Faults:

Crank shaft sensor at roughly 120k.

Big leak in the boot.

Rust on the rear arches and sills.

Rust on the bottom of the doors.

General Comments:

Always wanted one, love the look.

The pre-facelift Vectra B looks best, from a rough and ready LS, to a SRI V6 that I own. I like to think it's a car you can rag about, rushing to and from work, then throw a bucket of water over it on a weekend, and it looks brand new.

Engine is OK, got to deal with the annoying flat spots every now and then on the motorway, which ain't much fun when your foot down, trying to overtake; it puts me off booting the thing.

Sounds mean, but it's thirsty; I average 26mpg combined, get up to 30 on the motorway, but you don't buy a V6 for economical motoring ha ha.

The driving experience is average, gearbox is a bit ropey, steering a bit sloppy, cracks and rattles from the dashboard.

Inside the car is good. Seats are great, keeps me snug though comfortable, with plenty of adjustment. On-board computer is cool with lots of useful information. The buttons and controls are easy to work.

Cup holders are cool, but don't use the one in arm-rest or you'll have a nice mess. Glovebox picnic tray is useless; never understood that, and the ashtray likes to spring out at me, usually when it's full!

Front electric windows do take some time getting used to, as they're not in the usual place; instead they're on the floor.

The 90s was the decade for great cars. Today's cars make up for it in reliability and economy, but they lack the style and character.

Faults:

None.

General Comments:

Good performance for a 13 year old diesel, great fuel economy; 35 around town, 55-60mpg on a long run. Bought the car for £690 in May 2009. It never goes wrong, it's used for work and play, interior okay, front seats are a little firm, but so what for a car that does not put a foot wrong.

Faults:

Thermostat sticking open, only cost £12 to fix.

Electric window passenger side stopped working. Didn't bother to fix, probably a faulty switch/motor.

General Comments:

Very good car. I had heard a lot of bad things about the Vauxhall Vectra before I bought it. To be honest this car has had a lot of unfair criticism. Many motoring programs and magazines gave the car a lot of stick over the years, but I can't really see what they were talking about.

The car drives well, handles OK, again they say it under steers a lot, but hey it's a front wheel drive family car, what did they expect would happen when you drive it hard? It cruises very well and that's all I need, I don't drive like an idiot.

The car is the 98bhp 2.0 DTi, and pulls very well. I've had a lot of 1.8 and 2.0 petrol cars previous to the Vectra, I can say that the performance of this diesel is just fine, it's not slow at all compared to a petrol equivalent. It's also economical as you would expect - I average 48mpg.

So the Vauxhall Vectra had also taken a lot of criticism about being uncomfortable. Well again I don't know what they are talking about as I find it fine. Supportive seats, good driving position, etc. Car is well equipped too - this is the GLS model (about mid range spec) electric windows, air con, usual.

Looks pretty good too - Blue with alloy wheels. It's also an estate car I have. Again not bad looking for what it is.

Only cost me £800. Car has over 140k miles now, but still runs fine apart from the little glitches mentioned above in the cars faults. Mechanically the car is as good as any other, bodywork wise a little rough, but it's over 10 years old now.

Overall, the car was much better than expected, and I don't think it deserves all the bad reviews it got at the time.