Vauxhall Meriva 1.3 diesel... 08/09 model.

[Seafrost]

Hi All,

Friends have rang me to say their car is poofed... been towed to Vauxhall who have quoted almost the price of a new car to fix it.

From what I can gather, Im still waiting on more info, Its got what is now becoming common knowledge "failure" of these units... that being the cars are driven merely around town, and the owners have NOT read the User Manuals, which tell them "apparently" that they must give these cars a good run to get the car upto temp so the DPF can do its job.....

So what appears to happen is it doesnt do it job and dumps diesel into sump, which then from what I can gather, makes engine blow lots of smoke, runs on , till it dies....... resulting in knackered / melted injectors etc.

Anyone here know of a Good Diesel Mechanic "fairly local" who can sort this out without breaking the bank? or should I just suggest they sell as is and spend the money on something else ( Did tell them Rover 75 would be nicer ) ..... but they do a lot of local mileage... so wanted what they thought would be economy...... I find a petrol from personal experience to be cheaper for local stop start trips.....but there we go.... they did not and now they are stuck big time, lovely people too a real shame.

I just rang a mechanic friend and he does not do diesels, but has heard a few of these Small Fiat engines that Vauxhall have used do the samething, but Vaux Forum I have just been on seems to suggest from owners that Vaux are not interested and blame poor servicing by not having it done at their dealerships!! hmm... should now be a recall issue, as not fit for purpose, how can they tell people how they should and should not drive? crazy.

Shocking to think a filter can trash an engine.... some as low as 5000 miles.........

[sworks]

It's more likely that one of the injector tips has came away and resulted in excess fuel being fed in, only seen it once on a swift (same engine) If the dpf doesn't regenerate you would get a warning light and loss of performance not excessive fuel fed in. Once the dpf tries to carry out an auto regen it will inject more fuel but certain parameters have to be met, temp, speed etc and once any of these stop the regen is cancelled

[MattyC]

This was on watchdog last year. I know it's affecting most modern diesels, not just Vauxhalls etc... However, you can get the DPF removed, and it's worth doing as they are expensive to replace.

I know Roverron's partner company does it - http://www.energy-tuning.com/dpf-removal-services/ - but obviously, you'd be better searching for a more local company that offers a similar service.

Not sure on the cons of DPF removal, but the pro's are pretty obvious.

[Seafrost]

Originally Posted by MattyC

This was on watchdog last year. I know it's affecting most modern diesels, not just Vauxhalls etc... However, you can get the DPF removed, and it's worth doing as they are expensive to replace.

I know Roverron's partner company does it - http://www.energy-tuning.com/dpf-removal-services/ - but obviously, you'd be better searching for a more local company that offers a similar service.

Not sure on the cons of DPF removal, but the pro's are pretty obvious.

Thanks both, Well After calling around, most garages do not want to touch it, those that will have suggested damage could be more extensive...... they said it would require new dpf, injectors, glowplugs, possibly an exhaust, as it was chuffing black smoke and god knows what else out of it......and even then they said, that considering this happened just days after Vauxhall serviced it, it would more than likely re-occur due to driving style.......so owners have decided its best to get rid... and have had a couple of breakers around to get idea of value

Best offer so far was £500...... for an 08 car with 20,000 or 30,000 miles on it ?? sad days. If I knew more about diesels I would have had a go myself for them. Cannot believe most garages round here heard "diesel and vauxhall" and we like, No sorry we don't do those......... and the Main Dealer who will wants over £4000+....so glad i got a basic rover.....simple engined !!

[Billy1mate]

It must be worth spending £1000 on another engine?

[Seafrost]

Originally Posted by Billy1mate

It must be worth spending £1000 on another engine?

Only if this would also solve the problem of it reoccuring, sadly that is down to how it is driven and the poor design of the Fiat engines they used, which run on when clogged until meltdown....... they obviously did not think there would be a need for air shut off valve, which may have solved the overun issues......cannot believe Vauxhall just shaft their customers in this way, knowing its definately a design flaw...... 1.3 car you would expect to be a Round Town car , not keep having to run it 100 miles down the motorway every week, just to clear the filter. Next they will be telling drivers where to drive, not just How to Drive It... shocking.

But too late now car is heading for tin can alley.

[TR75]

What an absolute joke!

A car that new should never have those problems. Is it not still under warranty?

A few years ago after returning from a holiday in The Lakes, the engine on my parents TD5 Discovery disintegrated. The fault was caused by the bolt on the oil pump coming loose and ripping through the engine, subsequently destroying it.

It was featured on Watchdog and as such a known fault, but at the time Land Rover didn't want to know about it, as the car was 2 months outside of its warranty. Anyway, after threatening to take them to court over it they decided to fit a brand new engine and turbo F.O.C including covering all expenses incurred. All kept hush hush of course.

Might be worth your friend following a similar line with Vauxhall and seeing if they get any recompense that way?

[James.uk]

Sounds to me as though the car wasn't "fit for purpose" when sold to you, I would go see the garage and then, if they wont help, take them to court.

They can hardly deny they knew about the fault when they sold the car can they.
...

[Seafrost]

Not sold to me James.uk

It was a friends car, and I agree not fit for purpose, but Vauxhall are very specific as are a few more Manufacturers now about "servicing" at their dealerships and In time, once Light comes on dash they advise in book to take car for long drive so as to let DPF warm up and clear itself, what they dont say is, what happens if you follow that and it does not clear and your engines goes pop....

They then try and say, according to their "computer" you drove it too far with the light on......??? you left it too long?? none of which makes sense. But im sure one day, someone will be successful in taking them to court, sadly not my friends, they had invested every penny they had in this car, including the £700+ Vauxhall dealer service just days before.

Also the damage has to occur with the 3 Year Warranty, this one was out of warranty, as the car was purchased from Carcraft last year. They have said speak to Vauxhall, but Vauxhall say, its not a dsign fault, its poor servicing or driving styles, and not following their recommendations as per handbook. They refuse to acknowledge the owners of the forums, and stick to above...all these drivers have not driven car as they suggest. Which of cause is waffle.

The Vaux Owners club forums have many disgruntled owners with the exact same problem, some with 5000 mile cars and 11000 mile cars, all with the same failure. Just different quotes to fix, from £2000+ to £6000+ ....According to one garage owner member on there from Italy, he states, Opel are replacing the engines in Italy..... just Vauxhall here then being a pain, as we have such weak consumer laws or assistance when things go wrong, they simply just ignore customers, knowing most cannot afford to go through the legal system here.
A reason I have only ever owned 1 vauxhall..... in my life and only had that a few months as a stop gap before getting my 214sei !!

I simply wish I knew more about diesels , as I would have liked to have had a go at repairing, but the one garage local said that even If he repaired it, he would still need to pay Vauxhall to set it all back up on their computers, as they apparently refuse to let anyone else have the software to communicate with their cars? who knows if that is true or not? I do not, and advised my friends as such.

Modern cars are getting more and more technical all the time and slowly as Manufacturers wanted , Grease Monkeys will not be able to work on them.....we will have to go to them for everything and who can blame them, they do not want to go bust like other Manufacturers have.

[carguy143]

I'd hate to see what these environmental systems will be like once cars get to a similar age as ours are currently at. The batteries on a Prius, the starter motors /alternators of these start stop systems etc. I imagine these systems will not be cheap to replace/repair.