1997 Vauxhall Omega CD TD 2.5 turbo diesel from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A big comfortable cruiser with a superb engine

Faults:

Side/headlight switch shorted out... replaced under warranty.

Column stalk switch for the headlamp flasher kept sticking on... replaced under warranty.

General Comments:

Big, comfortable, frugal and reliable.

The BMW 2.5 TD is a superb 6 cylinder engine which is smooth, powerful, quiet and best of all, extremely economical. Best so far is 47 mpg driving mixed motorway and A roads from Littlehampton to Enfield, North London. Average 34/35 mpg round town.

Electrical components appear to be the weakest link... Goodbye.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th January, 2001

26th Jan 2001, 11:28

I have an Omega 2.5 TD GLS. It has been a superb car - reliable, fast, economical, and the engine is so smooth. It has done over 80,000 without a problem. Blinding car and engine.

Well done Vauxhall for putting in a BMW engine - 10/10.

1997 Vauxhall Omega GLSi 2.5 V6 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A very reliable and comfortable car

Faults:

A headlight bulb blew.

The light behind the fascia for the passenger heater controls blew.

Susceptible to stone chips.

Absolutely nothing else. Nothing mechanical went wrong at all, in 117,500 miles.

General Comments:

The car was extremely reliable, comfortable, and for a car of this size, amazingly cheap to run.

Owing to depreciation, it was fortunate that it was a company car. £20,500 new, but only £4,500 at auction 2 1/2 years later.

Very easy car to drive. Light controls.

GLS needs more equipment, details missing. e.g. electric rear windows.

Omega lacks the pretension of other executives.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 30th December, 2000

11th Jun 2001, 14:16

Thank god someone actually has something good to say about this car. I am just about to purchase a 2.5 V6 and was beginning to panic that I was buying a dog. Will give more detail when I have had the car a while.

All I can say after test driving it is that it handles not too bad for a big car, and with the V6 it pulls like a train with plenty power right through the rev band, but maybe just a tad more between 4000 and 5500.

1997 Vauxhall Omega GLS 2.0 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Utter rubbish

Faults:

What things were right with the car? Had more new parts than I have had hot dinners. I pity all Omega drivers.

General Comments:

Nice looking car...

Dealers hopeless...

If you want an utter mechanical and electrical nightmare, buy one of these heaps. Not even in the same league as my previous car (a magical Renault 25 which I have now bought back!! 1992 K Reg TXE, 260,000 miles and still an absolute peach - wish I had never let it go in the first place).

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 24th October, 2000

27th Nov 2000, 14:01

I bought an Omega "L reg" GLS and I think it's the best car I've ever had, it's always the old story, you either get a good car or a bad one, mine's done 130,000 miles and is still going strong, full service history.

Thanks for listening,

Mark Staffs

23rd Jan 2001, 11:01

Interesting Omega stories thus far.

Mine's a 1995 2.0i 16v saloon, with 84k on the clock, and which was generally reliable up until now. In the space of the last three weeks:

1. The head gasket blew, burning a nearby vacuum hose in the process, and costing £716 to repair, including (at my request) a new cambelt tensioner/idle pulley's.

2. Only hours after returning from the garage, the key jammed solid in the door lock, refusing to budge, and I was marooned (the remote locking gizmo gave up on me months ago and they're £25 to replace). Another £140 to get a specialist locksmith to remove the key!! It's apparently a known Omega fault with the locks.

A colleague's Omega 2.0 16v CD, also 1995 vintage, failed identically with the cylinder head gasket at 88 k recently. ***TAKE NOTE:*** Later discussion indicated that we had both found the early warning signs of what was to become impending doom - i.e, strange gradual losses of coolant from the expansion tank over a period of a week or so, but with no obvious area of leakage on hoses, faces, etc., and no obvious emulsifaction of engine oil - but WE BOTH FAILED TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION!! You have all been warned....

The most persistent problem, one well-known to many Omega drivers, has been the faltering idle speed valve, which routinely needs a good clean-up overhaul (or total replacement, eventually) to prevent the oft-scary habit of the vehicle stalling on approach to roundabouts, etc., as the engine rev's drop to idle speed. Mine is a manual, so it's a case of quickly dropping the clutch and re-firing (and praying) as the warning lights illuminate and reality dawns that you are about to crash, but losing all power steering in the interim seconds can be touch and go, to say the least!!

Otherwise, it has been a nice car for my use in the Fire Service, despite the diesel-like engine noise on cold starts and irritating minor aesthetic idiosyncracies (e.g., prone to bonnet stone chips, flaking paint on the bumper moulding, rear door external trim bar flaking-off and jamming in a bent position when opening it, etc.)

I once owned two Senators and a Carlton; liked all of them, but fear GM hasn't provided similar build quality with Omegas, at least the pre-'V' reg. models. A friend has one of the new ones, which is a classy act and hopefully free of the archetypal problems....

28th Jan 2001, 20:14

I have a 1996 2.0i GLS saloon. Best car I've ever had, though previous transport included a Chevette and a Viva.

Only two major hassles, probably familiar: idle valve required replacement (after engine died and power steering failed; sorry about the sheep, Mr. Farmer).

Power steering pump leaked at four years old (not me, the car) - quite expensive.

Gearbox getting a bit grouchy at 68K. Otherwise a joy, especially cornering on wet cobbles and in snow.

Good to know the start-up rattle is common.

Acceleration okay for a big car but top speed is excellent.

Cheap second-hand buy. Love 'em the older they get so hope it still runs at 150K.

PS: Just spotted the first bit of rust - no problem, adds character.

9th Apr 2008, 20:26

I totally agree with the first comment.

My grandad brought a brand new Omega.

God, where do I start? The Omega kept cutting out.

Radio packed in 3 times.

Paint started coming off.

The Omega used to lock you out, so never leave your keys in it.

ECU went wrong.

Starter motor stopped working.

Injectors stopped working.

Coil stopped working.

There are many other things what went wrong; too much to list.

And the car he had before that was a R25 TXE, and he loved that. Nothing went wrong with that one.

That car had done loads more miles than that crap Omega.

1997 Vauxhall Omega CD 2.0 16v from UK and Ireland

Faults:

Persistent problems (still unresolved after 4 attempts) with sensors and engine tick-over. New water pump.

General Comments:

Rubbish - don't buy!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 26th July, 1999