Faults:

Really nothing more than servicing and wear and tear items. It was a company car, but I drove it everyday, and knew everything going on with it.

General Comments:

Elite Insignia is as good as you can get - leather and all electrics, this is a very comfortable car.

Estate "Sports Tourer" has acres of space. Much less common than hatchback models.

Mine is silver with large alloy wheels. These bigger wheels make the ride a bit firm, but not as bad as the bigger wheels on SRi Vx Line models. Ride is smooth enough for me. The car handles pretty sharp also for an estate car. Not quite as good to drive as my old Mondeo, but decent nonetheless.

2.0 turbo diesel engine has plenty of power and a genuine 55 - 60 mpg is doable.

Really hard to find a better all round car for the money.

Faults:

Not much except the usual maintenance items and servicing. The car is very low mileage for its age, and I have not used it as much as I normally would have over the last few years.

General Comments:

2016 Insignia. Last of the older shape cars before the new model came along in 2017. I love the look of this car in bright red paint with the massive 19 inch alloy wheels in powder grey. The car really looks stunning. Interior is black/grey. Had this car not been such a common sight on the road, it would really stand out more.

I bought this car for two reasons; economy and reliability. So far it has met both requirements just fine. 1.6 CDTi is a more modern updated unit, I hope it will be reliable as the miles rise, though I have been warned to expect the usual diesel problems (DPF, injectors, and so on), but hopefully if I look after the car and drive carefully they will not come anytime soon. The trick with modern diesels is to give them a long firm drive every now and then to clear the DPF, and use quality fuel and oil.

Not a fast car by any standard, the 1.6 diesel accelerates leisurely. But, it will return over 60 mpg. Best I have had is 64, not 68 on average as Vauxhall claim. Though I do tend to drive a little more aggressively these days; I dare say I could get the claimed average if I tried a little harder. Engine is also surprisingly quiet for a diesel, much quieter than the earlier 2.0 CDTi units that came out in 2009/10. The car is OK to drive, manual gearbox is smooth to use, and the car handles OK for this class.

SRi Vx Line is the trim to have. Very nice styling, kit and plenty of electronics. A common complaint I hear is people do not like the electronic parking brake. I prefer a lever also, but the problem is not exclusive to this car, a lot of cars have these now, and you do get used to it. There is a little hesitation on engagement/disengagement of the brake, which is annoying. I drove a Toyota Avensis once and it had a brake like this as well, but seemed to be smoother and quicker in operation. With the Insignia however there is a bit of hesitation there. Other than that, I have no gripes with the rest of the cars modern features. The start/stop can be turned off if it annoys you, and the saving in fuel isn't much anyway. The car of course has electric windows, air con, etc all the expected features which are all easy to use. Seats are very comfortable. A bit of a blind spot in the rear when reversing which you have to get used to. Cabin noise on the move is still a little above average - not as smooth and quiet as my previous Ford Mondeo.

I think Vauxhall tried with this car. Being a 2016 it benefits from the updates received in 2013 to the already smart 2009 car. So it still feels very modern despite its age. When you look past the cheaper plastics and materials used, it really is a great value for money car, it does just about everything well. But had it been more fun to drive and perhaps earlier models more reliable, they could have had a Ford Mondeo beater. As much as I liked my old Mondeo however, I think my next car will be the newer Insignia from 2017 onwards; just looks like a very nice car, and if it improves on this car, I think it will be a winner.