Alhambra, Renault Espace, or the Eurovans). As such, the platform was made quite narrow, which in turn made the GMX110s narrower than the previous "dustbuster" minivans, and more importantly than most American competitors. This influence continued through the third and final generation U body minivans, even though none of them were sold in Europe. The Sintra featured sliding rear side doors on both sides and was available in different seating configurations, which provided seating for from 5 to 8 passengers. Unlike its counterparts sold in North America, it offered manual transmission instead of automatic transmission, and had the gear shift mounted directly on the floor like the older generations of European MPVs. Many reviewers and customers found that the materials, fit and finish were below the usual Opel quality, and also below what European competitors offered – this was only partially addressed by several changes made throughout the model lifetime, like replacing the upholstery fabric for the season of 1997. Reliability This model proved relatively unreliable. In both May 2000 and May 2001, by which time it had been withdrawn from sale, the Sintra was ranked as the least satisfying car to own in the J. D. Power "customer satisfaction survey", covering cars first registered in the United Kingdom, and publishing in the Top Gear Magazine. Safety The Euro NCAP frontal impact crash test performed on a model from 1998 revealed significant deficiencies – the cabin structure proved unstable and the steering wheel (along with the airbag) broke off (unlike the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) test of its North American twin, the 1997 Pontiac Trans Sport, where the steering wheel only moved upward), which might have caused fatal neck injury to the driver, and that the damage to the dummy's feet were extremely high. Despite relatively good performance in side impact tests, the Sintra only managed to score 2.5 stars (3 stars with one struck due to the fatal neck injury hazard). Discontinuation The reliability and safety issues of the Sintra caused the minivan’s popularity to plummet even further, forcing Opel/Vauxhall to drop the model in April 1999. As the Astra-based Opel Zafira compact MPV debuted at the same time the minivan was officially withdrawn from sale, it is sometimes said that the Zafira replaced the Sintra. The Zafira was a smaller vehicle than the Sintra, but it proved to be far more successful than the Sintra ever