RE: SOTW: Vauxhall Omega 3.0 MV6
Discussion
My Dad asked me to advertise his 2.5 Elite on here a few years ago. Advert for like £800. Which I thought was a fair price.
Then it turns out he got negotiated down to £350! I'd have taken it for that price! Upsetting that was. It was in great condition had all the toys.
If nothing else I'd have stripped it out and thrown it around a track or two.
Then it turns out he got negotiated down to £350! I'd have taken it for that price! Upsetting that was. It was in great condition had all the toys.
If nothing else I'd have stripped it out and thrown it around a track or two.
Just remembered, I worked with a woman who had a great deal going on with these back when they were in production.
She was working with us on a contract and lived about 100 miles away. So often faced a 200 mile commute.
Omega suited her motorway mile eating needs family car needs and the need for a decent car - she was a bit of a petrohead.
Anyway, her local Vauxhall garage sold her a 2 and a half year old one, she ran it for six months until the warranty ended, then swapped it for another one just coming out of warranty.
Made sense to her, and the garage she said would give her a call when they got a decent car in.
Last time I spoke to her, she'd moved onto Range Rovers.
Ran a '99 2.5 auto Elite until last year. Quiet, comfortable, roomy barge with an absolutely superb Bose sound system as standard. Apart from cambelt/pulleys and water pump it needed rocker cover gaskets, dist pack, assorted brake discs/pads/pipes over the 5+ years owned. Finally scrapped after requiring complete new exhaust system (£600) proved to be more than it was worth. Had completed just shy of 170000 miles at it's demise. Engine & auto box probably good for another 100000 miles.
Big Rod said:
ITech said:
Weak auto gearbox (I think it was also used in some Saabs, and known in Saab cirlces as a bit iffy).
Mine was thrashed relentlessly and the only grumble it had was the selector switch got dirty. Quick clean and it was as good as new. Aren't Saabs FWD though?ITech said:
Your quite right, I appologise, I was thinking of the Cavalier/Vectra - my mistake
I've moved in Vx barge circles for many a year and I've never heard of a CHG letting go! The oil cooler failing does give CHG symptoms though which is quite common but an easy fix.ITech said:
That may well be the actual cause of the problem, I conceed
TBH, I thought mine was finished quite nicely and it stood up to quite a bit of abuse.ITech said:
I don't like the interior plastics or design, but that is a personal thing, I accept.
Chains aren't indestructable and the ones I've done, (albeit not on the other examples you mentioned!), are a worse job that the cambelt on these!ITech said:
I've never heard of a chain going on an x300 or e38, would prefer a chain driven engine myself
OK, I'll give you that, but X300 Jags aren't much better!You obvously know these cars well, I do like them, but, I guess my point was there are, imo better cars of this type for the same kind of cost. Still, it's a nice capable car and very good value.
Big Rod said:
TheKobra said:
but an auto gearbox....no thank you
They're good 'boxes. I've had quite a few cars with them in and they're good to drive too in my opinion.Their limit's about 250BHP as they start to get a bit upset above that but they're perfectly good for standard application.
BT52 said:
The guy I bought my A8 from had a Lotus Omega (ie. Lotus Carlton engine fitted) in his garage.
Did it look like this per chance?
From this thread - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Superb cars, though much newer cars are available for well under a grand these days.
A mate bought an ex traffic estate a few years back (MV6 spec) then fitted 17" Vectra C SRi alloys and a towbar and it proceeded to rack up thousands of miles, usually towing a big muckle trailer. It never missed a beat, routine servicing and away it went. Surprising turn of speed when required, comfortable to rack up miles in, fairly bombproof and RWD... what more can yoiu ask for.
Superb
A mate bought an ex traffic estate a few years back (MV6 spec) then fitted 17" Vectra C SRi alloys and a towbar and it proceeded to rack up thousands of miles, usually towing a big muckle trailer. It never missed a beat, routine servicing and away it went. Surprising turn of speed when required, comfortable to rack up miles in, fairly bombproof and RWD... what more can yoiu ask for.
