General Comments:
I bought this Vectra as a replacement for a 2004 Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 130 Ghia X, which was starting to cost me a lot of money with various issues arising, due to the near 100k mileage on the vehicle.
I paid £5200 for this 2 year old, low mileage 1 owner Vectra from an independent dealer. The vehicle still had 1 year of the manufacturers warranty and was not yet due for an MoT test.
I have now had the car 7 months, and in that time have covered 12,000 miles in it without issue. Primarily it is used for heavy motorway work, to which it is absolutely ideal, however due to the mileage I cover, another diesel would have been more practical, as the 1.8 VVT, although returning a very good MPG figure for this size of car in mid-high 30's, is very expensive for a high mileage user such as myself. Just a shame the 1.9 CDTi engine in the Vectras has been plagued with issues; this 1.8 VVT petrol seems to be quite reliable!
The car has excellent looks, which always return favourable comments from friends and family, however the cabin is very... grey! The dash is slab sided and bland, although it doesn't look ALL that bad, Vauxhall could maybe have put more attention to detail in the design. I have had 2 MK3 Mondeos previous to this Vectra (a 2002 model Zetec and a 2004 model Ghia X) and the interior of the Ford is far superior.
Being the Exclusiv model also, it has the basic suspension setup, which can wallow in bends, and body roll is very apparent on twisty roads; the ride quality over rough surfaces also is not fantastic, offerings from Ford are MUCH better in this area, although higher spec variants such as the SRi with sports suspension may be better in this area. On a flat piece of motorway though, this car absolutely excels. It can become quite sluggish however on hills, especially if it is loaded (i.e with 3 passengers), but it is ideal for me as most of the time it is just me on my own in the car.
Overall it has been thoroughly reliable in the time I have owned it, and I hope it continues to be. These cars are excellent value for money on the used market, and due to the replacement now being on sale, the values have dropped even more. I have considered selling mine to get an Astra diesel, but I just cannot find as good a car of the same age, with the same mileage for the price I paid for this, so I am just going to keep it and run it into the ground.