Faults:

Worn valve stem seals at120k miles & water pump failure at 100k miles.

General Comments:

Bought the car after having a mk2 SRi, which prompted me to buy the mk3 when it was 18 months old with 30k miles on the clock. It has proved to be so reliable that when changing the valve stem seals, I decided to fit a big valve head & new camshaft to keep the power up to date with the more modern car and it has covered 150k miles since this with no problems. I consider the 8v to be superior to HTE 16v SRi that I have had access to.

Faults:

None.

General Comments:

I bought the car with 72,000 miles on the clock, it has run faultlessly.

It is a bit sluggish of the line, but the mid-range acceleration is terrific.

Fuel economy is good out of town and on the motorway, but drops to around 30MPG around town.

I LOVE this car.

Faults:

I am on my fourth new clutch cable in 3 years - perhaps a little excessive but then maybe so is 30K miles per annum. Both pipes to fuel pump replaced when originals gave out. New water pump fitted recently due to leak. High mileage means new tires on regular basis but is to be expected even if pricey at 70 quid a go. Recurrent problems with hazard warning light switch - wouldn't switch off - most inconvenient. EMS light on most of the time - apparently recognising switch not fitted to this particular engine.

General Comments:

Wasn't aware that cambelts needed to be changed every 40K miles - we did 100K on ours before it was pointed out this was not a good idea! Car has been reliable on the whole, given the driving it has to do - stop/start on the motorway in the rush hour. Becomes VERY thirsty when in need of a service. Has never used any great amount of oil, never been smoky. Parcel shelf is a total nightmare to remove - Vauxhall must have designed that one on April 1st. Excellent stereo - six speakers giving plenty enough noise.

Faults:

Generally the Cavalier was solid and reliable transport.

Received the car secondhand with 55,000 miles on. The Cav had been in several accidents, and two during the time we had it. 8 months after its arrival, reoccuring problems with the electrics meant the car wouldn't start two Saturdays running.

Car was abused from day one of its life, and left us after less than a year with 95,000 miles on, in a bit of a state due to an oil leak spraying oil all down the off-side of the car.

General Comments:

Good four seater comfort, but ride and handling were both quite poor.

Avoid Vauxhall dealers. They just don't seem to care most of the time.

Make sure cambelt is changed every 40,000 miles - I've heard too many horror stories from friends, of engines being destroyed. Fuel consumption good, around 32mpg on average. GL spec seems to be a better quality car than L spec, in areas such as noise suppression.