Superb
My dad had a 2000 'V' Vauxhall Omega 2.6 V6 CD.
It was the newer shape, and had quite a lot of toys. Sounded quite good and also had the benefits of RWD. (
)
It served him well for 30,000 per annum and also a trip down to Paris just fine.
I keep looking at them and it is suprising at how much you can get for soo little. My dad loved his, so I may suprise him some Anniversary.
It was the newer shape, and had quite a lot of toys. Sounded quite good and also had the benefits of RWD. (
) It served him well for 30,000 per annum and also a trip down to Paris just fine.
I keep looking at them and it is suprising at how much you can get for soo little. My dad loved his, so I may suprise him some Anniversary.
Prawnboy said:
thats what i'm talking about...........a fine shed!
Prawnboy = is that quote spoken like a little old america lady? What film / TV programme was it from?My Mate Geoff had one, nice old barge, if you can over look the inevitable badge snobbery.
Move the logo to and opening on the side of the car and hey presto, Re-branded with some wizardry, "Griffin-dor"
Howard- said:
The last good car Vauxhall made.
I think you need to go back a few more years - when I looked to replace the last Senator I owned (I had over a dozen carltons and senators over a 17 year period because I loved the cars) I didn't buy an OmegaHaving said that a lot of the niggly issues with the engine and the car itself have had well documented fixes on several model/marque specific forums Omega owners forum and ABS spring to mind
Not sure what fixes the rust that seems to break out in weird places without needing the catalyst of a stone chip or damage
A friend of mine has an ex-plod one, he got it fairly cheap. It's bloody good.
Only problem was, when decatting it and removing a few of the silencers, it became a little bit loud. It roared like a banshee and sounded great at the top end, but sitting at traffic lights it really boomed. So he put in a new silencer that wasn't too restrictive.
In the wet he was getting wheelspin all the way to the top of 3rd gear up a hill in the rain once, on tyres with enough tread. It's quite good...
Only problem was, when decatting it and removing a few of the silencers, it became a little bit loud. It roared like a banshee and sounded great at the top end, but sitting at traffic lights it really boomed. So he put in a new silencer that wasn't too restrictive.
In the wet he was getting wheelspin all the way to the top of 3rd gear up a hill in the rain once, on tyres with enough tread. It's quite good...
Big Rod said:
ITech said:
Weak auto gearbox (I think it was also used in some Saabs, and known in Saab cirlces as a bit iffy).
Mine was thrashed relentlessly and the only grumble it had was the selector switch got dirty. Quick clean and it was as good as new. Aren't Saabs FWD though?ITech said:
Headgasket not that unusual either.
I've moved in Vx barge circles for many a year and I've never heard of a CHG letting go! The oil cooler failing does give CHG symptoms though which is quite common but an easy fix.ITech said:
So 2 major potential problems that the e38 and x300 do not suffer from, along with the others you mentioned and the flimsy cheap plastic trim.
TBH, I thought mine was finished quite nicely and it stood up to quite a bit of abuse.ITech said:
Then theres the fact that you have to do the Cambelt and tensioners, quite a job I believe, which of course isn't a problem on the x300 or e38 as they have chains..
Chains aren't indestructable and the ones I've done, (albeit not on the other examples you mentioned!), are a worse job that the cambelt on these!ITech said:
I expect they really like to rust also, as all the other Vauxhauls of the time do
OK, I'll give you that, but X300 Jags aren't much better!Every car comes with its potential faults, you could easily say rusty fuel tanks, autoboxes, nikasil, vanos, electrics etc for the E38 (a lovely car but in a different league of £££ to run than an Omega). As barges go, in my experience the Omega isn't too bad at all and fairly cheap to fix when it does break. Just that 'orrible placcy dash I don't like!
Edited by SuperHangOn on Friday 20th January 19:01
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