the back it’s never caused me any trouble and I’m saving my pennies towards buying (as opposed to renting from bstrd landlords).

    Surf-Mat
    Free Member

    Hired one in SW Ireland – while it wasn’t a lot of fun to drive, it was incredibly versatile – fitted my surfboard in it like it wasn’t there. Seats do all sorts of clever things too.

    Unless you want to blast around all day, you can do a lot worse than a Zafira.

    5lab
    Full Member

    £3600 seems expensive for a 6 year old vauxhall – you’re paying a whopping premium for the low milage

    this one is 18 months younger, and a grand cheaper

    http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201046373066400/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/4000/maximum-mileage/up_to_80000_miles/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/model/zafira/make/vauxhall/radius/1500/postcode/bn24dp/page/1?logcode=p

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    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    You can get two bikes standing upright with front wheels removed, just tie them to hooks. Plenty of room remaining. Obviously rear seats upturned.

    bigsurfer
    Free Member

    They are the most versatile vehicle I have ever owned, that said I hate the way it drives and ours 1.8 petrol automatic drinks petrol for fun.

    It has been very reliable though. It is amazing how much you can get in. The third row of seats fold flat into the floor. The middle row of seats are on a slide system but do not remove completely.

    With no effort at all we can get 2 bikes in with front wheels removed, bike trailer and pushchair by just folding down one of the middle row of seats and having the rear seats stowed in the floor. This leaves 4 seats althought the 2 rear passengers will be cosy.

    If you were to remove front and rear wheels I bet you could get a hell of a lot of bikes in.

    martymac
    Full Member

    dont the rear (3rd) row of seats fold into the floor on zafiras?
    edit, just re-read bigsurfers post above, doh!

    bigsurfer
    Free Member

    I would never use the 3rd row of seats after watching a fith gear crash using a Zafira. The passengers heads are only inches from the rear window with no protection in a rear shunt. I am pretty much sure the same goes for all 7 seaters of this size.

    chriswilk
    Free Member

    For general family stuff they are great.
    For bike specific they are pretty poor.
    The middle set of seats doesn’t fold fully flat, so throwing a bike or two in is not so straight forward as it is in a traditional estate car.

    When I go biking, tend to use my mates Passat estate as 2 bikes go in with the wheels on, in mine it would mean taking wheels off.

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    I think 4 people plus bikes might be a little optimistic. You would certainly have to take all the wheels off and have quite a high stack of bikes in the boot to do it, but I think 4 would be pushing it, with the middle seats in use.

    jp-t853
    Full Member

    You might get the bikes in but if you drive 100 miles in a Zafira you won’t be able to walk properly let alone ride a bike.

    uplink
    Free Member

    That does seem expensive Jon

    for a private sale on those miles – Parkers has it at 2700-3420

    Kahurangi
    Full Member

    Cheers guys, especially given the limited info and my own lack of reasearch!

    Thanks for the infor regarding rear seats and lack of boot space – my comparisons have been a Toyota Previa (3 rows + huge boot) and a Citroen something, which had a big boot and removable seats. This seems to be as big as neither but still a fairly versatile car.

    A friend can get 3 bikes + people in a Focus c-max for comparison, so this isn’t much more…

    And yes, over £3000 is beyond my budget and I’d be aiming for a good price since they’re selling in a hurry.

    ScottChegg
    Free Member

    We had them at work as Pool cars and they are a bit crap. Unreliable, numb to drive and not as versatile as you might think.

    The middle seat sldes back and forward so is very narrow for the size of car. As above, doesn’t fold flat either.

    They replaced Seat Alhambras and were no were near as good. Now replaced by S-Maxs and they are worlds apart. They might even be worth more than a few pence at the end of 3 years ragging.

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