Faults:

Very little. The one time I let the Vauxhall main dealer loose on it for an MOT I got back a bill for £1,200 plus lots of parts that probably didn't need replacing: front disks and pads, cam covers, control arms...

Other than that, the car has been looked after by the one-man garage in the village. It goes in for service every 9,000 miles and other than service items it's had the water pump replaced.

General Comments:

Comfortable; incredibly roomy; more than adequately fast; equipped with every unnecessary indulgence you can think of.

Will happily cruise all day at 80 mph and regularly does so on trips from the South of England to Scotland.

I only changed it because I always promised myself a Jaguar Sovereign: the new car's got a lot to live up to!

Faults:

I've been very lucky so far as I have not yet experienced any trouble mechanically, except for a new exhaust system was required at 92,000.

Bonnet, and front bumper suffers terribly from stone chips.

General Comments:

Not mega fast off the mark, but purrs like a pussy cat when cruising.

For a big car it handles extremely well.

I have never sat in seats as comfortable as these, a hundred mile journey feels like a trip to shop.

On board computer helps keep a check on the fuel figures, and even tells you when you have a bulb out, or simply need water in the wash wipe.

Faults:

Front brake disks and bearings renewed 32,000 miles.

Anti roll bar linkages severely worn 34,000 miles.

Digits on computer failing.

Pulley on fan belt system renewed 35,000 miles.

Timing belt tensioner bearing failed, destroying the engine at 47,463 miles.

General Comments:

Complaints made to Vauxhall dealer on numerous ocassions about noise from front end of engine, but they said everything was OK.

Vauxhall deny they have a problem with the timing bearings, but now you can't buy a timing belt without taking the complete tensioner assembly.

Faults:

Annoying fault with the offside main beam unit. For some obscure reason the bulb wouldn't earth with the unit, but worked fine if you held it against the body. Cured by soldering an earth wire onto the bulb!

Recently I have been suffering from the all too common erratic idle/engine cuts out syndrome. I replaced the idle air valve, but the fault has reared it's ugly head again within a week. It makes the car a nightmare to drive as it's an automatic, you can't dip the clutch and catch it before it stalls. Car is due a service so hopefully it'll be sorted out.

I went to get the tracking checked as the car had developed a liking for the left. I was surprised to be told by the mechanic that my nearside steering arm was bowed and he couldn't adjust it.

General Comments:

I had been in this car a couple of times before I bought it. It belonged to the mechanic/owner of my local garage and I'd been run home in it when my car was in for a service. I passed the garage one day and saw it on the forecourt, I had to have it.

It is everything I want in a car, comfort, easy to drive, the power is there when you want it, especially when you select sports mode!

Fuel comsumption is about what you'd expect from a 3 litre engine although the fuel consumption readings from the computer are, to say the least, optomistic!