By the time Opel finally released a large MPV, it turned out that this model could not offer anything that was not already available in a multicolored variety from Fiat, Mitsubishi, Chrysler, Volkswagen and all those other brands. Yes, still: a pitifully low quality level.
If you walk painfully behind the troops at first, you appear to be completely unequipped for the tasks that await you at your destination. As a brand new model in a hard-fought market, you’d better have something extra to offer, but the Sintra lacked that. You only wanted to embrace him if anonymity was at the top of your wish list. The Sintra was the German entry for the large GM project that was to help the various brands of the group find beautiful new people movers.
It was built in the United States between its sister models Buick GL8, Chevrolet Trans Sport, Chevrolet Venture, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Pontiac Montana and Pontiac Trans Sport. The Sintra was the only one with German engines, which were shipped from Rüsselsheim especially for him. A great move, because Europeans had enough of a 2.2-liter four-cylinder and no American 3.4-liter V6 remained. The Sintra was the shorter of the two body styles that GM built for the aforementioned makes, so that it would be in line with the Renault Espace, Ford Galaxy and the like. All American glamor was then dropped, so that the Sintra looked like an extra high and wide Vectra station wagon, but with sliding doors at the back. Every form of elegance was therefore alien to him, but that should not be an obstacle in the name of the universally pursued ease of use.
So just a good Opel? Unfortunately not, because the build quality turned out to be far below par. In the UK, where Top Gear brandished its JD Power Survey, the Sintra finished at the bottom of the list and was publicly dragged through the mire. The British car club RAC issued a negative travel advice: feel free to buy an MPV, as long as it is not Sintra. As early as 1999, the story was over and Opel introduced the smart Zafira as an alternative. It’s funny that that name has now been assigned to a sturdy passenger bus, which is also being built in collaboration with a series of group members. Fortunately, similarities here are purely coincidental.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl