1996 Vauxhall Omega GLS 2.5 V6 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Competent BMW basher

Faults:

I bought the car from a friend, didn't check it properly, and found oil in the water (but no water in the oil).

Panicked, spoke to dealer, who said it was a head and quoted me £800 to a grand to fix it (!!!).

Local garage said that they had never seen an Omega with a blown head, cleaned it out, and put in a bottle of rad-weld. They told me to see how it went. To date no more problems.

Another dealer told me later that he has seen one or two with porous oil-coolers (water cooled in these cars), so that may well be it. - I hope.

There is a clunk from the front suspension and sometimes a peculiar whine that stops when I dip the clutch. Haven't got around to investigating either.

Lots of bulbs need replaced.

There are a couple of small spots of rust - not what I expect on a modern car.

General Comments:

The car is fast and comfortable. Very good on motorways. There is a bit of a wander at high speeds though - may be something to do with clunk above!

Fuel consumption is mid to high twenties on average, not great, but OK.

Headlights are rubbish, particularly considering the car is quite rapid.

There are lots of buttons to push - I particularly like the "one touch" sunroof control.

Interior is quite nice - typical German look - at least as good as a BM or Merc.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 31st August, 2001

1996 Vauxhall Omega GLS 2.0 16v from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Very good value used executive car

Faults:

Throttle sticking at high revs at idle. Rectified by replacing the adjustor throttle - apparently this was caused by doing so many motorway miles at the same speed. Cost £100.

This is the only cost other than servicing, tyres, exhaust, brake pads and discs. Fuel cost has been reasonable for the size of the car.

This reliability is no doubt largely influenced by the regular main dealer servicing, strictly in accordance with manufacturer guidelines.

General Comments:

It has not failed me in 100,000 miles over the last 4 years.

Very low cost of ownership per mile.

Coming down from new company cars from BMW and Audi, I have been consistently surprised by how good the handling is.

Excellent build quality.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 30th August, 2001

1996 Vauxhall Omega Elite Estate 3.0 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Hopefully a one off lemon from Vauxhall..

Faults:

Self levelling suspension jacked up to fullest extent and stayed there. This was caused by a burnt out wire...

Misfire at 3500+RPM - garage unable to get a fault diagnosis...

General Comments:

What a shame - lovely car, very poor after sales service from North Hertfordshire UK independent garage.

On the plus side - when it's running right there's loads of 'ooomph!', but still happy to run around town with the kids in the back. Cavanous luggage space. And did I mention loads of 'ooomph?'.

I have a feeling (call it female intuition) that its problems probably are down to a well repaired shunt at some stage...

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 8th June, 2001

9th Jan 2002, 04:20

Update - January 2002. Previous misfire was sorted by local Vauxhall garage replacing crank sensor for £158 after EGR valve was replaced for £205. Car now exhibiting similar fault at 4500RPM - could now be cam shaft sensor - here we go again...

11th Feb 2002, 07:03

Well - that was an interesting experience - the problem was caused by a faulty crankshaft sensor (the same one that was replaced not 6 months ago...) Was replaced FOC by Crownhill Vauxhall in Milton Keynes (top marks to them for service :-) ) Trouble is - 200 miles later a con rod let go - on a 65K mile engine - I am NOT a happy camper!!!

20th May 2002, 14:56

Another update (for what it's worth - probably more of a rant, but it makes me feel better ;-) ) Thought we'd rescue something from this disaster and purchased a 'brand new' crated engine. It was worn out!!! But top marks again to Crownhill Vauxhall in MK - they now have the car and are fitting an engine at cost...

25th Oct 2003, 02:29

Sell it and get yourself an older E class Mercedes. I did and now any other car is just a let down.

13th Jan 2004, 04:25

Got the same problems with the crank shaft sensors. Bought the car in September 2003. Now is January 2004 and I have replaced the sensor twice. Apart of this, got a nasty oil leak from under driver's side rocker cover. Replaced the rocker cover gasket twice (first one was not original and was refusing to sit properly, so use original gaskets only!!). And of course, lots of problems with suspension: wishbone bushes, rear springs broken (haven't noticed this when was buying the car, don't know what one should do to achieve such results ;-), etc.

And just one month ago have replaced one of the cats and one of the middle silencers.

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell that from the very beginning one of the radiator fans was dead, so I replaced it as well.

Now everything (???) seems to be fixed, but I feel myself sick. Anybody want to make a swap for Toyota RAV-4?