Fitting A Decent Lock Only Means The Cage Gets Damaged

My Zafira went in for its 3rd lot of warranty work in August last year it was just over 2yrs old.
When I collected my vehicle I was informed by the Service Dept that did I realise that my Spare Wheel was missing. I did not, I believe that it had been stolen while away 1 weekend at Alton Towers.

The Operative then informed that it was a common problem and that some people have been to his Dealership and purchased up to 3 no Spares for the same vehicle.

I could not believe it so I contacted Vauxhall customer services and complained, admittedly I was lucky and I did get the Spare wheel lock supplied and fitted free of charge but I still had to brunt the cost of a new spare wheel & tyre ( £80 ).
Since this time I have purchased another new Zafira 11/04. I was astonished to find that the cage had not been modified in the slightest.
I transferred my spare wheel lock from old to new vehicle but this is concealed and the thieves can't see it so they still rip your cage off on a regular basis even though they don't get the spare.
I then fitted a luminous green cable bike lock as a visual detterent, yes you can guess they still try to steal the wheel. So I now have a badly mangled spare wheel cage and damaged bodywork to the underside of my new car. This has occered to my new car 5 times in 6 months.

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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.