| Product: |
Vauxhall Nova |
| Date: |
11/08/01 (427 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: It looked nice.
Disadvantages: Massive disappointment, Very uncaring dealer.
Our 1.3 Nova 5 door was a nightmare, we bought it brand new from our local main Vauxhall dealer and were very disappointed.
It wore out brake pads every couple of months, the windscreen wiper link broke, the rear windscreen washer broke, the driver door bent! it developed serious rust problems at the bottom of the doors, around the front and even inside around the bottom of the back seat area.
The sunroof always leaked rain in, the camshaft wore out in 18 months, it used a pint of oil every 3 weeks, it was difficult to start in the cold, it would never tick over properly and every couple of months blew brake light bulb?s.. This was all inside 2 years from brand new?
I nearly forgot, when jacking the car up to change a wheel (puncture) one day the jack broke!
As if these points weren't bad enough it was often totally dead electrically (we never did find out why, neither did our dealer) and I had to go through most of the electrics several times just to get any power?
The Vauxhall dealer was atrocious and kept saying there was nothing wrong, they fixed the rust but it came back, they wouldn't listen about the bad starting or tick over, they didn't care about the camshaft sounding terrible, they weren't interested in it using all that oil and they didn?t want it back for a trade in!
When out of the useless manufacturer warranty our local back street garage told us that the dealer had never changed the oil, it was still on the original oil filter and the ignition timing was a mile out....
Having said that, on the odd occasion that it was actually working and when no parts were actually falling off, it was a nice car to drive, it was fairly nippy and handled well, on it's expensive low profile tyres.
Summary:
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Last comments:
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- 30/08/01 oops, typo correction on rule number 4, meant to read 'The brakes on taxis last longer than a 'couple of months'... |
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- 30/08/01 Rule number 1- never buy from a Vauxhall dealer. Period!
Rule number 2- Never buy the standard 1.3SRi, it was probably the worst Nova produced. A bad attempt at a mid range hatchback, that the 1.2 would out perform
Rule number 3- Camshafts always have, and always will wear out on Vauxhalls, and you will find it is always the cam nearest the oil filler cap. Dont know why, it just is. Always check them
Rule number 4- The brakes on taxis last longer the a 'couple of weeks' Either you drove it to hard, or didnt take simple precautions to protect them.
Rule number 5- Doors dont magically bend, simple laws of physics, an object will continue to move at a constant velocity and in a constant direction until an external force is acted upon it, or in other words, someone hit it.
Rule number (whatever number i am on now, lost count)- Oil does not evaporate, and if it leaks, leaves a big black mark where it was. However, every internal combustion engine loses oil, it isnt possible to avoid. check your oil!
As far as electrics go, i am with you on that one, i had the same problem. But i didnt need a Vauxhall dealer to figure it out. If anyone else has this problem, check this, it sounds unlikely, but often the cause. Check the connection to the Battery warning light on the back of the dashboard, including the circuit pad on the back. The alternator is switched on, via this warning light. If this light fails, the alternator fails. Stupid design, but true non the less.
Entitled to your opinion, and not everyone will like the same thing, You had a bad example of a Nova. Rating it bad not because you dont like the Nova, but because you didnt back up your argument, and sounded like some serious over exageration going on there with no support to your arguments.
Am i mean? |
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- 12/08/01 Oi kf ! You leave Novas alone !! Great cars for simple maintenance and cheap parts, but require some 'nurturing'.
But seriously, this has to be NU. Just a rant with no substance.
Cars do not "wear out brake pads every couple of weeks" and, if your door "bent", it was because someone bent it !!!
Yes the oil does require checking and changing, and if not changed this will account for why "the camshaft wore out in no time".
Sounds like a p*ss-poor dealer and an unsympathetic owner to me.... |
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