I worked in a Vauxhall dealer from 1980 - 1995 and for most of that time I would never have breathed a word against Vauxhalls. I still say the best car Vauxhall ever made was the 1982/88 Cavalier, and in particular the 1987 face-lifted model which eventually gave way to the newer version. They were well built, comfortable, nice to drive and easy and cheap to maintain. Sadly now though I think modern Vauxhalls are rubbish, and in fact one of the worst makes on the road. They seem to have gone into partnership with Renault, or at least there are a lot of similarlarities, and Renaults are not exactly famous for their high levels of reliability.

Each to their own of course, but in my opinion there are plenty of makes that are much better than a Vauxhall.....

As well as having worked on and driven many, every car I've ever owned except one has been a Vauxhall. I would not buy one now though.

1976 Cavalier 1600GL - Fantastic car even if a bit under-powered. It was comfortable and I drove this to the south of France in 1985. Never gave me any trouble. I owned this for just under 5 years and I loved it.

1984 Nova 1.3SR - Again a brilliant car.

1983 Cavalier 1600L - A stop gap this one, but again another great car.

1986 Cavalier 1.8SRi - I bought this with a broken cambelt for £500 in 1993. I replaced 5 bent valves and owned it until 1999. It was fast and comfortable. I drove it everywhere and like every other one before it never gave me a moment's trouble.

1994 Astra 1.7DTL Merit Estate - Was actually my wife's car. It was perfectly reliable but it did have an annoying fault I could never get to the bottom of. It's a common fault with these diesels. It would surge on acceleration and I tried just about everything to cure it but I never succeeded. I did however manage to improve it but I'd done so much to it I never knew what.

I now own a Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi Elegance and it is the best car I've ever owned. I've already decided that I want another one after this. It's smooth, fast, comfortable and good on fuel. Modern Skodas are part on the VW/Audi group, but in many ways are better than VWs and Audi. The only thing I regret about this car is buying one with light coloured interior. It's so difficult to keep clean.....