Oh dear, a deeply uncool Vauxhall...
Discussion
With tuppence hapenny in the jar, I chanced on a Vauxhall Meriva B, the one with the strange rear doors. Why was it cheap? Weeeelll... we'll get to that.
It's actually quite a nice car, comfortable and drives quite well. Looks smart too. Even the underneath is quite good order for its age. And say what you like about Vauxhall's, they did a good job of making their plastic wheel trims look like alloys! The rear doors are quite handy too, when they work...
...ah yes, problems.
It's a 1.4 non turbo. Simpler, yes. Slooooow...yes. But that's ok, I can live with that.
A full service and water pump plus coolant change - quite straightforward.
Buuuuuuuutttt...the real problems are with the electrics. They are crazy! The rear doors are almost unusable due to locking issues, and that's despite replacing the rear lock units.
Open either front door? The locks cycle multiple times. Press the remote? Multiple lock cycles. Insert the key into the ignition barrel? Multiple lock cycles. Something is deeply wrong somewhere, and so far it's defied all attempts to sort it.
Buying a suitable code reader that can properly communicate with the cars systems is not cheap or attainable just now, and it annoys me that the car has such seemingly unfixable problems.
So I can't see it being a long term ownership story with me, it seems GM made a nice car but then ruined it with electrics made from pasta.
What's wrong with manufacturers these days?
It's actually quite a nice car, comfortable and drives quite well. Looks smart too. Even the underneath is quite good order for its age. And say what you like about Vauxhall's, they did a good job of making their plastic wheel trims look like alloys! The rear doors are quite handy too, when they work...
...ah yes, problems.
It's a 1.4 non turbo. Simpler, yes. Slooooow...yes. But that's ok, I can live with that.
A full service and water pump plus coolant change - quite straightforward.
Buuuuuuuutttt...the real problems are with the electrics. They are crazy! The rear doors are almost unusable due to locking issues, and that's despite replacing the rear lock units.
Open either front door? The locks cycle multiple times. Press the remote? Multiple lock cycles. Insert the key into the ignition barrel? Multiple lock cycles. Something is deeply wrong somewhere, and so far it's defied all attempts to sort it.
Buying a suitable code reader that can properly communicate with the cars systems is not cheap or attainable just now, and it annoys me that the car has such seemingly unfixable problems.
So I can't see it being a long term ownership story with me, it seems GM made a nice car but then ruined it with electrics made from pasta.
What's wrong with manufacturers these days?
I had the same with a lexus i had.
The rear door lock motors had failed and i replaced them. After a bit of fault finding i discovered that the polarity on the replacement door locks was reversed so when the rears thought they were unlocking, they were locking and vice versa. It really fudged up the lock/unlock cycles.
Once I worked out the issue it was a quick fix. Worth a check.
The rear door lock motors had failed and i replaced them. After a bit of fault finding i discovered that the polarity on the replacement door locks was reversed so when the rears thought they were unlocking, they were locking and vice versa. It really fudged up the lock/unlock cycles.
Once I worked out the issue it was a quick fix. Worth a check.
Well, a huuuuuge service later, including replacement coolant, all filters, quality coil pack, maf clean, throttle body clean etc, I think the little 1.4 non turbo is giving all it can.
But it still seems a bit rough at times, with a slightly rough idle, and harshness under acceleration sometimes, especially from lower speeds. Something still seems a bit off, but I can't isolate what it could be.
It handled a 2 hour blast on the motorway fine today, quite comfortable. The slightly tall body is nice, ensuring good head room and a slightly elevated driving position.
Still haven't tackled the electrical issues...sigh.
But it still seems a bit rough at times, with a slightly rough idle, and harshness under acceleration sometimes, especially from lower speeds. Something still seems a bit off, but I can't isolate what it could be.
It handled a 2 hour blast on the motorway fine today, quite comfortable. The slightly tall body is nice, ensuring good head room and a slightly elevated driving position.
Still haven't tackled the electrical issues...sigh.
SirGriffin said:
It's not bad actually - quite comfortable, roomy, drives quite nicely (as long as you're not in a hurry...)
There's the makings of a nice car...
Bit thirsty though.
That’s like saying 4 walls and a roof are the makings of a nice house. Whilst this is true, it’s just as true as it being the makings of an awful house…There's the makings of a nice car...
Bit thirsty though.
SirGriffin said:
PistonTim said:
It was never a nice car to be fair.
It's not bad actually - quite comfortable, roomy, drives quite nicely (as long as you're not in a hurry...)There's the makings of a nice car...
Bit thirsty though.
The lack of power and boxy shape probably contribute to its' thirst!
But you really need to post a photo or two.
Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?
Constant rough running and poor idle was an annoyance and puzzle, since I'd given the engine a comprehensive service.
But a chance find of a passing comment buried in an unrelated post suggested investigating the evap solenoid valve - a £10 eBay chinesium pattern part later and success! Much improved smoothness and better idle. Result!
Now for a front wheel bearing...sigh. Definitely one of these cars where there is always something to do.
And I still haven't tackled the electrics yet...
Constant rough running and poor idle was an annoyance and puzzle, since I'd given the engine a comprehensive service.
But a chance find of a passing comment buried in an unrelated post suggested investigating the evap solenoid valve - a £10 eBay chinesium pattern part later and success! Much improved smoothness and better idle. Result!
Now for a front wheel bearing...sigh. Definitely one of these cars where there is always something to do.
And I still haven't tackled the electrics yet...
Vauxhall bashing alive and well in this thread already!
My mum has one of these and she's currently going through court with the selling dealer who seems to think both bolts falling out of the brake caliper and ruining everything at the NSR of the car is "wear and tear". When it was working, it was nice enough. Had a load of features and the 1.4 turbo went alright for 130bhp. The locks sounds like more of an independent car issue rather than a model wise disaster though. Good luck on the fix.
My mum has one of these and she's currently going through court with the selling dealer who seems to think both bolts falling out of the brake caliper and ruining everything at the NSR of the car is "wear and tear". When it was working, it was nice enough. Had a load of features and the 1.4 turbo went alright for 130bhp. The locks sounds like more of an independent car issue rather than a model wise disaster though. Good luck on the fix.
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