The press are taking an interest in Zafira spare wheel theft and it's thanks to all of you!
As a result of your efforts, some media interest is being generated in the website.
Which? magazine has published an article about the problem in their November issue and BBC's Watchdog has contacted us as part of their research. Auto Express has also run an article featuring the website.
Auto Express
The article in Auto Express called 'Don't get mad...get a website' features www.sparewheeltheft.co.uk and a number of other websites where people have decided to vent their frustrations using the internet. We have a 'PDF' version of the article available (460KB).
Which?
Which? researchers were told about the website, contacted Vauxhall and were told that "it had made a decision not to supply the device automatically". Again, we have a 'PDF' version of the article available.
BBC Watchdog
BBC Watchdog researchers contacted us in September trying to understand the problem in more detail. Although they are yet to run with the story, the more emails you send with your experiences the more chance there is of them investigating Vauxhall Zafira spare wheel theft.
The Zafira is a good all round family car
Based on the Vauxhall Astra chassis, there are quite a few similarities between the two cars, such as the general driving ride and the quality of the car as a whole.
There have been a few problems that general users have seen with the cars, such as:
- The engine cutting out when idle.
- The In car radio not functioning correctly.
- A squeaking noise from the brakes after only 10,000 miles or so use.
- Spare wheel thefts.
- A necessity to keep refilling the oil on diesel models (1 litre every thousand miles or so).
- Small storage space.
- Strange engine noises which can not be located or fixed.
Saying this, however. The car is very practical and does have some very good points. The innovative ?Flex 7? seating system makes it very easy to switch the car from 5 to 7 seats without too much hassle.
Other nice features include easy access to the car thanks to the wide opening doors, ideal for families with small children, and an anti-stall device. Designed to stop the car from stalling a low revs.
The car is generally very good and although a minority of owners have had some problems, it represents extremley good value for money and provides a great means of getting the whole family from one place to another.