1990 Vauxhall Cavalier L 1.8 from UK and Ireland
Summary:
A good reliable competent car
Faults:
Whining speedo. I understand the speedo broke on the next owner. It was intermittent and not too loud.
Auto-choke carburettor had a severe mixture problem. I decided to change it for £200 for an aftermarket Weber direct replacement, manual choke, which worked really well.
Top coolant hose went about 1 month after I bought it. The petrol pipe to the carburettor was sweating petrol, dripping onto the coolant hose, which perished the rubber and burst at 70 m.p.h. Petrol pipe was replaced with a proper fuel injection rubber pipe.
CV boots replaced. Some aftermarket ones only lasted 2 years. Used the proper Vauxhall ones - thicker rubber, after the first repeat failure.
Cylinder head tightened due to oil leak from head gasket, leak down front of engine. Same thing happened on next Cavalier 1994 model bought 2002.
Water pump leaked and was replaced.
Only got rid of the car because I hit an exhaust section lying in the road (early morning, dark) and damaged the drivers door.
General Comments:
Very comfortable, economical, 35 m.p.g average. 1.8 litre engine.
A little excessive body roll, but could take 5th gear at 30 m.p.h.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 11th October, 2009
11th Sep 2005, 09:01
These go on forever. My mate's dad had one new in 1991 as a company car. He put a massive 135,000 miles on it in 3 years, and then bought it off the company in 1994 for a pittance. Kept it as a runabout until 2001 when it had just clicked over 200,000 miles, and then gave it to my mate who ran it around until last year when it got rear-ended by an artic and written off. The odometer was reading just shy of 230,000 miles at that point.
Engine was original (and still sweet as a nut, despite never having been run in!)
Gearbox was original
Only on its second clutch.
I drove it briefly about a week before it was wrecked and to be honest, apart from a sloppy gear change and a threadbare steering wheel, it drove perfectly OK.
There's some life left in yours yet!!