General Comments:
To be fair... The car served me well over the years of ownership.
Being the Life specification, it comes with very little in terms of features and mod cons. This is probably a blessing, as I'd imagine the electrical gremlins would run riot.
Was originally purchased at a car auction, and within a few months, the clutch and flywheel needed replacing. This was the only major problem I had to deal with, although it made me loath the car for a long, long time.
Good fuel economy on longer journeys, not so great when town/city driving, but that's every diesel. Surprisingly comfortable considering it's the lowest spec Vectra, for 95% of journeys.
Seats five adults fine, and the boot is massive (hatchback). Plenty of adjustment for the driver to get comfortable.
Surprisingly it had no cup holders and the CD/radio was very basic, compared to a 2004 Vauxhall Astra my father used to own. I suppose they had to cut costs somewhere to keep it as the lowest trim model, but it did have air con.
Apart from the clutch/flywheel issue, other niggles were not as costly, quite reasonable in typical Vauxhall fashion. I only used Vauxhall twice for any work on the car. They are way to expensive. Local garages carried out servicing and maintenance, at good prices.
The depreciation is quite steep, probably helped me purchase it at a good price. Having driven it for over a decade, age was definitely catching up with it. Whilst the engine was still pulling strong, the rest of the car was beginning to suffer due to age. Interior had started to rattle and creak more and more; and like most other owners, the headlights were not as bright as they used to be, due to the plastics dulling.
Would have drove the car till it drove no more, but it was recently written off by a lorry trying to get by it when it was parked.
It's not the best car in the world, but don't be fooled by the hatred of Jeremy Clarkson and his lemming viewers. The car will get you from A to B with very few issues as long as you use common sense and get the servicing and maintenance done. Overall the ownership of the car has been alright.
1st Nov 2024, 18:19
Vauxhall sold 951,000 Vectras from 1995 to 2008, and as of 2024, there are only 30,000 Vectras left in the UK and most of them are the facelift 2005-2008, because it wasn't until the arrival of the 1.9 CDTI engines, especially the 16V 150 PS version, that the Vectra finally became a viable and good alternative to company car drivers, as the pre-facelift model had terrible CO2 emissions ratings and carried over most of the engines from the 1995-2002 Vectra, and as a result the newer car, being heavier than before, guzzled more fuel and was slower than before. Despite the new CDTI engines, the damage was already done and Vauxhall sold 380,000 Vectras from 2002 to 2008, making it less successful than its predecessor, which sold 571,000 from 1995 to 2002.