Faults:

Head gasket seal - £15 part, but loads of labour costs!

Suspension arms loose and clonking - speed bumps are to blame.

Suspension rack groaning all the time

Engine manifold cracked at 65,000 miles and exhaust now has a slight blow in it - very, very expensive.

Leaky power steering fluid reservoir.

General Comments:

This car looks the nads in Satin Red and in estate form (which mine is) it is sweet. Great visibility and you sit low in the seat that makes it feel like a 'proper' sporty car.

Loads of room for my fishing gear and I've done many a trip to the tip that would have meant three or four in my 406 saloon.

At first the suspension was hard, but it's mellowed out (a bit too much) but it still grips and the little bit of oversteer is fun. Goes through tyres quickly on the front and brakes wear because it has a lot of weight.

Cabin is excellent and seats are really comfortable, especially for long slogs up the M1.

The alloys are a pain to clean, but look good. Watch that front valance when parking near kerbs, as it overhangs a lot and I've ripped mine off twice on normal pavements.

Faults:

A serious fault in the gearbox electronic control unit required expensive replacement £450 on a very low mileage vehicle (<40K)

Wiring & electrics seem extremely problematic on all Vauxhall/Opels of this vintage. This I hear from a number of independent sources.

General Comments:

Nice car, very solid feel.

Faults:

Engine mount gone, but drives OK, just has knocking when steering/turning left.

This has lead to down pipe on exhaust that connects to CAT damaged and blowing due to engine movement.

I believe both of above may be expensive to fix, but ain't got a quote yet!

Drivers seat slight wear on leather.

Dampness in left hand side of boot, but no leaks from seals (?) Can't understand this.

General Comments:

Smart looking car (Graphite Green)

Plenty of room for family of 4.

On board computer very good and user friendly.

Very smooth and economical on motorway.

Brakes very good.

Would have another, but would choose 2.2DTi 16v.

Faults:

The GSI, have had no problems lovely machine.

The SRI, no end of faults, mainly gear box fault and engine failure, but apparently well known for this. Luckily I got hit head on and claimed on the compo, a lot more than car was worth in my opinion.

General Comments:

GSI - Stunning looking, really fast, superb to drive, quite confortable for a fast car, extremely quiet 'which shocked me to be fair'.

SRI - Nice looking, but all in all not a patch on the GSI, kind of the GSI's little kid brother.