General Comments:
The items listed above were all easily cured by the nation's expert on Vauxhall Senators (Paul Spence 0850 693141). The Vauxhall main agent was unable to sell me the right sparking plugs and distributor cap for it (as indeed they were for my 24-valve Senator and 1.6 Cavalier).
For servicing and repairing a Senator, I personally DO NOT recommend Vauxhall main agents; and MASTERFIT will not even look at it for exhausts, MOTs, servicing, etc "because it's over 10 years old"! Are they saying they consider 10-year old Vauxhalls to be not worth maintaining, then?
The repairs were a bit expensive, but then the car is high-mileage, it was relatively cheap to buy and is still a better, feather-bed motorway cruiser than all other prestige saloons in which I have ridden, including BMW 7s.
PERFORMANCE - 132MPH, but I have only given it 9 instead of 10 because it is not as fast as my 24-valve 5-speed manual Senator (149MPH).
RELIABILITY - Only 9 out of 10 because I had to call out the RAC when the starter jammed (can happen to any car).
ECONOMY - Not as good as the 24-valver, but not much worse than 1.8 Carltons and 1.6 Cavaliers I have owned.
COMFORT - Luxurious, armchair, relaxing.
17th Jul 2001, 15:35
Interesting review, and the first adverse comment I have EVER seen about the Senator. I have had five and would not swap any of them for a Merc, Lexus OR BMW. Did you buy the car second hand? If so, perhaps you got one which had been maltreated and not maintained (all makes suffer from this now and again, unfortunately). I would recommend the Autobahnstormers Club (on the Internet) for support and advice, either to put this one right or to get another - good - one.