Friday 10th July 2015

Shed Of The Week: Vauxhall Omega V6

Manual, rear-driven and leather-lined Vauxhall bruiser makes for classic Shed fare - yum!

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Omega. Could be a watch, could be a constellation, could be a fish oil. Or it could even be a Vauxhall.

Not a hint of blues or twos in this one

It's a Vauxhall. A Vauxhall Omega Elite with a manual gearbox. The seller correctly states that manual Elites are rare. According to Parkers, Vauxhall only built them for three months between January and April 2001, which if correct means there was a fair delay between this car rolling off the line and its registration for the road in 2002.

That's entirely plausible because Omegas weren't an easy sell by this stage. 2003 was the big rear-drive bruiser's last year of production, but it had had a good innings: nine long years of making both family men and policemen happy.

This one ticks just about all of our Shedly boxes for a 'bargin' barge: poky motor, top o' the range spec, leather lovely, miles low, and price attractive.

If not handsome the Omega's got rugged appeal

Nowadays, automatics are at least as quick and economical as manuals, but that certainly wasn't always the case. If you're handy with a porridge-stirrer, the manual box on this 176bhp 2.6 V6 will let you knock a full second off the auto's 0-60 time, bringing it down to the low eights. Top whack is a handy 142mph, which would be something to see on the autobarn.

Vendor describes it as a super cheap family car. He's certainly right in terms of the very fair purchase price and the vast amount of space in both cabin and boot. However, as regards the family bit, the contrast between the well-polished driver's seat and the unworn-looking matt finish of the other leather perches suggests a car that's not been subjected to that much bashing about by little Johnny and his naughty sister.

Or maybe this is special leather? Ad does say it is 'leather leather', which in Shed's opinion really is the best kind of leather. You don't want non-leather leather.

Big engine, manual, RWD - proper job!

The seller is also right to draw attention to the Elite's mighty spec. It's got all the kit a sensible driver would want, plus the added benefit of a factory Bose sound system. Anyone who's heard one of those hammering away in an Audi will testify to the sound quality. There's a retro tech vibe going on with the CD player in that it only takes four disks, but it's a 'fill and forget' situation anyway once you've got your Best Of Des O'Connor, Val Doonican, Frank Sinatra and Roger Whittaker albums in there.

At this price it would be churlish to grumble about the one frilly wheelarch or the non-functioning aircon. The fact that a re-gas actually worked last year gives you reason to believe that another £50's worth will see you through the summer, if conditioned air is important to you. The true Shedman is happy to breathe in great lungfuls of whatever air is available, grateful as he is merely to be alive in such carefree times.

Four months' MOT gives you enough time to grow accustomed to its foibles and spot any upcoming issues. What might they include?

Doesn't seem to have led a sociable life

Well, despite there not being much obvious word-of-internet evidence against the 2.6 V6 petrol (the 2.5 BMW diesel-engined ones seemed to attract more complaints), Which? proudly trumpeted 1995-2000 Omegas (both petrol and diesel) as having the highest number of breakdowns, problems and faults in its 2003 survey. Anything electronic - door locks, key fobs, computer - is a banana skin. Cambelt replacement is on a fairly poor 40k/four-year schedule.

Here's another biggish downside: tax. This car emits 255g/km of CO2, which means a £290 tax bill. Not absurd given the new rates but when it's half the value of the car...

So this is not the sort of car you'd buy to impress your bank manager, your mates, or indeed your wife. But for the more ruminative driver with a detached disregard for the opinions of others, a gov.uk standing order, and very possibly a pipe, it's a worthy choice.

[N.B. As occasionally happens, this Shed has sold after writing and prior to publication. There's nothing that can be done in these instances, it can occur and there simply isn't time to select another car. The points still stand for all Omegas though, and the story is valid!]

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Here's the ad.

Probably the only manual gearbox'ed, genuine Elite (not MV6 or Police Special)
Runs very well, incredibly comfortable. Used daily very reliably. 4 months MOT
Super cheap family car £600ovno
A very rare model and very high spec for a car of its age.
Car has, full black leather leather interior
Heated seats front and rear - 3 position memory
Factory upgraded with Bose sound
Sunroof
Reverse park aid
Cruise control
4 disc CD player.
Climate Control
Electric Mirrors with - 3 position memory
Body work is ok for the year, one rear wheel arch is a bit scabby, only known faults are the remotes don't work you have to turn the key to lock and unlock, and the air-con doesn't work, it was re-gassed last summer and worked, but by this year is out of gas again.

[StarmistBlue400]

LOL, the seller has st his pants and removed the ad, good work PH

Best find a new shed PDQ.

[StarmistBlue400]

2smoke said:

I've been looking at these recently in an attempt to re-live my 6 cylinder Carlton memories. VED rate is a show stopper for me though...

My Dad had a Carlton 2.6CDX from new. It was a lovely car with a smooth VarioCam (I think was the term) engine which sounded nice. He really wanted a GSI 24v but dont think he could afford it.

He used to let me drive it on early morning fishing trips (I was only 16, Private roads obviously)