Free VX vectra- Shed-o-saurus Rex
Discussion
righto folks!
My dad bought a VX vectra 2 litre diseasel back in '05. It's a 54 plate and at the time had about 8k miles on it, it was an ex demo.
Fast forward to today and he informs me he has just replaced it with a top spec '06 Saab 93 1.9D with ~70k on the clock. He was contemplating getting a new S60 D3, but prices starting at £17k (for a low milage one) he opted to save himself £15k and get this saab off a mate for literally peanuts, his mate has owned it from new and it has been very well cared for and driven.
As I leave uni in the next three weeks he decided that instead of getting rid of the Vectra, he would donate it to me.
So- THE CAR
The car itself is the pre-facelift last generation, the one with the ugly, square lights, in a seal grey colour and has the 2.0DTI engine. Basic (energy?) spec.
It's just clocked over 140k, so in my old mans possession it has done around 130,000 leisurely driven motorway miles and it still drives fine, no rattles, no shakes and in generally good order. Interior is pretty damn good as 90% of the time its only him in it, although it has done the occasional family holiday and trips to the tip. Despite being driven sensibly, it hasn't seen much love, it's a motorway workhorse.
As it's probably only worth scrap value, and yet has been such a reliable car, it makes sense to keep it, it must have at least 30k miles left in it, and if it does go fubar, no-ones lost out.
Please bare in mind, this will be my first "proper" car, its dull as f
k and probably mind numbingly forgettable to drive, but I don't care, it's free, and I have the Lomax for that anyway.
Things that have been done are track rod ends (following sliding into a curb on ice), new brake lines (due to salted gritty roads the last ones rusted through), rear springs (one collapsed on the drive), belt pulley and the usual servicing.
Things that don't work are the A/C (it has been re-gassed, it didn't work), plus it does tend to struggle to get into life on a cold morning and chug along (possibly on 3 cyl) for a few seconds until it gets going or you rev it a bit. It has a VERY slightly warped disk somewhere, as in, you can hear it at slow speeds and when slowing to a halt you get a faint pogo stick effect. The badges on the rear dropped off one day.
Other than that it's pretty much perfect- is there anything I should consider on such a high mileage Vectra?
It needs a service so I plan to do all the usual suspects when I go back in June/July time. It had its Glow plugs and fuel filter done 18months ago, and I replaced all the disks and pads about 2 years ago, although that warped disk will annoy me, so may well replace them anyway.
No pictures as yet, but when I'm in possession and insured I'll give a full update with pics.
Insurance is a small matter i have to overcome yet, as you don't get no claims on Kit cars, im still at 0, but i have had a quote of £670 with my gf as a second driver.
ETA- You can see it in the background of this picture of the Lomax (it's the only pic I have of it at the moment)
My dad bought a VX vectra 2 litre diseasel back in '05. It's a 54 plate and at the time had about 8k miles on it, it was an ex demo.
Fast forward to today and he informs me he has just replaced it with a top spec '06 Saab 93 1.9D with ~70k on the clock. He was contemplating getting a new S60 D3, but prices starting at £17k (for a low milage one) he opted to save himself £15k and get this saab off a mate for literally peanuts, his mate has owned it from new and it has been very well cared for and driven.
As I leave uni in the next three weeks he decided that instead of getting rid of the Vectra, he would donate it to me.
So- THE CAR
The car itself is the pre-facelift last generation, the one with the ugly, square lights, in a seal grey colour and has the 2.0DTI engine. Basic (energy?) spec.
It's just clocked over 140k, so in my old mans possession it has done around 130,000 leisurely driven motorway miles and it still drives fine, no rattles, no shakes and in generally good order. Interior is pretty damn good as 90% of the time its only him in it, although it has done the occasional family holiday and trips to the tip. Despite being driven sensibly, it hasn't seen much love, it's a motorway workhorse.
As it's probably only worth scrap value, and yet has been such a reliable car, it makes sense to keep it, it must have at least 30k miles left in it, and if it does go fubar, no-ones lost out.
Please bare in mind, this will be my first "proper" car, its dull as f
k and probably mind numbingly forgettable to drive, but I don't care, it's free, and I have the Lomax for that anyway.Things that have been done are track rod ends (following sliding into a curb on ice), new brake lines (due to salted gritty roads the last ones rusted through), rear springs (one collapsed on the drive), belt pulley and the usual servicing.
Things that don't work are the A/C (it has been re-gassed, it didn't work), plus it does tend to struggle to get into life on a cold morning and chug along (possibly on 3 cyl) for a few seconds until it gets going or you rev it a bit. It has a VERY slightly warped disk somewhere, as in, you can hear it at slow speeds and when slowing to a halt you get a faint pogo stick effect. The badges on the rear dropped off one day.
Other than that it's pretty much perfect- is there anything I should consider on such a high mileage Vectra?
It needs a service so I plan to do all the usual suspects when I go back in June/July time. It had its Glow plugs and fuel filter done 18months ago, and I replaced all the disks and pads about 2 years ago, although that warped disk will annoy me, so may well replace them anyway.
No pictures as yet, but when I'm in possession and insured I'll give a full update with pics.
Insurance is a small matter i have to overcome yet, as you don't get no claims on Kit cars, im still at 0, but i have had a quote of £670 with my gf as a second driver.
ETA- You can see it in the background of this picture of the Lomax (it's the only pic I have of it at the moment)
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