Wife wants a Scenic or a Freelander though I have been vaguely looking at nearly new fully loaded, spacious, loadsa torque, 5 door TD's in the mold of my current Mondeo Ghia X. It seems that the Vectra is good value, I have seen an 05 plate Vectra Elite 3.0 CDTi for £13k, ok I know it is not quite as sharp to drive as the Mondeo, also it will likely average (only!) around 40mpg, however this (Izuzu) engine is great in the Saab 9-5, typical V6 burble. Sounds like a good deal?
I was most pleased with my last Vauxhall, a '98 Vectra V6 estate, it was the dealers that let it down.
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How come such a new (and highly specced) Vectra is so cheap?
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Adam
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Seems that the Vectra, Laguna and C5 among others suffer massive early depreciation, although even more numerous the Mondeo is hit less hard, perhaps helped by Ford's recent rise in reliability/dealer surveys.
Thus cars like this Vectra seem excellent value. It is not much more than half price, less than 6 months old with a couple of thousand miles on the clock.
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Its because Vectra/Laguna/C5 are sold with heavy discounts. Less ford discounting, except the high top of range jobbies (ie ghia x estates)
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Its because Vectra/Laguna/C5 are sold with heavy discounts. Less ford discounting, except the high top of range jobbies (ie ghia x estates)
A 54 plate 2.0 TDCi Ghia X goes for at least a grand more than this 05 plate Vectra.
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I mentioned in another thread that I saw an Oct 03 34k Vectra 3.2 Elite go for £7k at auction 4 weeks ago. Astonishing depreciation, and a bargain for the second buyer.
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Any thoughts on the car, not just the price?
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I'd go for a nice spec Vectra over a mondeo any day of the week.
But hey i'm no ford fan
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THe CDTi is a lovely lump, no two ways about it. It only gets about 35 mpg in the Saab, and it needs regular italian tuning.
(it has so much lovely low down torque that no one gives them welly and it starts to get a bit gummy and strangled.)
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Had my Vectra for six months now, (a 2.2 direct SRi) and I've been very pleased with it. Very comfortable on the Motorway and roomy inside. I would've bought the 3.0 V6 if mine hadn't been so highly specified.
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THe CDTi is a lovely lump, no two ways about it. It only gets about 35 mpg in the Saab, and it needs regular italian tuning. (it has so much lovely low down torque that no one gives them welly and it starts to get a bit gummy and strangled.)
Not particularly well off in the low down torque dept for it's size, 370nm from 3.0ltrs where a 2.0 130 Mondeo is 350nm and a 2.2 400nm, nevertheless I like the V6 burble and easy going nature of it.
All being equal I would take another Mondeo though the Vectra looks good value.
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I bought a Vectra 2.2 Tdci Elegance about 9 months ago, with an 03 plate . I had aimed for a Mondeo Zetec or Ghia 130 TDCi but the Vectra was better value and I bought it with reservations.
In fact it has been great ; runs and drives well , now on 50.3 overall consumption , annual service .
I'm not sure I would have bothered with a bigger diesel engine , and the car I aim at next would be the vectra 1.9CDTi qith 150 bhp, which seems to me to be a terrific tradeoff of performance and economy.
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>I was most pleased with my last Vauxhall, a '98 Vectra V6 estate, it was the dealers that let it down.
Are you sure you want to be seeing Vauxhall dealers again after your previous problems?
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He wouldn't have to though would he? If I ever bought a new car (doubtful) or a car with warranty still left of (possible - probable), I wouldn't let the dealer go near it with a barge pole. I'd get it serviced at an indy and only let the dealer touch it is something catastophic went wrong and it needed fixing under warranty.
As I understand it, I could get it serviced wherever the hell I like and as long as I used genuine OEM parts, they have to uphold the warranty.
It looks like OperationFast Vauxhall is on again.
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Adam
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The Elite has different suspension that lesser Vectras, if you drive it you will be smitten I'm sure.
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"As I understand it, I could get it serviced wherever the hell I like and as long as I used genuine OEM parts, they have to uphold the warranty."
Correct - This forms part of new consumer legislation which means that the manufacturer's warranty must be honoured on the basis that original replacement parts are used and work is carried out to their specifications/standards.
i.e. yes you can fix a broken pump or something like that yourself and but if you don't do it right and your workmanship is shown to be the root cause of some kind of knock-on problem then the manufacturer is released from any obligation even if you used an original part from them.
