Sad day tomorrow......

[pipsyp]

I part with my 6 month old GTD 5 door manual......in its place a Vauxhall Zafira Tourer 1.6 CDTI Elite.........

I love the GTD and it is rather paining me to let it go...one of those situations that if I thought about it too hard I just wouldnt have done it but needs must....

I need a bigger car...the Golf isnt impractical but its not cut out for family life with two young kids...particularly as my fecking great Octavia estate may soon depart in place of a city car or perhaps no car at all...undecided there. But plain and simple it aint big enough.

Also there is the emotional attachment...even though its a company car I like the GTD so much and want to treat it with kid gloves I find it hard to enjoy using it...particularly given I have to travel maybe 25/30k miles a year so it really does get around, picking up annoying dinks and scrapes on the way. I fear door dings and kerbed alloys more than I have with any car Ive hd previously and its just not healthy

So Ive taken the oportunity to swap it for something far bigger...but also I'll have far less of an OCD/emotional attachment to a Zafira.....the wife can now take the thing down to Lidl at her leisure without me uttering a single warning!

I also find the GTD is so competent and comes alive at speed that its only really happy being thrashed down country lanes....Ive had to conceed that running it longer term is likely to have a detrimental affect on my licence before too long. Driving it like miss daisy would be doing it rather a disservice. One thing the Zafira most definitely is not is quick......

I might live to regret it....but Im not sure I will. Ive found running a GTD a real quandry....love it as an object and how it drives....hate what it has done to my OCD and think Im probably better off with a people carrier I couldnt give two shits about.

One thing I will say about the experience....as great a car it is....if Id parted with my own money for it in terms of overall reliability id have been disappointed. V early on had to have some misbuild issues sorted out under warranty...the MIB2 infotainment plays up now and again....its died on me once for reasons unknown didnt even log a fault code....now the electronic handbrake/auto hold is playing silly buggers (handbrake releasing itself randomly, auto hold not releasing randomly) its currently bordering on unsafe.....its also already a bit rattly. A bit shit for a nearly 30k car frankly....but maybe mine is a bit of a Friday afternoon build?

Anyway, a shame but as is life. Wishing all the guys and gals on this forum well...its a good site with lots of useful info.

 

[Bodgerx]

Was the GTD estate not an option? I have a TDI Estate and I've got three kids (2, 6 & 10) and it easily handles everything we need it to do...

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[pipsyp]

It's a company car so I've had to swap it with something bigger from our pool fleet...was the only suitable car they had. I was gunning for a newish Passat SE Business or GTD but none of those around.

I've only spend 15 mins or so in the Zafira.....I certainly don't love it but I like it and can see myself warming to it. It's not at all quick but does drive surprisingly well and the seats are remarkably comfortable...dare I say it better than the Golf's. It does have Ergonomically approved affairs with 6 way adjustment, squab extensions and 4 way lumbar though.

Not having nav or bluetooth is a bit strange and a bit dark ages but nothing a decent smartphone app/portable unit wouldn't fix. The panoramic windscreen and roof are quite cool (the kids will like that) and the lounge seating in the back is a nice touch.

Seems solid enough but it's clearly not as developed as the Golf and the perceived quality is nothing like as good, but it's perfectly good enough.

I'll be driving it 100 odd miles home from Oxfordshire soon so I should know by the time I'm back home whether it's a really bad call I've made....I don't think it is though as so far pleasantly surprised.

 

[marnie]

Just don't use the heater.

 

[jeffkro]

Dont know why its not cut out for two kids. Its actually a roomy back seat and its good for hauling things, although not if using the back seat.

 

[rapport25]

I really like the new shape VW Tiguan. Did you look at them???. Not a Poxhaul

Joking aside, they are OK, but you will soon miss the quality feel you get with the VW's

All the best,

Rappy

 

[rapport25]

Just don't use the heater.

 

[pipsyp]

Just don't use the heater.

Haha that'll be the old Zafira...the fires that have occurred with those are down to independent garages carrying out bodge fixes on failed heater controllers..the irony is its not really Vauxhall's fault at all that the fires occurred.

 

[pipsyp]

Dont know why its not cut out for two kids. Its actually a roomy back seat and its good for hauling things, although not if using the back seat.

With two good child seats in the back, only the stick man would fit in the middle seat....it's therefore little or no good for going 5 up in. Also whilst VW quote the Mk7 boot is bigger than what came before it, to be it seems less usable space than the Mk6....the daft false floor I don't think helped matters really.

Even going food shopping tended to result in food bags having to be put in rear footwells etc....

It's a lovely car and I already miss it, but it can't get near a MPV for practicality...something I made the head over heart decision I needed over and above my selfish desire to tool around in a nice warm hatch.

 

[pipsyp]

I really like the new shape VW Tiguan. Did you look at them???. Not a Poxhaul

Joking aside, they are OK, but you will soon miss the quality feel you get with the VW's

All the best,

Rappy

Me too...Sadly can't get the Tiguan on our car list....also as I was already in a contract my choices were limited.

I could have taken an older shape Passat Bluemotion saloon for a short time then ordered another car...but I didn't really fancy driving around in a very basic 1.6 passat for months...the only other viable choice was the Zafira.

Once upon a time we'd have an excess of nice cars sitting at our fleet office awaiting rehoming...but they've tightened up on it so cars don't hang around so much and are hard to come by.

I do agree....I don't think the Zafira is badly made (I think it's German built also) but it definitely doesn't have that air of quality that the Golf has...it's quite utilitarian....but perhaps being a family workhorse it's no bad thing.

