1997 Vauxhall Omega CDX 2.5i petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Just as good as the Carlton and Senator

Faults:

Crankshaft sensor failed and the car wouldn't start one morning. Other than that, no breakdowns or anything major, just consumables like servicing and brakes and so on.

Oh there were a couple of electrical gremlins such as ABS sensors and electric windows being erratic, but that was it.

General Comments:

A good car that many commented was not much of an improvement over the previous Carlton and Senator models; however I feel the small improvement was sufficient. It was a very comfortable and fast car (V6 versions at least); the 2.5i pulled adequately enough. Never tried the diesel version of this car, but from what I heard it was a good engine due to being a BMW design. Would have loved the diesel, as the fuel consumption barely got above 29 or 30 at best. I suppose for a 90s 6 cylinder car this was good though.

Just a great 90s executive car that was very similar to rivals at the time, and just as capable as your similar Mercedes or whatever. The 10 years I had it, I enjoyed it very much, and it held up to the previous car as I mentioned. Reliability of this car is not as bad as the motoring press and some reviews said at the time, however I will say the few electrical faults listed above did not happen on my previous cars (Carlton and Senator), but other than that, it was generally just as tough and reliable, and a great long distance cruiser with all the toys.

Vauxhall dealers can be funny; best find a trusted independent that knows these cars. Only scrapped it last year as it was approaching 200K miles and was uneconomical to keep on the road; however had I thrown some money to get it through its MOT test, I bet it would have lasted another year. They made these cars up until 2003 I think so find a good one before they are gone forever; you will like it. I decided to move on to a 2004 BMW 5 Series though. Hope it's half as good as the Omega/Carlton/Senator was.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 9th April, 2016

1997 Vauxhall Omega GLS 2.0 16v from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Superb!

Faults:

Nothing other than usual wear and tear.

General Comments:

Had this car 10 years now. Still looks and goes well, will be gutted when I eventually have to get rid of it, but all the indications are it's got another 10 years left in it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd November, 2007

1997 Vauxhall Omega mv6 3.0 from UK and Ireland

Faults:

Need the firing sequence,can anyone help me 1997 on a S mv6 3l auto.

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

Review Date: 15th April, 2007

1997 Vauxhall Omega CDX 2.5 V6 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Cheap excuse for a luxury car

Faults:

It would probably be easier to say what has actually still worked with this car as most things have gone wrong!!

I bought this as a low mileage 2 year old motor from my local Vauxhall dealer and covered by their over rated Network Q Guarantee.

This was a one owner car with a full history.

I still wince when I think this cost me around £10,000. I had hoped that I could get a decent and well engineered car for half the price of a Mercedes or BMW of the same age, Could I have been more wrong!!

I still don't know why I kept this car for 6 years, I guess as each fault happened, I hoped it was a glitch, payed my money and hoped for the best!

I actually totalled up repair bills about half way through ownership, came to £4,500, after that was afraid to look at my credit card bill!

As for faults!

Forgive me if I forget "Minor" items under £100 that is as bad as these cars are.

1999- 26,000 miles approx, 1 month of ownership, autobox became very rough, and lost kick down function, after 4 trips to Vauxhall and 3 fluid changes, eventually diagosed kick down sensor, replaced under warranty.

1999- 30,000 miles approx, aircon became smelly and failed, dealer told me not covered by warranty, ended up removing aircon drive pully, so no aircon now on a £10,000 car.

2000- 34,000 miles on board computer display fails, again "not covered by vauxhall"

During most of 2000 I had a variety of annoying faults, including Airbag warning, sunroof leaks and poor running, all in all about 10 trips to my Vauxhall dealer resulted.

2001- In early 2001 the engine failed, turned out that Vauxhall use a cheap plastic cam tensioner of the that they recommend is replaced at 60,000 miles, despite only 52,000 miles at the time they refused to repair under warranty, the excuse "I had missed a service schedule" I had by time not mileage. This repair cost me nearly £1800.

2002 Car actually ran fine this year apart from the electric windows and sunroof opening themselves from time to time!

2003- I guess well after the end of Vauxhalls supposed excellent Network Q warranty things went from Bad to worse. At 75,000 miles, the car started running poorly, as a result 2 weeks in the Local Vauxhall garage, the mechanics, though friendly enough really didn't have a clue, turned out that the cam covers (plastic) on the top of the engine had warped, the result the plug leads were damaged, the end result was a bill for nearly £900!! The plug leads alone cost £190, yet a set for my last car a Ford Granada were only £45!! A few weeks later the ABS failed resulting in another trip to the garage, I tried to buy a second hand ABS cable as diagnosed, however the scrapyard I went to was unable to remove it without damage as the cheap plastic cover snapped.

During 2003 I started the Omega paintowrk at the top of the doors started to bubble and break off showing rust. The car was only 6 years old at the time!! The dealer had the cheek to say that I must have left the car outside all the time! Of all the Vauxhall dealers in the Bessbrook area where I live, I found nothing, but incompetence and a general acceptance of how unreliable these cars are.

2004. I stuck this into a local auction, and despite losing a lot of money felt more sorry for the naive guy who bought it!

General Comments:

Cheap Rubbish.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 16th December, 2006

19th Dec 2006, 03:38

I do feel sorry you had such a bad experience with your car, but I am afraid the biggest problem you experienced was the one of having people working on it who really didn't have a clue! The fact they are charged at astronomical hourly rates does not make them any good!

With sensible maintenance, and knowing where to look when a problem does arise, these are excellent and generally extremely reliable cars.

Certainly for the money, nothing touches them.

Away from overpriced garages, you can find a tremendous support network of Omega enthusiasts who will help any owner with their Omega.

Now this is not an advertisement (no financial gain as the site is completely free), it is just a pointer to any other owners reading this, so please take a look at Omegaowners.com.

19th Dec 2006, 12:34

Thanks for that, though my replacement car, a Mercedes E280, despite being 6 years old when purchased has never broken down. Your comment doesn't really say a lot for Vauxhall Garages. Am pleased to own a decently engineered car now. In my opinion its better to buy a properly built car such as an Audi, Merc or BMW even if it is twice as old or has twice the mileage of an Omega of similar value!

10th Jul 2021, 12:27

Yup, they were terrible cars, that's why you don't see them on the roads anymore.

10th Jul 2021, 14:32

And the fact they stopped making them in 2004. Not many 17 year old + cars about in general.

Anyways, the Omega was not a patch on the Carlton and Senator it replaced, that is the main complaint from people I know who had one. Many years ago myself I had a 1998 2.0 CD model Omega as a company car; only had it a year from new and it was OK, but cannot really comment on long term reliability. A friend has a 1999 V6 Elite model with 140K on it, says it is wonderful but has spent a fortune on it. Garaged and kept as a second car of course, you could not practically run one today as a daily driver at 25 miles per gallon.

12th Jul 2021, 01:25

The Omega went out of production in 2003 and it was replaced by the forgettable Signum.