Let's face it, that only stands to reason. There's saving money and plenty of servicing and repairs you can (and in my book) should be able to do yourself but then there's always the self-appointed DIY enthusiast who just doesn't know where to draw the line ;-)
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Have you thought about a Signum? I don't know what your passenger requirements are but if you rarely have more that four people in it would be worth considering. DO NOT get a brand new one however - I got one second hand for £10k fully loaded with every toy in the book, all the trim extras including the bigger alloys, leather trim etc, obscene amounts of legroom all round and a superbly shaped boot for carrying everything from 2 labradors, to multiple sets of golf clubs to TV's etc. (given the more upright nature of it). It is what it looks like, Vectra front half, bizarre rear half, and in practice it's a halfway house between a hatchback and an estate in terms of practicality. Granted it's not a mainstream car but to some extent that also was one of the reasons it appealed to me and you do get the odd second look with people wondering, what on earth that is? I took it in to get a couple of new tyres on recently and watched as one by one all the guys in the garage came over to look at it, opening the boot, arguing over how much space there was etc. One point with regard to safety, my brother-in-law is a doctor who dealt with a traffic accident recently where two smaller cars were racing, came round the corner and both hit a Signum coming the other direction. The crumplezones and breakaway features did exactly what they were designed to do an everything in front of the Signum's front windscreen was literally missing but the driver and passenger area survived intact and everyone inside walked out of hospital that night. No one from the two smaller cars that were racing survived. On a lighter note, the middle back seat is useable but in honesty, only for kids or very short journeys for adults but if that's not really a great concern to you then you can find some good value deals out there particularly since the fleet cars are starting to flood on to the second hard market now (Usually good bargains because of regular servicing by authorised dealers despite a few more miles that you might like). I got the 2.2DTI version, 14mths old with 30k miles, still under manuf. warranty etc. and am averaging about 42mpg with more urban and clogged motorway use than steady free road use. It's very quiet, smooth, sticks to the road like glue and although it's not designed to be a sports car, it's no great sloucher at the lights and 50-70mph torque with the turbo is great for overtaking. Let's be honest, if you wanted a hardcore sports car I wouldn't have expected you to be looking at the Vectra range anyway. It's a solid, reliable, comfortable workhorse that I continue to get great fun and enjoyment out of driving. (I have a Celica for my coupe addiction!)
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I'm a management consultant and wanted a car which had an executive image - I looked at BMWs and Mercs but they were too expensive. In a weaker moment I bought a Signum (no idea why).
To be honest £10K seems far too much for your car - where did you get it from? I got mine for £8K2 from an auction at Dalry.
I also heard that the alloys were susceptible to pitting....time will tell.
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Lots of intersting comments, I reckon the Vectra hatch is much better looking than the Signum and the Elite is great spec, the main issues are that the Mondeo is just so good to drive on an intersting road and that point about the Vaux dealers, no I would not take a nearly new car to an indy as Adam suggests, there is a lot to be gained from service history, factory updates etc via a main dealer and while warranty has to be honoured if serviced correctly there would be no chance of post warranty goodwill contributions if a car is serviced by an independant. I have had good experiences with a couple of Ford dealers and 12500 dealer service on the Mondeo is only 140 - 150 quid. Might look into service costs on the 3.0 CDTi.
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IMHO, the Mondeo is impressive in the twisty counry roads, but at the other end of the journey you feel exhausted and can't wait to get out. It is hard work.
The Vectra Elite is more refined and cossetted, and refreshes you as you drive.
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IMHO, the Mondeo is impressive in the twisty counry roads, but at the other end of the journey you feel exhausted and can't wait to get out. It is hard work.
Well my current Mondeo is great on the back roads as well as wafting along all day at 90 leaving you fresh as a daisy's bum, can't say it is hard work.
The Vectra Elite is more refined and cossetted, and refreshes you as you drive.
Not sure that it what I want though, I want a car that is lithe and agile, not soft and wallowy. I would rather be stimulated than cosseted.
I do like the price and the V6 burble though.
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I am tempted by the Vectra with the 150 bhp diesel. Prices are even getting sensible at dealers, though I may wait 6-9 months to allow the facelifted model to come through and perhaps depress prices further. I would be interested to hear thoughts from anyone who has one or has driven one.
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Cheddar - you'd better take SWMBO out in a Vectra back-to-vack with your Mondeo and see which she prefers.
If after this she still wants a Scenic or Freeloader you'll be in all sorts of trouble: you'll be posting on here looking for sympathy, which you'll get from some of us but probably not No Wheels!
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I was considering a vectra cdti 150 or a mondeo 130. No contest. The vectra is far more refined and is less noisy at speed.
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I would not consider the 1.9 150, IMHO it is noisier than my TDCi 130 and is substantially less lively in real world driving unless you use the revs, the Mondeon has so much more torque. Agree that the Vectra is v-quiet at speed.
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Well the service costs for the 3.0 CTDi are £150/£210 minor/major, similar to my Mondeo however the service interval in 20k miles!, there is no way I would let a car go that long between oil changes, 12.5k on the Mondeo seem rather long to me.
Either way sounds like servicing cost are not an issue, though have the dealers improved in the past 5 years or so?
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