 

[pipsyp]

So.....I've come home with it.

No denying I am a bit gutted......driving something like a Zafira really makes you realise how good cars like the Golf GTD are. It's a shit load faster (of course) and is just the polar opposite to the Zafira in terms of driver enjoyment. They can't be compared and I wouldn't even begin to try.

However.....the Zafira to my surprise is actually a bloody good car...a lot better than I anticipated.

Firstly given its heft and that it has soft suspension and 50 profile tyres.....credit where credit is due it handles v well indeed around for an MPV is quite sprightly and chuckable. Despite the soft suspension it actually doesn't pitch or roll v much and corners quite flat....having 225 section rubber means there is a reasonable level of grip too. It isn't fun, but dare I say it...probably holds the road better than my Mk3 2.0 150 TDI Octavia which being heavily based on a Mk7 Golf is surprising.

The engine is supposedly the whisper diesel....reality is its not that quiet really...no worse but certainly no better than the VAG TDI'S and a bit noisier than the Golf as I don't think the noise suppression is quite so good.

It suffers quite epic turbo lag off boost in the wrong gear...probably not helped by its longish gearing....it's pretty dog slow in 1st 2nd and 3rd but once up to a reasonable pick it pulls v well for a 1.6.....it outputs 136ps and 236lb/ft torque so it does a good impression of a decent 2.0 diesel once wound up a bit.

Thing that's surprised me the most is the driving position and seats.......both are A1. The sit up and beg driving position is actually very natural and whilst not remotely sporty in nature really does winders if you suffer a bad back or poor posture. Whereas I'd feel a bit worn out after a bad journey in the Golf...starting to suffer aching knees etc no such thing in the Zafira.

The seats really do deserve a mention....being Elite spec it came with the back quack approved sport seats, the drivers one being pretty much every which way adjustable with squab adjustment (on the passenger seat too)..the drivers seat getting height, tilt and four way electric lumbar adjustment. The seats are not too firm or soft are doing have just the right amount of lateral support...the headrest also tilts a bit like the Passat which is a nice touch. Not that I really expected to sing a Vauxhall's praises like this ever.....I genuinely have to say I have not sampled such a comfortable drivers seat for years....and is reason alone I'd look to keep it for the rest of its term.

Spec Wise....hmm it's a bit odd really. Being heavily based on the older Astra it omits some fairly everyday kit....it doesn't have Nav (which I could live without) but also doesn't have Bluetooth. Having had both in my past four previous cars it's a bit alien going without.

It does however have sturdy leather(ette) seats, fronts are heated, Climate control, DAB, USB, auto lights, wipers and rear view mirror and high beam assist and front/rear sensors. It also has proper TPMS (so individual wheel pressures and not ABS based) and I guess the real highlights are the panoramic windscreen and roof.

The windscreen is quite novel but it's weird having so much glass above you...not nice when it's really sunny either. Can't see myself using that much. The panoramic roof is cool, kids love it. Has an electric fabric blind that can be one-shot opened and closed or partly. Bizarrely the roof doesn't actually open but the I suppose at least it means it's bonded and unlikely to ever leak

In terms of what's better than the Golf.....seats definitely...but perhaps it's the different and more adjustable driving position. Also dare I say it....I think the sound system is better....marginally but I think it is. Also no discernable rattles or squeaks at 1 year old..unlike the Golf. It feels tinier than the Golf though...especially when you open and close doors. Few get near VAG for that bank vault feeling.

So....one of those situations I felt if I thought too much about it I just wouldn't do it. I got home looked out of the window and felt a bit sad and perhaps and bit remorseful...but you know what I am impressed with the Zafira and whilst I don't love it like the Golf I definitely like it and appreciate it's relative practicality and quirkiness.

Would I buy one....no probably not....would I run one as a couldn't give a shit workhorse care of my company....most definitely and relish being able to pull into car parking spaces like and idiot and not really caring if someone dings or scrapes it

 

[Bodgerx]

Probably diff seats in your GTD, but the comfort seats in my SE are the best I've had in a car.

Are you sure the Zafira doesn't have Bluetooth? All the reviews say it does...

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[pipsyp]

Probably diff seats in your GTD, but the comfort seats in my SE are the best I've had in a car.

Are you sure the Zafira doesn't have Bluetooth? All the reviews say it does...

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

Dont get me wrong the seats in the GTD in isolation are epic...both look and feel great.....one slight niggle I've always had with the car is getting 100% comfortable. Possibly down to the seat only being height adjustable a day with primitive manual lumbar which only did so much.

Not that I love the sit and beg driving style but that mixed with the better seat adjustment arrangement seems to be that bit better for my back.

Sadly my car is a non Nav version and is a 2015 model so no standard bluetooth....does have DAB and USB though so all is not lost.

 

[pipsyp]

Probably diff seats in your GTD, but the comfort seats in my SE are the best I've had in a car.

Are you sure the Zafira doesn't have Bluetooth? All the reviews say it does...

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

Dont get me wrong the seats in the GTD in isolation are epic...both look and feel great.....one slight niggle I've always had with the car is getting 100% comfortable. Possibly down to the seat only being height adjustable a day with primitive manual lumbar which only did so much.

Not that I love the sit and beg driving style but that mixed with the better seat adjustment arrangement seems to be that bit better for my back.

Sadly my car is a non Nav version and is a 2015 model so no standard bluetooth....does have DAB and USB though so all is not lost.

 

[stevew09]

You mentioned the silly false floor in the boot, did you know that the floor "shelve" has two positions, low as in sitting on the metal of the chassis and suspended about 6" or so above the metal of the chassis?