14th Mar 2007, 09:41
Final report by OR.
I'm trading the car in next week, so this is my last report on the car.
Final mileage: 38,500. (started in Feb 06 with 17,000)
Problems: Noise from hand brake, fixed under warranty. Some fuzzing apparent on arm rest and side of drivers seat. One touch windows sometimes stop working, also affecting remote open/close function. Once found car with passenger window half open, nobody had used the window or been in the car. CD Player sometimes skips half way through an MP3 and can be very fussy with some CD-Rs and CD-RWs. One of the washer jets on the driver's side never worked quite right, and the rear washer jet rarely worked at all.
Annoyances: Boot doesn't always close first time, requires a good slam. Deleted features. Indicators do get flicked wrongly from time to time. Seats can induce back pain sometimes. Tyres very expensive to replace.
Likes: Remote opening of windows with key, auto locking doors, sat nav, fuel economy, performance and refinement. No major faults to report.
Overall MPG: 50.6 at an average of 34 mph over 21,000 miles.
Why am I selling it? I'm hankering after more toys and don't need as much space now, so I'm going for a Renault Megane Privilege. Fingers crossed the reliability will be as good as the Vauxhall has been - I'm keeping an open mind for now until I've owned a Renault for myself...
26th Mar 2007, 06:52
Spoke too soon. The Vectra went into limp home mode on the way to trade it in! Can't quite believe it myself.
The Vauxhall dealer has had a look at it and determined the car needs a new inlet manifold and swirl valve actuator.
Thankfully covered under warranty.
From what I've read, all the 1.9 CDTIs do this. Apparently the new manifold and swirl valve have been revised to stop the problem recurring.
No idea how much this would cost to fix outside of warranty, but don't doubt it's expensive.
The other common problems with this engine (turbo and injector failure) haven't happened...yet. I'm glad to be getting rid!
26th Apr 2007, 05:49
Latest update:
I've ended up keeping the car after rejecting (three times) the replacement Renaults we were going to get.
Fingers crossed we don't hit any more hitches any time soon. OTOH, the warranty expires in November, so it would be handy to sort out the common faults now...
BTW, the swirl valve fix was quoted to me at a little over £800. Nasty.
21st May 2007, 10:24
Latest update:
Just returned from the dealers. My offside rear shock absorber and suspension arm has failed. The shock absorber is not covered under warranty, but the suspension arm is.
I've been quoted £230 to fix the shock absorber, but that is just for one side, both Vauxhall and the DTI website both recommend changing in pairs...
The rear brake pads need replacing and all the brake discs are corroded. If they are replaced then the front brake pads will also need swapping.
Add to this the fact that all the tyres need replacing (£150 per tyre for original fit Goodyear NCT 5s, it's a rare tyre size) and I'm beginning to feel like this car has the potential to become a money pit.
Is this just a bump or is it all downhill from here? If only I had a crystal ball!!
I'm now seriously tempted to start looking at replacing the car again.
BTW: current miles is 40,600. Since about 38k this car has just been one problem after another. A sense of disappointment is creeping in.
7th Sep 2007, 09:33
OK - now at 45,000 miles.
I got the work above done in the end (although not at a main dealer..) and since then the car has been great.
No more problems or work has been required since, so maybe it was just one of them bumps?
If only Vauxhall had seen fit to put Climate, Electric Rear Windows, Rain Sensor and Dimming Mirror on this car, I wouldn't have wanted to change it for anything.
As it is, finances permitting, next time a specced up version of the VXR is looking very tempting. I dream of Vauxhall doing the decent thing and coming out with a VXRD - maybe based on an uprated 3.0 V6 CDTI? I'm sure that engine could knock out 250bhp+ with twin turbos and some tuned engine management, and still do 40mpg+...
15th Nov 2007, 09:20
Update at 48,000 miles:
Just had the 1st MOT done and no problems were found at all. Can't complain at that at all.
Economy now averaging 51.2mpg since 17k miles... and I do put my foot down quite often!
I daren't look at the residual values though...
3rd Dec 2007, 06:19
Finally sold the car!
I've traded it in with just short of 49,000 miles.
Only one further issue to report, just a day after the warranty expired the coolant level warning light came on.
I topped it up with about 200ml of anti-freeze and then traded it in less than a week later without any more problems.
Note - I was already planning to trade it in, so I wasn't especially concerned at that point.
Would I buy another? I don't know. In many ways I was very happy with the SRI, but felt it was too short on features.
If the next generation car (called Insignia now) has an equivalent model to the VXR, but with a rapid diesel engine, a decent autobox and some good features, then I would definitely consider one.
The only Vectra I would still consider is a 2.8T Elite with a couple of choice options fitted. I would then fit the Irmscher body kit and suspension and tune the engine up. That would be a very nice car, if I could afford the fuel bills!
TTFN!
25th Jan 2007, 04:45
The OR reviewer here again.
This is my 1 year report. Since getting the car I've now done 20,000 miles, up to a total of 36,000.
All of the above I wrote is still true. I love the looks, the interior quality and driving experience. The engine seems to be getting better and better over time. Fuel economy is up to an average of 50.5 mpg over that 20k miles, and refinement seems to be improving too. I had one compliment from a fellow petrol head who didn't quite believe the car was diesel, especially when I revved the engine hard and got that glorious petrol like roar. This must be down to the SRI exhaust system and the huge amount of sound insulation the Vectra has.
The sat-nav and TMC (live trafficmaster updates) has come in useful so much, I don't think think I'd like to be without it ever again.
I've rarely exceeded the capacity of the boot, despite shoving some huge things in there, including once, a king size mattress!
Things that have gone wrong: one little thing, recently the hand brake make a sharp snapping sound intermittently. Vauxhall fitted a new hand brake cable under warranty, but the problem is still there.
Other than that, the car has been and remains trouble free.
I still lust after some missing features like auto-wipers and auto-dim mirror etc. If the latest Vectra-C's start to improve the spec levels again, I might just buy a new 3.0 V6 CDTI Elite model at some point and fit a VXR body and suspension kit to it.. hmmmm..