Faults:

Brake discs and calipers needed replacing.

Catalytic converter snapped at the junction - common so I'm told.

Not able to start car when programming lost on key - minor problem.

ECU (engine management system) had to be replaced at £500, followed by all engine sensors (ie lambda, etc).

Head gasket followed by the engine dropping a piston.

Car scrapped - wasn't worth it.

General Comments:

The car was one of the nicest cars ever to drive, so comfy and handled lovely, economy was fantastic for a big estate car. Great for a family. Could not fault it for that. Shame, shame that parts were really dear, and it felt like I was always fixing another problem,

That was the very last Vauxhall I would buy.

Faults:

I brought this car from new. You name it, it went wrong.

Brakes.

Paint started to come off.

Used to stall; didn't mater how fast you were going.

Radio packed in three times.

Oil leaks.

Too much to list.

Crap - my car was in the Vauxhall garage all the time.

General Comments:

I liked how big the boot was.

Faults:

Crank sensor wire snapped, so the engine management light is on.

Interior light doesn't work... appears to be missing one of the power cables!

Central locking is dead.

Electric sunroof... rotary switch has been replaced by a toggle switch for some reason. Still works, just looks odd.

Don't know if the A/C still functions - have to wait for better weather!

Outside temperature sensor shot.

Rust (see below).

General Comments:

I can't resist cheap, large estate cars, particularly when fitted with V6 engines, so when this came up at a very good price I had to buy it.

Elite specification with the 3.0V6 engine and 5-speed manual gearbox (no, it's not white!), this was the most expensive Vauxhall in 1995. In the intervening 12 years it's suffered 99% depreciation!

Funnily enough, from the driver's seat it doesn't feel like 30-grand's worth of car. The dashboard plastics are clumsy, and there's just air-con rather than climate control. But, there's still some serious specification here - electric memory leather seats, heated front and back, rear side window demisters, a built-in dog guard.

It drives pretty well, although it certainly feels it's size. The manual box has a long, clunky throw, but is a bonus at this age/price level - much easier to tow the car! I've been getting about 25mpg out of it so far.

These Ecotec V6 engines don't have a good reputation, but they're simple enough to work on, although I fell foul of the tensioner when changing the cambelt - I couldn't get it tightened properly so when turning the engine through one full revolution by hand, the timing marks ended up one tooth behind on the cams, relative to the crank. Ended up having to get the local garage to sort it.

The electrics can also be fun. My trip computer didn't work when I bought it, however half-an-hour removing the instrument panel and spraying the connectors with electrical contact cleaner brought it back to life.

So far so good. But the rust! OK, there's nothing life-threatening that I can see on the car, but Omegas rust in the oddest places. The base of the door windows being one area, and there's a classic rust-trap under the rubber seal on the trailing edge of the back doors.

Hopefully Opel have got their act together now, but back then all of their products rusted in one place or another.