2015 Vauxhall Insignia SRi Nav 1.8 petrol

Summary:

Nice!

Faults:

Clutch.

ABS.

Exhaust.

A/C no longer works.

General Comments:

My Insignia SRi has been a great car the last few years, very nice to drive for long journeys in comfort!

My car is brilliant white with black windows tints - very sharp looking. 18 inch SRi wheels. Quite a nice looking car when you look closely at it.

Inside charcoal grey interior with sports seats, very comfortable. Dash materials feel high quality. I feel the Vauxhall is very underrated in this regard. No, it isn't on the same level as an Audi A4 or anything, but not far off it in regards to quality. Standard radio and Sat Nav are actually pretty good and easy to use. Very spacious inside as well. Boot space is huge!

Great to drive - handles very sharp. Ride is smooth most of the time, can be a little rough on some roads, but that is only because the SRi model gets stiffer springs. Clutch and gearbox are smooth to use.

If I have any complaints the 1.8 petrol engine has boring performance (0-60 mph in 11 seconds!) and is not that economical on short drives either (29 - 33 mpg at best). But this is car is designed for long motorway cruises, in which I have averaged a more respectable genuine (calculated accurately by myself) 38 - 40 mpg. The Insignia is a heavy car for long distance cruising. You could try a diesel (CDTi) but I have heard they have reliability issues long term. If going for petrol I have heard the 1.4 turbo engine is slightly better in performance and economy than this old 1.8 petrol.

In short, the Insignia makes a great used purchase. Make sure you buy a car with full history - all services and the cam-belt is due a change at this age and mileage. I have done that recently to my car and have confidence it will still last many years.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd April, 2024

2015 Vauxhall Insignia Elite Nav 2.0 CDTi

Summary:

Fantastic car for the money

Faults:

Turbo pipe split, replaced for £30. Common fault.

Oil leak from somewhere, nothing serious (no noticeable loss on dipstick) but not sure where it's coming from.

DPF light came on, but went away after a re-gen.

Did the alternator and water pump when I changed the cam-belt as a precaution, all are likely to fail after 100K miles.

General Comments:

It goes real quick and the diesel "ecoflex" engine always does 55 mpg or more on longer drives. But don't expect anything like that on shorter drives however - this is a long distance cruiser, it does not like pottering about town! It is at home on motorways.

The car is fantastic to drive, really luxurious to be in (Elite spec) leather, and all electrics. Facelift model so it has updated nicer interior.

Really good looking in black and a great motorway car for long journeys.

Servicing and repairs have been OK and just the expected stuff for age and miles; avoid Vauxhall main dealers if you can though, they are terrible in my experience. Find a friendly local mechanic to help you out and keep running costs down.

Still a popular sight on the road. Shame they stopped making these Insignias - I will have to look elsewhere for a cheap to run family/executive car in future.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 20th February, 2024

2nd Mar 2024, 22:47

It's good you have done all that maintenance on the car, but watch out for the oil seal pick up valve failing at higher mileage on these diesel Insignias - it's a £500 job to fix before it fails, but if you get low oil pressure warning and it does fail, the engine will seize, and that will be such a costly replacement it will likely write off the car at this age and mileage. It's a reason a lot of diesel Insignias are now ending up in the scrap yard.