Faults:
Water pump burst not long after I purchased the car.
Cam belt was very noisy even after the car was serviced. However after replacement purred like a kitten.
Front brake pads failed an was a major factor in the very recent (25/06/04) accident I had in it.
Electric mirrors never worked.
Electric window motors are weak and required wd40 to function properly.
Serious shake through the steering wheel under braking (probably due to pad failing).
Smell of fuel protruding into the cabin when filled up.
Temperature gauge was inaccurate.
Heaters were intermittent.
General Comments:
I bought this car as a stopgap between my rover 200 which died and my next (hopefully better) purchase.
Not the quickest accelerating car ever made, but was by no means sluggish.
It handles well, like a vauxhall should not too badly, but not too well either, quite dull in fact.
Interior was nice and comfortable, as seen in most vauxhalls apart from the most recent models.
Seat and steering wheel height adjustment a welcome addition.
Electric windows were also useful when they worked.
I'd love to mention the electric mirrors, but they didn't work, at all.
Manual sunroof a pain, but at least it had a sunroof.
Metallic paint looked very good (where there was no rust!)
No power steering, (unfortunately) made this car very heavy at low speeds, and quite difficult to park at times.
It was a car I quite liked, comfortable, refined, relatively quick, and it started every single morning without fail.
However the brakes failed just recently which caused me to run into the back of another car at 50mph! Strangely though aside from some (expensive) cosmetic damage very little damage was done to my car (the other one is a different story however!) These things are built like tanks and they definitely don't make them like that any more!
8th Feb 2006, 17:32
A 1991 cav is not rare, but I agree that the GSI 2000 (esp 4X4) is becoming a bit of a rare motor.
You do not know what you are talking about, take a trip from say London to Birmingham and count how many you see on your way... then tell us they are not rare!!