Jeremy's Right!!! (Vauxhall Vectra Club 2.0DTi 16v 5-door Hatchback)

Member Name: iamdaveb

Product:	Vauxhall Vectra Club 2.0DTi 16v 5-door Hatchback
Date:	14/01/03 (6638 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Power Steering, Lower Gears (vroooooommmmm!!), Stereo

Disadvantages: Higher Gears., Suspension, Internal/External Appearance.

The last series of Topgear produced endless amounts of insults thrown at any of the Vauxhall range and mainly the Vectra's. Why?? You may ask, well hopefully this report will give you some idea.

I have now had this Vectra 2.0 as a company car for the past year, and was brand new from the leasing company when received. I know that your views may suddenly after knowing that I am writing this review from a company car drivers perspective. But taking into consideration that I have done nearly 45,000 miles in the last year, I should be half a decent judge on this product regardless of my driving style.

First impressions? when starting the Vectra is the unbelievable amount of noise that the engine produces. And yes, I do expect there to be some noise considering that it is a diesel, but would you blame me for mentioning this if I said it sounds like a black cab or a London bus??.

Appearance inside is very bland with standard boring plastic dashboards and hardback seats that don't really fit any body. There are no real gimmicks or surprises in store once you have looked around briefly, except that the audio system is pretty decent. Nothing seems to have been positioned in respect of someone under 6ft tall, with the drinks holder in between driver and passenger awkwardly pushed to far back so you have to lean to rest your arm, or the steering column which you can never get in it's ideal position. OK, I don't mind giving it some credit for its physical appearance other than its the same old Vectra, just a bit squarer.

I would like to suggest that if anything was to put you off this car, it won't be the internal/external appearance, but the drive and reliability.

As mentioned, I have done around 45,000 miles so far, and during this period it has been in the garage five times for faults, and twice for its service. The faults in order have been:

1: Power Steering Fluid Leak (Caused car not to turn whilst
doing 50mph on slip road from motorway)
2: 4 Weeks later, the same Power Steering Fluid Leak re-occurred.
3: Throttle barrel had broke causing engine to run, but no power.
4: Engine Flooded (have no idea as to why)
5: Onboard computer management failed (again, no idea as to why)

Let me also say that I know nearly 30 other people with Vectra?s from our fleet and I would say that 80% of them have been in the garage for problems within the first year.

Other than the faults, the drive can be of a various performance depending on the cars usage. Motorway driving, the Vectra can out pull quite a few cars from a standstill, but due to serious lag on the turbo, opponents will always edge ahead before you kick in. 2nd and 3rd gears are a dream, and have a lot of power behind them for getting away from trailing cars. But then this leads on to the last two gear's, 4th and 5th are really only there to keep you car accelerating (but not at any great urgency). Town driving is generally more exciting than motorways as you are really only using the first 3 gears (most powerful), but due to a stiff suspension it defiantly isn't the most comfortable but at least the power steering is a treat, which allows you to handle even the most hazardous environments with ease.

With the cars 60ltr tank, you could expect on average around 500miles per tank. But take note, that oil consumption within any diesels is far greater than petrol. And in a diesel Vectra, it is even worse. For every 1000 miles you drive you will find that your oil is well below minimum and needs topping up.

I could easily rabbit on about faults with this car but it is unfair due to my expectations. To some people, this car may be a gem and a very practical car.. Everyone has their own opinion.!!

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