Faults:

Crank sensor was faulty when I bought the car.

Repair was expensive at the main dealership.

No other problems (fingers crossed).

Sailed through MOT's.

Only routine servicing carried out (at main dealership)... EXPENSIVE.

General Comments:

A sheer pleasure to drive in luxury.

I am not a boy-racer and if driven with consideration this car will get you from A to B in comfort and reasonable expense.

Achieving 30+ mpg is easy.

The load carrying capacity is phenomenal!... yes... No wonder the police loved it for motorway duties.

I have added cruise control and kerb sensing (quite easy to do and not expensive)

Faults:

Slight rust bubbles around doors.

General Comments:

Brilliant, but I would say service it regularly as I have and enjoy many miles of sound motoring.

Parts have been replaced on my car, but dealer has always replaced parts before failure upto now, thus keeping my repair bills down. Total spent on car including services in 6 years,£3700,not bad considering I average 200 miles a week.

Faults:

Secondary air pump failed at 60k miles - not needed for normal operation therefore was simply disconnected.

Idle control valve failed at similar mileage, led to regular stalling at junctions and when changing gear at lower revs (lethal when negotiating a bend and you lose power steering!) - £125 to renew - money well spent.

Suffers from excessive tyre wear on inner shoulders, a friend in the trade says they ALL do that.

Minor electrical gremlins eg one heated seat stays cold, powered seat lift failed and central locking has had one or two bad days.

Otherwise - extremely reliable and interior wearing very well.

General Comments:

Very comfortable, economical for the size of car, performance perfectly adequate so generally to be recommended.

Poor service from some dealers who cannot really be bothered, but as so little goes wrong it's not really a big problem.

Faults:

About two years ago there was some minor rust near the drivers side wing mirror which was fixed under Vauxhall Warranty.

Cam belt tensioner broke, no damage, but could have been very expensive, cost £370.

Front wishbones both sides replaced at 55000 miles, cost approx £400.

Front discs and pads replaced at 45000 miles, cost approx £130.

Drivers side door strut came adrift, common problem due to the weight of the doors, £400 to fix.

Rocker covers leaking at 50000 miles, expensive to replace, £120 a side (V6).

Plug leads on offside need replacing, leads alone for one side only cost £102!, with 5 hours labour to fit them.

General Comments:

I have had a lot of problem with the car between 50000 to 69000 miles, which is a shame as it is a fantastic car, and I love driving it.

It handles like a dream, very smooth, and it's like your on rails going round corners.

Insurance is a little expensive, and it is not a cheap car to run. Mine does about 23-25 mpg, and I don't push it.., if you did, think you would be looking at less the 20 mpg.

They get expensive as they get older, but the trade off is you get a great car to drive..

I would buy another one..

Faults:

Gearbox electronic selector (my fault, went into floodwater on the road)

Rear shock absorbers - being replaced.

Rear Irmsher alloy - damaged by pothole.

Interior dash lights - changed and gone again.

Climate control compressor - on order.

General Comments:

I bought the car cheap as I was moving to Ireland, it's an extremely rare model in Eire; I know of only 3 other Elites, and they are saloons, mine is an Estate.

Performance - very good, you can certainly hold a BMW 325/328/330 at bay.

Handling - good.

Comfort - I am tall and find the seats just OK, everything else is first class, especially the Bose stereo.

Residual value - forget it, you have already bought in on the slide, it's not going to make you money.

Image - it's good here in Eire as Opel is very big, however in the UK, image will be poor. Do you care? Be different, why go with the BMW/Audi/Mercedes pack - quality is an issue with Mercedes in particular anyway.

Build quality - not the best, however the engines are as good as BMW, keep it serviced properly and get that cambelt changed well before Vauxhall recommends in the book.