Faults:

1) Slight coolant leak that gradually got worse to the point where it now needs the oil cooler replaced (Holden have quoted $2,000. Vauxhall would do this in the UK for 400gbp. Am I being ripped off?!?)

2) Drive shaft replaced, just out of warranty. Actually a recall item only picked up by a young apprentice obviously to the disgust of the head mechanic. They had to pay for half of it. Always noticed knocking from front when steering. Now I know why.

3) Hesitation when accelerating. Always questioned it of mechanic. Never fixed properly though.

4) One brake not working when handbrake on. Again, questioned of mechanic when under warranty. Ended up having to pay for it out of warranty. How could I prove this?

5) Adjustable headlamp stuck. Tried to get fixed under warranty. Never properly fixed. Had to pay for it out of warranty.

6) Power steering leaked out all fluid, nearly ruined power steering. Thankfully was fixed under warranty, reluctantly.

7) Squeak from driver seat made me feel like I was sitting on an old couch, rather than driving a euro sport saloon. Never properly fixed.

General Comments:

Unlike most other owners, I don't think this car was too bad. In terms of performance, comfort, economy, handling it's a nice car. The V6 has a nice roar and is silky smooth through to over 6,000rpm. Hatchback design means this car swallows up the luggage.

Shame about the oil cooler. This is obviously an inherent design flaw which judging by other reports on the web always seems to go just out of warranty.

I think because I regularly serviced it, it didn't give too much trouble, but I get the feeling the bills will start adding up soon.

Faults:

I have owned this car from 35K to 87K and it has only had one significant fault- which is electrical. The engine management light (and sometimes the airbag light) come on intermittently, and at times the speedo, tacho, fuel and battery gauges also dance on and off around the same time. So far the car still drives OK. My auto electrician has been unable to diagnose the fault, and he advised the alternator and regulator appear to be operating normally, and there were no error messages within the computer. My concern is that there could be some long term damage to the vehicle which is currently going undetected.

I am very interested in another comment which I read on this site, "Friend had a 2000 Vectra in Australia, had all the electonic problems listed in review at about 80k, turned out to be a corroded earth wire from engine management computer. Fix was easy, but only if you knew what to look for."

I was hoping there might be some further advice out there?

General Comments:

This 4 cylinder Vectra has easily been the most reliable and enjoyable car I have ever driven, with plenty of power for Australian driving (it will do our top legal speed of 110kph in third with remarkable ease).

The German build quality really shines.

For $20,000 Aussie dollars I doubt I could have bought a better 2 year old car with low kilometers.

I would gladly buy another.