Faults:

Everything electrical branded GM fails on this car! I have had the blower motor, recirc valve, fuel door lock, cruise control, A/C temp sensor and others fail. The flipside to this is that they are all Vauxhall parts and can be bought extremely cheaply on eBay, so it's more an irritation than an expense. The drivetrain however is utterly reliable and have had no issues at all. Very solid engine.

General Comments:

Very smooth and refined, with reasonable performance. The engine can be cheaply tuned for large power gains if you wish. Fuel economy is abysmal for the performance on offer with the car averaging 23 UK MPG being driven gently. Handling is also pretty poor with the car understeering and wallowing a fair bit. You can only expect so much from 250lbft through an open differential FWD!

What this car does well is value for money. There is no other 6 cylinder turbo car that you can purchase so cheaply that I know of, and added to that the drivetrain in these cars is extremely reliable. The only problem I know of with the V6 is the coil packs, but these are cheap to replace and would not cause the car to break down.

Besides the fuel economy, running costs are quite cheap with this car (as mentioned earlier it shares parts with Vauxhall/GM).

Faults:

Basically very few things besides brakes and right hand side front wheel bearing, exhaust muffler and coils. Unfortunately the car now is getting really worn and there are several things that need to be done now. Probably scrapping this car next year. A bit sad since there is no rust and there is little visible wear.

293' km: wheel bearing replaced. Actually noticed humming noise at approx 260', but drove almost a year before it needed to be replaced.

347' km: coil pack replaced due to rough running.

Current condition that I know of: needs new clutch, 4 shocks, front suspension overhaul, one front lamp is fogging and letting in water.

General Comments:

A mechanic friend of mine recommended this car as a commuter. With manual transmission and non turbo engine, not much can go wrong. Also I wanted a car that was larger than a compact car.

This car has been extremely reliable and the general build quality is very good. A pity they don't make these anymore after SAAB was liquidated.

Faults:

The radiator leaked r134 (A/C coolant) and needed to be replaced at 103.000km. Common problem on the 2008 and onwards.

The front left wheel bearing needed to be replaced at 110.000km, probably due to too tight fastening of the wheel bolts.

Currently I have discovered rust on the roof of the car, and basically the whole roof needs to be repaired and repainted.

General Comments:

Excellent performance, I have a maptun-ECU tune, which gives 240hp/370Nm. This causes some problems with grip in wet conditions; apart from that it's very good.

Fuel economy is good on long trips, but bad on city-driving. The use of E85 increases consumption approx. 25-30%.

The car needs to have the Vector or Aero package, and most importantly, stay away from the 120hp 1.9TiD, that is a very faulty engine. The petrol turbos are good, as well as the 1.9TTid (130, 160 and 180hp).

Also the standard stereo system is not good, but the 300w Bose is OK.