8th May 2002, 10:30

Original review writer here:

I have now sold the car due too many niggling, not to mention expensive, problems.

The EGR valve went, cost for a new one £130. This solved the lumpy idling for about a day then it went back to being lumpy again. A new idle control valve was put in, but again no effect. I gave up after this and just put up with it.

The automatic levelling on the Xenon headlights went AWOL, leaving the beam pointing downwards so I could only see 6ft in front of me on dipped beam. Not one garage wanted to know when I mentioned this problem, and in the words of a Vauxhall dealer "it ain't going to be cheap to mend". It would have failed the MOT like this. I part exchanged the car like this, but the dealer spotted it because it comes up on the computer screen in the dashboard that there is an error.

It took the dealer 3 attempts to fix the heated seat and in the end they had to contact Vauxhall for advice on how to do it. This took 5 months or so by which time I had sold the car.

Although I have had bad luck with this car, it is a good drive, very quick, comfortable and never actually let me down. All the little extra touches Vauxhall put on it are unreliable and expensive when they go wrong.

Depreciation on these cars is horrific, as is the fuel consumption. If you want a car like this, accept fewer toys, pay the money and buy a BMW 5 series. They are much better to drive, much more reliable and hold their money better.

Good riddance too bad rubbish - I now have a Mondeo Ghia X and has proved to be just as good if not better than the Omega in every area!!!

31st Jul 2003, 07:15

I have had a 99/T Omega Elite (2962cc) for a year now. I have had no problems whatsoever.

I think that some of the reports on fuel economy are a little damning as I keep track of mine and can report:

Steady motorway - 30-31mpg

Fast motorway use with some Sport mode use 27-28mpg

About town - 23-25mpg

Average range is around 430-450miles to a full tank.

(These figures are calculated on fuel used and mileage taken from odometer). My 'computer' reads an overall mpg of just under 28mpg. However, as I live in Dorset my average speed tends to be around 40mph. I can concur that the cruise control seems to return the best economy.