Having just discovered my Zafira spare wheel has been stolen after I checked when my local Vauxhall dealer sent me a letter to kindly offer a solution for £34.99

I have a solution for everyone that:

A) Is inexpensive
B) Deters future thefts
C) Is environmentally friendly

My solution, keep a nearly worn spare tyre on your Zafira, after all it is just a get you home or to the garage solution. It is inexpensive if you use one of my suggestions below. Thefts will stop as there will be no value to steal. We can all make use of those unused brand new spare tyres and save some world resources.

I have four suggestions to obtain a nearly worn spare:

1) When needing new tyres (normally in pairs) just replace one and put the other one as the spare and use the new spare. To be totally safe you need to match the spare which can be expensive as original fit tyres are overpriced or out of production!
2) When you have tyres replaced ask the tyre man if you can keep the old ones, this will save him money and they won?t be thrown away. You then just need a new rim and pay less than a tenner to have the tyre put on.
3) Make friends with all the people in your area that own Zafiras with the same tyre size and type. When someone needs new tyres you can give them your brand new spare and you take their part worn spare. When you need new tyres they pay half the cost. Marvellous, this one actually saves money, costs nothing, apart from being friendly and saves the environment.
4) Talk nicely to your local tyre man who may keep old tyres for you of the right size. The down side here is you do not know the origin of the tyre or how it has been treated! The up side is you can swop the tyre for the new spare tyre and sell this as there is obviously a market out there somewhere for Zafira tyres.

Perhaps someone should set up a website called Zafirasparetyreswop.com!

All stories are published anonymously. Thank you to all who contribute!
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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.