Due to my Roomster being off the road due to someone driving into the side of it I have had a '59 reg Meriva Design 1.8 petrol for the past week and a half. Looking at many "multi car" tests its clear that the Journos don't know quite where to place the Roomie, but tend to compare it mainly with the small MPVs which is as near as they are going to get... so I though a summary of the two might be useful to someone! I did just under 400 miles in the Meriva, some motorway, some local work and the rest my usual commute...

To start with the Roomster is about 6" longer than the Meriva but 1" narrower... this is reflected inside where the Roomster makes good use of the extra space. Height wise they are about the same, but the rear seats in the Roomster are 1 1/2" higher than the front, with the Meriva seats all on the same level... Though the driving position is slightly higher in the Meriva it makes no difference on the road.

So, interior first... as I said the extra length makes all the difference, with rear legroom in the Roomster miles better than the Meriva, as is boot space. The seating is fairly similar in comfort, though the middle "seat" in the Meriva is pretty much useless other than an armrest (rather surprising as it's an inch wider over the body), the Roomster has a 3/4 seat so can be used occassionally. The Roomster seems to have more storage in the front, though the Meriva scores with fold down picnic tables in the back. The Meriva's boot space is a lot smaller, though it has a false floor with under floor storage which is good. The Roomster has no false floor and so has a large drop to the boot floor. Both have cubby holes in the boot, though only the Roomster has a 12v plug.

In the Meriva the rear seats fold and then slide forward leaving a flatish floor but they don't come out but they do slide forward and backward. In the Roomster all seats are individually adjustable, all three can be removed individually or folded forward as per most hatch/estate cars.

Driving experience... from the driving position in the Roomster you have a thick A pillar which restricts the view when looking right, the Meriva uses the "small window" type of front, but if anything this makes matters worse as the window is pretty useless making the blind spot even bigger in the Meriva. Other than that they drive fairly similarly, though the Meriva is subject to more buffeting than the Roomster which seems more "planted" on the road.

Engine wise its a petrol vs diesel comparison as my Roomster is the 1.9TDi version... The petrol is faster off the mark and seems very high geared for a petrol in 5th 3000rpm at 70... That has advantages and disadvantages, it makes ecconomy better but I found on steep hills it just wouldn't pull, even at 70 on the big hill on the M42 it struggled to hold speed... Whereas in the Roomster anything over 40 and you just leave it in 5th! The petrol is far quieter than the diesel though! Economy... I got just under 40mpg in the Meriva which I thought was pretty good (the average is 38) and I get 55 in the Roomster.

One big niggle I had with the Meriva is the absence of those little things that make the Skoda better... things like the Computer (mpg, etc), variable intermitant wipers, the ability to hold full beam temporarilly and the ability to switch the indicators on for three flashes... only little things but makes all the difference in day to day driving... as the Meriva was top of the line model I'd have expected more from it..

So, is the Meriva a "clever little family car" as Vauxhall say? Well it has its good points, but in direct comparison with the Roomster it isn't... If you have a 2+2 family and the kids are not toddlers then the Meriva is a useful car with enough space... but add buggies (or in our case a wheelchair) and its sadly lacking in space and its just not versatile enough...

If anything it's the Roomster thats the "clever little family car".... and if you can live with its looks, its the better of the two cars for a family by a long shot... It will be interesting to see if the new Meriva has addressed any of the older ones shortcomings, though...

ive got a 1.4 tdi roomster and my mate a 1.3 cdti meriva i drove it and tell you i dont like it

the roomster is more comffortable more secure not so noise as the meriva and got much room then the meriva ,o and got more interior quality meterials

I rented a Meriva 1.7 CDTi on holiday 2 years ago. Nice car but some bad flaws.

Liked

Easy folding rear seats

Quite comfortable front seats

Nice driving position

Quiet and smooth once the revs were up

Pulled well once the turbo was spooled up

Excellent climate control

Hated

Blindspot round tight corners - nearly killed me in the mountains

Clattery at low revs

Terrible turbo lag if caught in wrong gear

Very VERY poor gearbox

Rather small boot

Gloomy cabin

Resonance at 120 kph made motorways a chore

High seating position increased sensation of pitch and roll

Chronic understeer on tight corners

isn't a Design top spec? can't believe it didn't have things like the computer, variable intermitant wipers, the ability to hold full beam temporarilly and the ability to switch the indicators on for three flashes when my dad's SRI Astra from 4 years ago had all of the features :S

Yes, you're right its the top spec, in fact the only other cars in the range above it were the diesels, but still to Design spec... I couldn't believe it was so poorly spec'd either... Think we might be spoilt with Skoda! I found the gearbox ok, Broomster, one of the few bits that were... the rear folding seats were ok, but because they only folded into the floor and not removable or folded forward like the Roomsters' it meant that the boot floor was about 4" higher than it need have been and you lose an awful lot of boot space and so I regard it as a negative, not a positive!

From reports on other forums that 1.7 engine seems to get very poor reviews, as does the lower powered 1.3 CDTi... Its one thing Vauxhall seem to be struggling with is decent small diesel engines... for all their noise the VAG diesels are beauts in comparrison!

Edited 1 August, 201015 yr by The PM

It might be worth clarifying that all these Meriva reports are about the old model? The new on has rear RR Phantom style doors and is good deal better on paper.

It might be worth clarifying that all these Meriva reports are about the old model? .

I did in my original post... last paragraph... though just the use of suicide doors won't fix things... it needs a lot more than that to be as versatile as the Roomster. Personally I feel that rear sliding doors are better than suicide (or even front opening) doors for access...

Edited 1 August, 201015 yr by The PM

I did in my original post... last paragraph... though just the use of suicide doors won't fix things... it needs a lot more than that to be as versatile as the Roomster. Personally I feel that rear sliding doors are better than suicide (or even front opening) doors for access...

Just had a look at one... very little difference between it and the old one... and I can't see any benefit to those rear doors... the Roomie is stil by far the better car.

I know nothing about the new Meriva, but the old one isn't great.

The dash is not very nice and the 1.3CDti engine isn't very torquey at low rpm like the PD TDi engines are.

But I guess they are cheaper than the Roomster.

But I guess they are cheaper than the Roomster.

Meriva prices go up to over 17k... higher than Roomsters?

http://www.autocar.co.uk/vauxhall/meriva/

Yipes! Thats pricey!!

OK guys I had a Meriva (virtually new) for three years but finally got fed up with it's general reliability and that is what matters so much to many of us. As a direct comparison the 1.6 Roomie definitely has more shove than the 1.6 Meriva in my experience for a start and for going round corners the Roomie has it beat hands down. What really annoyed me was the number of times the Meriva let me down with basic stuff which really shouldn't happen with a newish car: The ECU packed up at around 35k miles and had to be replaced and the boots on the universal joints started to part company at only 28k - fortunately my mechanic noticed the problem before it got too expensive. Generally the Roomie is far easier to work on under the bonnet than the Meriva where all the bits seem to be crammed in and awkward to get at.

I suspect that Vauxhall has a way to go before it reaches Skoda (Volkswagen) reliability and the figures on the available reliability surveys pretty well prove it. Although many people don't consider reliability too much, in reality it is a quite important cost element - how much petrol can one buy for the £100 it cost to have the Meriva ECU replaced?