Steve G, what car do you own/drive? Alfa Romeo 156
I'll stick with the Vectra, thanks. GM knows that the number plate fixes in the middle of the bumper, not at the side ;o)
Fair enough Dave ;-) .... eye of the beholder and all that ...
I would not say the Vectra is a bad car its just fallen behind the times compared to the competition.
I had a Cavalier 2.0 SRi for a few years and I found the Cavalier a better drive than the equivalent Vectra.
Would like to drive the new Vectra too see how it compares to the latest Mondeo/156/Laguna ...
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I tend to agree with Steve on that point. A Vectra isn't actually dreadful, but while the Cav was an absolutely brilliant car in '89, the Vectra was essentially more of the same. (That and the fact that it doesn't have at least the subjective build quality of some of its rivals).
I wonder if people will slate the next Focus, due at the end of this year, for the same reason.
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Got talking to a chap in custody today (!) He has a V reg Vectra
2.0. He bought it ex demo with 2.5k, it now has a monumental 123k
on it - mostly on business of Criminal Justice nature. The car is immaculate, it has been serviced in accordance with the Vauxhall book plus extra oil changes. Nothing, I repeat nothing over and above service items (tyres of course) have been replaced. Makes you wonder whether these are as bad as people make out.
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Although I am a very happy punter with our new V70 2.4T, I really do miss our previous Vectra GSi Estate. Went like the wind, nothing squeaked or rattled, nothing fell off, looked fabulous with it's standard fit bodykit and huge wheels, loads of clever details, and totally reliable. Come to think of it, the same went for the Vectra SRi V6 Estate that preceeded it, too. Between the pair of them, six years of pleasurable tenureship, despite all the horror stories that I read. I even found a toptastic Vx garage for servicing, too.
May be only people with problems are vocal, most of the time?
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Makes you wonder whether these are as bad as people make out.
I blame Clarkson. Personally I don't like the Merc AMG he owns, but I wouldn't go on TV and tell the world about it!!
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I hated my vectra, under-engineered, uncomfortable, poor ride bits forever falling off, engine management problems. Rubbish dealership garages.
The vectra is the reason why vauxhall closed its production here, cos nobody would buy it. From my and many others' experience you are lucky.
Regards,
Alf
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The latest German ADAC used car buyers guide rates the Vectra as OK, reliability wise. Not as good as most of the Japanese, but on the better side of average.
The reason that the Luton plant was closed and Vectra production moved to Russelsheim (Germany) is because it cost too much to make cars here. Overvalued pound and poor UK infrastructure were the nail in the coffin. Same applied to Dagenham, of course. Russelsheim is expanding rapidly because they use more modern technology and have a better skilled/educated workforce. I think GM Germany productivity is about 35% higher than UK; sadly that persuaded the management to close Luton.
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> I think GM Germany productivity is about 35% higher than UK;
Tell that to Nissan guys in Sunderland!
Luton had been deprived of investment for years; It's no wonder they couldn't compete.
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I wouldn't disagree with that at all, and Sunderland is indeed a shinig example. Britain *can* compete with the rest of Europe when we have the investment. Unfortunately the whole country is starved of investment (in fact only last week the World Bank released a report saying that Britain is being held back by a poor public infrastructure and weak skills and education). Overall, UK productivity is quoted as about 40% below the US, 35% below Germany and 30% below France.
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"in fact only last week the World Bank released a report saying that Britain is being held back by a poor public infrastructure and weak skills and education"
What Britain is being held back by, and has been for the past 50 odd years, is poor government! Politicians contribute very little but have tremendous influence on the way things are done. Money that should be used by companies for investment purposes is taken by HMG as taxes, usually to be squandered providing unnecessary 'services'. Out of a UK working population of 28 million, 7.2 million are 'employed' and therefore paid by HMG. That's more than 1 in 4 of us, a large proportion of which are bureaucracy. Even the NHS has more bureaucrats than either beds or nurses. Surely that cannot be right!
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We actually have a relatively low company taxation regime. Plus HMG has been very willing over the last few years to offer companies like Nissan large cash incentives not to decamp to the Eurozone. So British taxpayers are bankrolling Nissan shareholders, including the French government. Weird world, isn't it?
Chris
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The old Vectra, like the Astra, Cavalier, and Omega, was and is a good workhorse. IMO the critics on the bandwagon are mainly those who would want a shire-horse to look & perform like a race thoroughbred. Horse for courses. Borrowing a phrase from Ronseal about the Vectra - "It does exactly what it says on the tin". The new Vectra could also prove to meet this criteria.
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I too think Vectra's are much maligned I am very happy wiyh my 2-0 litre and find that if you put your tyre pressures up to the full load recommended pressures you will find the handlingimproves,re the comment on the vague steering I think this is due to a straight ahead spot built in,an asset when encountering side winds on a motorway
ndbw
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I have owned my Vectra for about 10 months and a Cavalier for nearly 10 years (!) before that. The Cavalier never let me down and when I wanted another car the Vectra was the obvious choice.
I bought the top-end CDX with all the toys 10 months ago and have had only two very minor problems. The first was that the servicing dealer hadn't refitted a part correctly causing a pipe to rub on the alternator belt; and the second was a fault on the alarm. Both faults were corrected very quickly by a dealer other than the supplying one.
Dealers can be a bit hit and miss but recently both have sent letters for both thanking me for buying the car and to check that I was happy with the service I received.
I did once have a dealer try rip me off for £300 worth of un-necessary work.
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IMO, it depends how you define "that bad". There are worse cars, but lots of better ones.
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For once find myself generally agreeing with MB as in general the last Vectra and indeed a previous Cavalier seemed solidly built and capable of reasonable longevity. More solid than three Pugs and current Mondeo I would say.
The handling while never particularly inspiring was safe. Always amazes me that folks who fling them into a corner on the edge of adhesion then complain because they get mamba understeer as soon as foot planted to the floor. Driven properly in a balanced fashion grip levels are quite OK.
Nevertheless the Vectra in question, and indeed the Cavalier, out of the road cars I have regularly driven rank as the two which had the highest number of faults requiring rectification. Indeed the Cavalier commited the ultimate sin of failing to get me to destination on no less than three occasions. Two of these requiring a tow in.
Vauxhall can do it right, a Belmont 1.8i (yes I know!) performed faultlessly which persuaded me to go with the Cav. SWMBO’s Nova now departed never gave any real aggro either.
In summary, comme ci comme ca.
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FiF - >> find myself generally agreeing with MB >>
I don't know where I am going wrong, but in the last 2 or3 days, so amny of my detractors are agreing with me that I need to go back for a refresher course on how to be mean and nasty and blunt and truthful. Only joking !
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Now now MB not detractors just different opinions at times.
You know its bad when you open the dictionary to look up the word
paranoia only to find the definition as
So why do YOU want to know!
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>> You know its bad when you open the dictionary to look up the word >>
FiF - as you probably know by now, I do not generally take part in idle chit-chat and banter, only the serious motoring stuff for me. But, I'll make an exception : Are you saying you need to look up words in dictionary to understand me?
>>So why do YOU want to know!>>
Not sure what you mean by this?
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MB
advice; [set humour switch = ON]
but seeing as its you I'll take the bait dangling there.
Q1 no not even trying
Q2 Joke
Do you *really* need an explanation! I think not!
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My '96 SRI has over 170k under its belt and has in the last two years had several engine management problems. (Cam and crankshaft sensor problems). also the mysterious loss of idle which usually lasts for a day or two every three months or so and then clears itself. It has, however, never let me down and is still extremely lively. It never gave any trouble at all under 140k miles when it was the company car of one of my pals. I feel a lot of rubbish is talked about Vectra handling. Mine has the larger tyres that go with the SRI (205/60X15) and I find grip levels to be quite high and the car points reasonably well. What the Vectra does have is steering totally lacking in feel but after a day or two you get used to it and don't notice until you drive something more responsive.
It is certainly very much better in handling terms than the two Cavalier 2.0 I had previously. They had appalling understeer under power and yet nobody ever criticised the Cav at the time? I appreciate the world has moved on but I suspect Mr Clarkson had a lot to do with the Vectra's image problem.
Talking of image I was most amused when the Top Gear team considered some months ago that JC was possibly queer. When you evaluate his attitude to cars it certainly is of the superficial 'image'and feminine consideration.
In point of fact I don't believe Clarkson knows a great deal about cars other than from the driving experience point of view.
I once picked up his 100 best cars book in the library and it fell open at the Triumph page. Guess what? the Dolomite Sprint had a twin cam engine (mine certainly didn't) and the TR250 (the detuned American version of the TR5) had a four cylinder motor. I don't think so. Ah well I wish I was a few shillings behid him and I would not be concerned with elderly Vectras
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This may have limited value FWIW but my taxi-man who has picked me or my daughter up at LHR for years now has always done so in Vectras. I mentioned to him 10 days ago the comments I had seen or heard about about them. He said don't listen to 'em, he swears by the Vectra for reliability, their ability to cover very high mileages with manageable service costs, the space and comfort for passengers and general value for money. He summed up his analysis as quote an effing good mo-er unquote.
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Vectra has several well-known reliability problems:
cam sensor
crank sensor
idle valve fiasco (and they charge you £180 for a new one!)
EGR valve
None of these are particularly serious if you know how to fix them - which apparently a lot of GM dealers don't.
Speaking of Clarkson and motoring journalists, I remember an interesting experience I had about 15 years ago. I was working in the industry and Autocar sent a journalist to interview me for an article about vehicle electronics and, specifically, engine management systems.
The journalist turned up just before noon and I took him straight out to lunch. Chatting casually over the meal it became apparent that he knew very little about automotive technology, nor indeed did he seem to have much enthusiasm for the subject. I asked him about his background and it turned out to be 'public school' followed by a degree in music, then straight into journalism. He was a perfectly nice guy and I have since read a number of articles that he's written, but ever since then I've treated everything written by motoring journalists with great suspicion.
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Can you please tell me what the symptoms of EGR failure are. My Vectra (2.0l petrol) has developed a driveability problem at small throttle openings. I have changed the throttle pot without success but something is definitely causing it to hesitate and then 'surge'. It idles perfectly well and goes extremely well when driven at higher speeds. Also during the winter the problem did not seem to develop until I had covered a few miles and the engine had warmed up somewhat, now the weather is a bit warmer this is not so apparent and the problem starts in the first mile or so after driving off. I have wondered about the possibility of EGR problems as the Haynes manual is not at all explicit about the symptoms.
Many Thanks
Superannuated Rocker.
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EGR valve opens at part-load with a hot engine to allow exhaust gases into the inlet mixture. The exhaust gas acts as an 'inert dilutant' and reduces the combustion temperature, hence reducing formation of oxides of nitrogen.
More than about 10-15% EGR causes misfire and EGR is reduced at high load, large throttle opening, to ensure maximum power.
Symptom of EGR valve sticking is generally a lumpy idle (EGR should be zero at idle) and reduced power at higher loads.
Your problem does not sound obvioulsy like an EGR failure since you report a smooth idle, but it wouldn't hurt to clean the EGR valve.
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Had a 96 SRi with similar EGR problems was told it was because they had made the unit smaller and it would clog up with debries, how true this is I do not know.
Re J Clarkson not every one can affort to waste 40 - 60k on a car , unless it can be written off for tax.
The avarage punter needs a good cheap to run reliable car for A to B running.
And ALL manufactures build lemons at one time or another, if you took HJ car reviews to heart you would not buy any car.
What would be useful would be HJ total car type sales per month vis compliants/known faults as a percentage.
Any comments?
K2
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Is this the start of things to come?
I\'ve just had my first problem with the Vectra in the 21 months that I\'ve owned it. It\'s now 31 months old, done 33,000 miles, and shock horror one of the tail light bulbs blew at the weekend. What will go wrong next?
(tongue firmly in cheek; I hope)
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I own a 'W' reg Vectra DI saloon since it was 6 months old. I bought the car in Feb 2001 with 7K miles on the clock and it's now on 46,000 miles. Whilst I've had the car it has been excellent. It's had one new set of front tyres (originals lasted 33K miles), a couple of tail light bulbs (The outer tail lights seem to fail early on these?!), a new MAF sensor (Paid for by Vauxhall when the car was 2 years old) and a new battery. Apart from that I'm still very pleased with it. It has not yet let me down once (touch wood!) and I find it very comfortable and quite nice to drive. It's had a tuning box fitted since 18K miles with no problems and it goes like a rocket. The car does still consume a bit of oil and the bonnet has quite a few stone chips on it (I do mainly motorway driving). I find the seats very comfortable and the brakes are very responsive and the headlights are very good. My car is the metallic red (satin red) and has alloys and I think it looks quite smart.
I might look at a new shape Vectra 2.2 diesel next year!
Heres to Vectras! Cheers!
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