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In-depth reviews

Vauxhall Meriva MPV (2010-2017) - Practicality & boot space

Innovative doors are handy, but there's not as much room as you'd expect inside the Vauxhall Meriva

Carbuyer Rating

3.5 out of 5

Owners Rating

4.0 out of 5

Read owner reviews
Practicality & boot space Rating

4.0 out of 5

Vauxhall has given the Meriva rear-hinged back doors, and they make it very easy to access the rear seats, particularly if you’re leaning in to fit a child seat. The execution is good, although not as useful in tight parking spaces as the sliding rear door arrangement provided by the Ford B-MAX.

Vauxhall Meriva interior space & storage

You won't be short of storage space for odds and ends, either – Vauxhall claims the Meriva has 32 different cubbyholes dotted around its interior.

The clever FlexRail system is a rail that runs down between the front seats. Depending on the trim you choose, there are a number of different modules that can be installed, and all of them can be slid forwards and backwards.

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More expensive models also have storage space under the front seats, and the optional FlexOrganizer system sees rails added to the sides of the boot, allowing all manner of boxes, nets and hooks to be attached.

Boot space

Open the boot and you’ll notice one of the big advantages of the Meriva – its load capacity. The 397-litre capacity is more than 100 litres bigger than that of the Vauxhall Corsa and also beats the 318 litres of the Ford B-MAX. The rear seats fold flat into the floor to free up a maximum capacity of 1,500 litres and the large boot opening makes it easy to load big items.

The rear seats can be arranged in numerous combinations – you can leave one, two or three seats up while the remainder are folded away.

The back seats can also slide forwards or backwards to give more legroom or additional boot space as needed. Impressively, the centre seat can be folded into an armrest, while the remaining two seats move inwards, creating more shoulder room for those in the back.

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Richard is a former editor of Carbuyer, as well as sister site DrivingElectric.com, and he's now Deputy Editor at Auto Express. Having spent a decade working in the automotive industry, he understands exactly what makes new car buyers tick.

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