Self-keyer keeps track of everything, and has already reached half a million
The owner of this Opel Zafira 2.2 automatic from 2001, Hendrik Meijer, deserves a ribbon. What he has done to his Zafira himself is unbelievable. It was all necessary to keep Opel’s family car going. Now, however, the end seems in sight. The owner sees that too.
Hendrik has a neat, good job and his wife also works. Yet he does everything himself on his Opel Zafira. That has two reasons. “My wife and I both ride motorcycles, I both on public roads and on the track. For that I have a motorcycle without license plate with racing fairing. We prefer to spend our money on that. In addition, I really like tinkering. It is a challenge to get it done,” Hendrik explains.
Hendrik hones the cylinders of the Zafira engine
In this, Hendrik goes further than anyone else. Which car handyman hones the cylinders of his engine block? Henry so. Three weeks before the Klokje Rond inspection, an ominous message reaches us: “Severe loss of compression on one cylinder. I’m going to investigate what it is.”
He then ventured into the open-heart surgery of car jobs: examining the engine block. “I suspected a broken valve, but it turned out to be a broken piston,” we learn. Hendrik does not shy away from any job and makes it right, so that the Zafira can still show up for the inspection. Brave!
Zafira meets a long wish list: automatic transmission, space, LPG and towing capacity
When the children came, Hendrik had to look for a family car. Before that he drove on gray license plates, first a Ford Courier, later a Citroën Jumpy in which his racing engine fit exactly. The package of requirements for the forthcoming ‘family carrier’ was not insignificant. “I wanted an automatic transmission, lots of space, a gas installation and a powerful engine to pull a caravan and trailers. Then my wife came up with the idea of looking for a Zafira. But with this package of conditions, it took me three months to find him.”
Had repairs done but that went wrong
Hendrik is very happy with his purchase, but there is no other way, otherwise you don’t put so much time and energy into it. Just look at the list of defects. Quite a lot had to be done to keep this Opel going, but Hendrik succeeded. “Twice I had something done to the car, both times it went wrong. The fuel pump of the gas tank was a drama, I had that done. In the end, a bad hose clamp turned out to be the culprit. The replacement of the gas tank also turned out to be an endless prayer, because the float stuck.”
Strong oil consumption
A practical, comfortable cruiser, that is the Zafira, but you have to do something for it. Motor oil, for example, the German loves it. “The oil consumption of this car continued to increase over the years, with the result that it eventually no longer passed the emission requirements of the MOT. I then plotted the oil consumption in a graph, which you can see in the second sheet in my Excel file. At 450,000 km I replaced the piston rings. That helped a lot in reducing oil consumption.” According to Hendrik, that high oil consumption is perhaps the biggest drawback of the Zafira, together with the poor quality of the brake lines. “They rust quite a bit. I’ve had to replace them all before.”
Average kilometer cost 0.19 cents
And what did all that cost? Naturally, Hendrik has also mapped this out neatly. The third sheet of his Excel file shows all costs in the various categories and per year. “The total cost in the almost nine years that I have had the car is €38,452.33. This over 197,732 km is an average kilometer cost of €0.194. If you spread these costs over time, this is almost €360 per month,” Hendrik calculates smoothly for us.
Henk has kept track of everything about the Opel Zafira
The fuel consumption may also be interesting to map, because the Zafira always starts on petrol. “During the past nine years I have had to fill up with about 1,150 liters of petrol,” says Henk. Yes, he really kept track of everything.
Joep has a long list of defects
During the inspection, our judge Joep Schuurman becomes somewhat displeased with what he finds. To put it mildly, it means that this Zafira has had its best time. “Well, where do I even start”, Joep begins thoughtfully. “Apart from a decent list of things that aren’t right, I think it’s especially bad that he doesn’t really drive well. A car can have some points of attention, you will then do something with it, but in this case you really notice it behind the wheel. Then I quit.”
Owner Hendrik is not really surprised by the hefty list of defects and Joep’s strict judgment. “This is confirmation of what I expected. It’s time for something different and I’m going to start the search. Because I want the same thing again: a powerful engine, a gas installation, space and an automatic transmission!” Good luck with your search, Hendrik!
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl