Thanks for that Spamcan
BTW does "CD" and "CDX" mean diesel ? This is not as dopey a question as it may seem as my current carina is a "CDX" but is petrol !
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BTW does "CD" and "CDX" mean diesel ?
No, it's just the trim level name. The CDX will have a few more toys than the CD will.
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I would try and find a new shape one with the BMW 2.5TD and an autobox (they go beautifully together) After the facelift, the BMW unit was replaced with a later BMW unit which is much better Y25DT as opposed to U25DT or X25DT of ealier models, you can tell the difference easily by the plastic inlet manifold. These will be rare as it was soon dropped due to the expense (BMW were demanding) and Vx used their own 4 cylinder diesel, but early ones of these are a bit ropey by all accounts.
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Please don't do what I did and buy a 2.0 16V ecotec. Lovely car but never again I am buying one with a 2.0 ecotec.
From what I gather 2.5V6 are supposed to be the biz.
If u can afford the extra go for a CD/CDX.
BTW where is the site selling new Omega's for 10K?
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Thanks all so far.
The Omegas were on offer at Trade-Sales and I think they had some new ones between £10-14K and some "nearly new" at £9999
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My friend has a 2000V Elite. It is silver with black leather and has every toy you can possibly think of (e.g. heated rear seats, dual zone climate control blah blah). It is fantastically comfortable, the 3.0 engine is powerful and makes a lovely sound and this car cost him £9k in January. (over 70% depreciation in 3 yrs).
I think that Elite's are the true bargain of the Omega range.
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Daz;
The specific Omegas I saw for under 10K were at autolink Southampton www.carsupermarkets.co.uk/autolink-southampton.asp ; but most car supermarkets have some around the 10K mark from time to time. I've just bought a second Omega for my daily commute, 2.0 16V Ecotec ;-/ 3,000 miles so far & no hassle...we shall see what happens long term. Still at 1800 quid it's cost me roughly 50p per mile so far!
Jase : I agree the Elite has the best toys for the money; it's just they can be eye-wateringly expensive when they go wrong. Agreed an awful lot of car for 9K.
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I have an MV6 and I love it. I'm aware of the possible expense though. However with any "executive" car, nothing is going to be cheap...it's the trade-off for getting so much car for your money.
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I've had my Jan 2001 3.0 Elite for just over a year now and have come to the conclusion it's got to go. I bought it for many of the reasons stated above - lots of car for the money, big depreciation from new, good motorway cruiser etc.
But the combination of things going wrong and poor quality dealers is frightening me come Jan 2004 when the warranty runs out.
I won't go into all the details here (I've already asked the questions in other threads) but the drop to 40K from 80K miles for timing belt changes is a concern - that makes it an extra £300 to £400 per year for me. The other clincher is a vibration at motorway speeds that I've never been able to cure despite balancing (on and off car), bush renewal, driveshaft check, tracking - and something that some other owners that I've spoken to have experienced too.
And handling! I've had rear wheel drive before but I've never known a car to be so skittish round bends in the wet - and believe me when I say I'm not one of those that likes to hang the tail out for a laugh - it would just be nice to go round a roundabout at the same speed as a 1.0 Corsa!
So with a cost approaching £1500 for repairs in a year's ownership, hours spent at friendly but thoroughly incompetent dealers and the fear of what's to come it's got to go. I'll take a hit of about £5K in depreciation too....I knew that would happen but originally intended to keep it for 3 years.
Anyway, after all that negativeness I know that there are a lot of people here happy with their Omegas and perhaps mine's just a bit of a lemon.
PST
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PST - and everyone else - thanks for that. HJ's C by C breakdown seems to indicate they're ok. Perhaps you've just been unlucky ? But wow, £1500 maintenance bills per annum is certainly making me think again. Cheers
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BTB
Sorry - reread my post and it does sound very negative. Let me put it into context...
First of all I do nearly 40K miles per year and although it's mostly motorway it's obvious that I'm going to have to get things changed a bit more frequently.
Despite my problems it is a nice car - loads of passenger space, huge boot. And it's got a great sounding engine with a fair bit of poke in a straight line.
I got mine for £14K for an 18 month old 18K mile car - nothing else really compared at the time.
It's the experience at the dealers that has been most problematic - it just seems they have a complete reliance on swapping things out rather than trying to understand the problem and fix - mind you, they did do my timing belt kit under warranty. But VX dealers are not an issue if you can find a good independent once the warranty period is over.
And as they are no longer made I think there are some fantastic deals around at the moment...as well as Trade Sales try Nidd Vale Motors - up North somewhere but knocking them out very cheap and also DK Car Sales near Newbury - specialise in Omegas and have their stock list on the web - www.dkcarsales.co.uk - generally cheaper than Network Q.
