Category: Compact MPV 
Price Range: £10,495 to £16,570
Versatile seating, spacious, 1.3 diesel engine
Low gearing, unsettled over bumps
Practical and with brilliant rear seat packaging, Vauxhall shows the way forward for small MPVs
Vauxhall's research indicates that these days, families spend more time in their car together than they do around the dinner table. Just as well the Luton-based company doesn't make home furnishings then, and manufactures the Meriva instead.
Thought up in Brazil by one of GM's high-flyers, it's quite a neat idea - a handy little five-seater with very clever seating system in the back, called FlexSpace. The Meriva's about the same size as an Astra but not based solely on this car, taking its mechanical components from many vehicles in the Vauxhall/Opel range, including the Vectra and Corsa.
The Meriva received a mild facelift at the start of 2006 featuring a corporate V grille and smoked tail lights. A 1.3-litre 74bhp diesel joins the range alongside a turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine in the guise of the VXR (see our separate Driven piece for more on this).
Latest Readers' Drives About the Vauxhall Meriva
wrote on 13 09 2007