Faults:

Nothing gone wrong with mine. A great car.

General Comments:

I have had my Vectra SRi 140 remapped. It now throws out 168 bhp and what a difference it makes. It eats Saxo VTS for breakfast... it is now a very quick car.

Faults:

There was a leak from the power steering fluid reservoir.

The engine management light came on frequently.

General Comments:

Although I experienced no major problems with this car I found the "ownership experience" a disappointing one. Bland may well be a suitable word to describe the Vectra. It does most things adequately, but does not inspire enthuasiasm (at least it didn't for me)

The engine management warning light came on frequently and we took it in to a local Vauxhall dealer to go on their diagnostics machine. It showed the fault as being the crank shaft sensor. They offered to replace this for 123 pounds. We declined their kind offer and spoke to a local mechanic who said it most probably needed cleaned as he had seldom heard of one needing to be replaced. This was done and seemed to sort things.

The dipped beam headlights on this car are very poor. I found that the combination of the slight tint in the windows combined with these poor lights made driving on unlit B roads at night an unpleasant experience.

The car was prone to misting up and required full blast on the heater to clear it.

We kept the Vectra for about 8 or 9 months and in that time covered approx. 7 thousand miles. It is perhaps not a long time to keep a car that has never broken down on you or cost an arm and a leg to keep, but I never really took to it from day one so was pleased when we traded it in for a Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI. Now there's a car!

Faults:

The ashtray jammed shut and eventually had to be forced open, with the result that it no longer closes properly.

Has started to cut out when clutching during deceleration.

Uneven tyre wear on the outsides.

At slow speeds the steering can feel particularly heavy.

General Comments:

Excellent cruiser that seems to love motorways.

Good acceleration and lovely road grip.

Comfortable and quiet with a good sound system.

Very pleasing appearance that looks good in any car park.

Slight blind spot when approaching roundabouts or junctions.

Good boot space and with the back seats folded down can cope with most loads.

Faults:

The air conditioning has stopped working. I beleive it just needs a gas re-fill though.

General Comments:

Overall I am very pleased with this car. I bought it as a cheap reliable car for motorway use and it has lived up to my expectations.

It cruises very nicely at 80mph with plenty of power to accelerate quickly if needed, and does all this in comfort and with little noise from the engine or road.

It is a good car around town, but could do with a bit more power when trying to pull off quickly.

It is certainly not an exciting car to drive, but looks smart with the extra SRi Irmscher styling.

I am glad I didn't buy the car brand new as it has lost over £10k in value in 4 years, but as a second hand car it is packed with features for a very good price.

Faults:

Air Conditioning unit failed, this was due to a leak in one of the pipes and was fixed @ £130.00 + £90.00 to re-charge the unit which was slightly expensive, but this was a main dealer!

Ignition Coil unit failed, but the car still managed to get me home on the emergency drive system!

Tickover gradually increased at standstill. This was solved by cleaning the throttle housing and relevant air intake tubes.. apparently a common fault on Ecotec engines!

General Comments:

Upon reading comments in many magazines and listening to the usual slating Vauxhall get on Top Gear, I felt that I should speak out and tell people how GOOD the Vectra is. OK like every car it has it's flaws, but on the whole is an excellent, reliable car and is good for the home mechanic to work on. The car is very responsive even with 126000 miles! Handling is OK although floats at speed into bends. Very reliable car.Don't take for granted what the magazines tell you.