PST
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Omega is one of the least liked and most troublesome cars in the Which? car buying guide survey. Whether you take note of that or not depends on you views of Which?, I guess. I've always found them to be pretty accurate.
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Haven't had mine serviced for nearly 30k miles now and it still runs sweet as a nut. The oil is changed every 5 - 8k (Mobil 1), had Green Stuff brake pads 20k ago (about £70 the set plus fitting) together with brake fluid change.
It had an awful habit of tramlining when I first got it (just over 20k miles). Took it to the Vaux dealer, without any testing etc they swapped a front bearing - expensive, and no change to problem. That was the last time I used a Vaux dealer. The all round tyre change solved the problem.
30k miles ago had my little man do the cambelt and a "minor" service - £230 I think.
I can't think of any other problems I've had, certainly no significant ones (touch wood etc). So mine has cost me nowhere near £1500 pa servicing.
Oh yes, the lazy front n/s leccy window - it's a bit of a well known problem apparently - got the part from a breakers for about £30 and fitted myself. And of course the tiny bulbs behind the dash which seems to come up once in a while here too.
I reckon I've lost a few bob in depreciation over the 2 1/2 years of ownership, but no as much as the original owner! And with only c70k on it, I'm expecting it to last me a few more years yet. (The funny thing is, there is NOTHING else I fancy more out there...not realistically priced anyway...)
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Thanks Smokie
But which engine / trim is yours also how old is it. What would you recommend I go for ? (I'm thinking v. nearly new / or new)
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"I reckon I've lost a few bob in depreciation over the 2 1/2 years of ownership, but no as much as the original owner!"
Bob, this will be you that he's referring to if you buy new/nearly new.
I was at Colchester auction a couple of months back and was amazed how cheaply 2 or 3 year old Omegas were going for. Buy new and you're chucking away many thousands of pounds purely for the cachet of having a new car. Buy 3 years old and let someone else take the big depreciation hit- think what you can do with the thousands you save!
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Not sure if you can still buy a really new Omega or not now; after all it has been superceded (sort of) by the Signum (I think I've seen two on the roads to date).
There's also a similar thread :'comments on Omega' over on the uk.rec.cars.maintenance newsgroup at the moment; so I'd take a look over there.
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I just don't get this thing with Omegas. You only have to look back through the archives to see what an unreliable car they are. They are cheap to buy because they appear to keep going wrong. They maybe great to drive, big etc in between trips to the dealer - but who need's the hassle. Surely life's too short to buy an Omega?
MB
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Mine has now done 135,000 miles. We've had it for around the last 40,000 of those miles, I think.
In that time;
Brake light switch came unplugged immobilising the car
1 Puncture
Rear exhaust box
Other than that, runs well, comfortable, reliable, always starts and until recently covered +/- 1000 miles per week, although its down to about 500 per week now.
Great car and totally reliable. (touch wood).
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I can't agree with you MB, I was looking at E classes and BMW 5 series and had about £6k to spend. The BMWs and Mercs were basic and very high mileage, and not terribly reliable according to HJ's column and various online forums.
Someone suggested an Omega, and I turned my nose up at first. 18 months ago, I ended up buying a 1998 Elite with the BMW diesel engine. The car is fully loaded with sat nav, xenon lights, dual zone climate, electric blind, leather, heated seats all round, memory elec. seats and mirrors, 10 speaker Bose hifi etc...etc.... it cost me £6000 ( a fraction of the original £28k it had cost 4.5 years before)
I have had no problems *touch wood* apart from a BMW waterpump failure - see other thread and head gasket as a result) other than that just normal service/wear items as it has now done 150k miles. The engine and transmission and all of the special equipment works fine.. *touch wood*
I have found the Omega a very satisfying and relatively frugal ownership experience compared to the Mazda 626 I had before.
I think as long as you service it meticulously it is reliable, but the dealers are a bit ropey, so most people probably don't.
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I've had my 2.5 CDX for a year now. It's a 1999 bought for £7K with 25K on the clock with a manual gearbox (I prefer that to auto).
I've covered 17K miles in it.
Apart from initial problems with the climate control and few blown dash bulbs (all fixed under warranty), the only problem I've had has been a engine bay rubber hose replacement which was less than five quid to sort out.
Of course I've had a couple services, a cam belt change and a set of tyres so I've spent a few bob on maintenance - but that's to expected on any car.
All the equipment works and I've no real complaints.
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Sorry for the delay - mine is an MV6 (3.0), 98 R Reg, bought at auction at just about 3 years old with 20something k on the clock. Now up to 70k.
Not quite as plush as the Elite, but a sportier set up (and manual, which I wanted for a change).
It guzzles a bit - overall average (driven fast but not especially hard) is somewhere near 26 mpg.
I probably forgot to mention exhaust and tyres in my rundown, but these are "consumables" (albeit on the expensive side!) as far as I am concerned.
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