1994 Vauxhall Omega L 2.0 petrol

Summary:

What a shame... could have been so good

Faults:

Brake discs and calipers needed replacing.

Catalytic converter snapped at the junction - common so I'm told.

Not able to start car when programming lost on key - minor problem.

ECU (engine management system) had to be replaced at £500, followed by all engine sensors (ie lambda, etc).

Head gasket followed by the engine dropping a piston.

Car scrapped - wasn't worth it.

General Comments:

The car was one of the nicest cars ever to drive, so comfy and handled lovely, economy was fantastic for a big estate car. Great for a family. Could not fault it for that. Shame, shame that parts were really dear, and it felt like I was always fixing another problem,

That was the very last Vauxhall I would buy.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 13th December, 2009

10th Jul 2010, 11:10

Scrapped after just four years of ownership? Britain has really turned into a throw away society.

25th Jul 2010, 10:16

To be fair to the original reviewer, the car was really old now and probably not worth fixing, (who's gonna throw thousands of pounds at any 1994 ordinary car?) I'd have done the same and scrapped it.

I had a Carlton back in the day, always wanted a Senator, but never got round to getting one. A Carlton or Senator in good condition is now actually worth a lot of money, not banger money as they are too rare now! Omega on the other hand is a fine car, but like all cars that are worth less than £1000 these days, it makes no sense to keep throwing money at them and spending more than the cars worth to repair it all the time. An Omega is not old enough to be a classic just yet. Even the newest Omega is seven years old now (I think they stopped making them in 2003), so those are the ones to go for (1999 facelift onwards best bet), but again, still an old car, look for a nice one and don't spend too much money on it.

In reply to 25th Jul 2010, 10:16

20th Aug 2021, 15:42

Interesting review and comments after all these years. Early Omega's were pretty bad, and as people always say, none ever as good as the old Carlton and Senator. Any Omega from 1996 onwards seem to be more reliable than earlier cars. Nowadays mint ones have not quite a following as the before mentioned cars, but mint ones will go for a good price on auction sites.

1994 Vauxhall Omega GLS 2.0 16v

Summary:

Bad bad car. If you like walking, this car is for you

Faults:

I brought this car from new. You name it, it went wrong.

Brakes.

Paint started to come off.

Used to stall; didn't mater how fast you were going.

Radio packed in three times.

Oil leaks.

Too much to list.

Crap - my car was in the Vauxhall garage all the time.

General Comments:

I liked how big the boot was.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 4th December, 2008

1994 Vauxhall Omega Elite 3.0 V6

Summary:

Big, cheap, fast load-lugger

Faults:

Crank sensor wire snapped, so the engine management light is on.

Interior light doesn't work... appears to be missing one of the power cables!

Central locking is dead.

Electric sunroof... rotary switch has been replaced by a toggle switch for some reason. Still works, just looks odd.

Don't know if the A/C still functions - have to wait for better weather!

Outside temperature sensor shot.

Rust (see below).

General Comments:

I can't resist cheap, large estate cars, particularly when fitted with V6 engines, so when this came up at a very good price I had to buy it.

Elite specification with the 3.0V6 engine and 5-speed manual gearbox (no, it's not white!), this was the most expensive Vauxhall in 1995. In the intervening 12 years it's suffered 99% depreciation!

Funnily enough, from the driver's seat it doesn't feel like 30-grand's worth of car. The dashboard plastics are clumsy, and there's just air-con rather than climate control. But, there's still some serious specification here - electric memory leather seats, heated front and back, rear side window demisters, a built-in dog guard.

It drives pretty well, although it certainly feels it's size. The manual box has a long, clunky throw, but is a bonus at this age/price level - much easier to tow the car! I've been getting about 25mpg out of it so far.

These Ecotec V6 engines don't have a good reputation, but they're simple enough to work on, although I fell foul of the tensioner when changing the cambelt - I couldn't get it tightened properly so when turning the engine through one full revolution by hand, the timing marks ended up one tooth behind on the cams, relative to the crank. Ended up having to get the local garage to sort it.

The electrics can also be fun. My trip computer didn't work when I bought it, however half-an-hour removing the instrument panel and spraying the connectors with electrical contact cleaner brought it back to life.

So far so good. But the rust! OK, there's nothing life-threatening that I can see on the car, but Omegas rust in the oddest places. The base of the door windows being one area, and there's a classic rust-trap under the rubber seal on the trailing edge of the back doors.

Hopefully Opel have got their act together now, but back then all of their products rusted in one place or another.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th February, 2007

21st Feb 2007, 02:55

You have to love the Omega. For the money, nothing touches them, and in estate form, they have HUGE load carrying capabilities.

The wire that is snapped is most likely a cam sensor wire. It won't be the crank sensor, as the car will not run without this.

It is simple to check the code stored.

I would recommend that ANY Omega owner come and take a look at www.omegaowners.com, as they are not only the most knowledgeable people on these cars, but also the most friendly bunch too.

Makes owning an Omega much more enjoyable (and less expensive!!)

24th Feb 2007, 14:04

Aha, I make good use of the Omega Owners' Forum! Fantastic information source.

Snapped wire was the RH knock sensor, took 6 hours start-to-finish to fit (getting the alternator out was awkward), but the engine light has now gone out, I have full power, and she's giving 35mpg! Not bad!

Just the central locking, interior light and rust to sort now...