One For The 'Rents: Vauxhall's Zafira

The Vauxhall Zafira has been present on British roads since 1999. It has enjoyed a stable rise to prominence and with the latest designs it looks set to become the UK’s favourite small MPV. But why are we interested?

Growing up is something of an inevitability, and an annoying fact of life. So what car do you run out to purchase when the first kid is on the way? Or what do you convince your 'rents to buy as their first "bigger car"? Vauxhall have sold 2.2 million Zafiras worldwide in the last twelve years, with 450,000 sales to the UK market. Alongside the Volkswagen Touran and the Ford S-Max, General Motors with Vauxhall have kept their Zafira as a contender to steal sales away for young families. The second generation Zafira was released in 2005 and the new generation Zafira Tourer was released earlier this year.

The Multi Purpose Vehicle is no longer a car that struggles with handling or sacrifices style and performance - we've seen that with cars like the Mitsubishi ASX. Some of the latest MPVs are amongst the most attractive cars on the road. The Zafira itself isn't sex on wheels, but it's certainly done a lot of growing up. Gone are the van-esque looks.

The Zafira Tourer is set to push the Zafira to an even wider audience. It’s slightly larger than the standard MPV and Vauxhall plan to sell the two alongside each other.

So, what's the damage? The vauxhall zafira for sale prices starts at £21,000 for the 1.4i petrol version. The 2.0CDTi gives much greater performance with figures of 0-62mph in 9.8seconds, 163bhp and a top speed of 129mph. Impressive figures for a car considered to be a functional MPV.

With cars on the market like the Corsa, Insignia and Astra, and with VXR versions available appealing to us younger lads and ladettes, the brand seems to be going from strength to strength. However whether or not Vauxhall can escape from their less wealthy clientèle and appeal to proper enthusiasts like Renault has managed to do, remains to be seen.