The ex Mrs Ws Meriva has been written off by a minor rear end impact, which apparently bent the floor. She will be left with £3000 or therabouts when the insurance pays out and it is taken away.
For reasons best known to her she wants another one, either a 1.4 or 1.6 petrol. As muggins will no doubt have to ferry her round various used car dealers over the next few weeks, I though I had better swot up. Are the cams on these driven by belts or chains, and if the former, when should they be changed.
Incidentally I tried to find the answer to my questions on HJ, but the site threw me out of IE8 twice, and when I tried to find the info via Firefox the site was very hard to navigate.
Thanks in advance.
|
HJ says: Range of diesel and petrol engine options at launchfrom 1.6 to 1.8 litres
I had no problem via Firefox: www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/vauxhall/meriva-a-2003/
|
Cambelt engines, and official change interval:-
Z16 & 18XE - 6 yrs or 60,000 miles (whichever comes soonest)
Z16SE - 8 yrs or 80,000 miles (whichever comes soonest)
Z17DTH - 10 yrs or 60,000 miles (whichever comes soonest)
Z14XEP petrol & Z13DT diesel engine have a chain.
|
|
Good little car.Avoid anything with 2 pedals and the 1.3 diesel engine (Fiat)that gives continual problems with the Dpf system.hth
|
Thanks all. Currently trying to guide her into a 1.4 cos the tax will be less, and she doesnt go on motorways much so lack of performace won't be an issue.
Will report back when we have been shopping so you can all rubbish the deal we get...
|
An update of sorts.
She has decided to go down the bangernomics route, so this evening she bought.....
wait for it.....
A 1999 V plate Renault Megane Scenic 1.4RT. 133,000 miles on the clock. Will have 12 months mot by the time it is collected on Saturday, £695. Taxed until November. Wouldn't have been my choice tbh, but it seems to be in reasonable order. Clean, good tread on the tyres, no gunk under the oil cap. As long as it starts each morning and is reasonably safe its got to be better than taking on debt for something not much newer and not necesssarily more reliable.
|
Actually, I have a lot of respect for the Mk1 Scenic. Did a lot of miles in one for 4 years, and apart from the sun roof, never failed. Fabulous roomy comfortable capable motor.
If the cam belt breaks its the death tho.
|
Don't like cam belts. However, as said, at south of a bag of sand, who's worried?
Best car we ever had for miles per £ was a mark 1 Panda. Similar circs. Wife's then newish Astra was stolen from a railway station car park. We lived in the middle of nowhere and she needed a car immediately so we bought an old Panda with a year's ticket for about 2.5p or something. Certainly there weren't four digits before the decimal point anyway. She ended up running that car for another 4 years and some 50k further miles.The rust got it in end of course. I had to bolt the driver's door on with mending plates eventually so only the passenger door worked in the end. Having said that, a young NZ lad bought it from her and toured Europe in it with his girlfriend for a summer. Robust little thing really.Quite a hoot to drive too as I remember. Good in snow.
|
Vauxhall Meriva A MPV - Belts or chains - bathtub tom
