Vectra - Brand snobbery or truly awful?
Discussion
My daily hack for the last two and a half years has been a '58 plate Vectra SRi, and was chosen for cost saving basically.
Apart from two bulb failures, it's been faultlessly reliable and back in June did 2,500 miles in ten days on a trip to Southern Italy and back.
It doesn't get away from the facts that it rides harshly, the interior quality is really quite dire, and the engine in my '65 MGB is perkier. Not to mention the awful fly-by-wire throttle.
Apart from two bulb failures, it's been faultlessly reliable and back in June did 2,500 miles in ten days on a trip to Southern Italy and back.
It doesn't get away from the facts that it rides harshly, the interior quality is really quite dire, and the engine in my '65 MGB is perkier. Not to mention the awful fly-by-wire throttle.
Spyder5 said:
My experience is the same as above. Reliable, comfortable and generally mediocre at everything it does.
Touch wood - its been faultless for 30k
Mine is very low spec (SRI) and really needs traction control for pulling away in the wet. The handling is fine on half decent tyres.
Err ...SRI is def not "very low spec" Touch wood - its been faultless for 30k
Mine is very low spec (SRI) and really needs traction control for pulling away in the wet. The handling is fine on half decent tyres.
Driven a countless number of Vectra/Insignia hire cars over the years for 1000's of miles and can safely say that they always feel at least a generation behind a comparable Mondeo. There is just nothing that even attempts to lift them above being totally average in every way IMHO.
I've currently got a brand new Vauxhall Astra for a few weeks from Enterprise and it's no different. The Focus I had previously was better in every way.
I've currently got a brand new Vauxhall Astra for a few weeks from Enterprise and it's no different. The Focus I had previously was better in every way.
My wife had a Vectra 1.8 Artic model as did I (just in case you think it was just mine)
Quite the dullest car I have owned and Artic was so named because the acceleration was positively glacial. Near us is a hill in Harting Hants and my Dolomite sprint would reach 60 as does a Mondeo 2 litre SI together with a Fiat Ducato van but the Vectra,s were reduced to a wheezing 2nd gear crawl to ascend it.
To add insult to injury it was also crap on fuel too so I replaced it with a Mondeo SI that beat it hollow at everything.
However we had a 2.2 Vectra for sale and that drove very well indeed so perhaps the Vectra has to be chosen for the engine.
Quite the dullest car I have owned and Artic was so named because the acceleration was positively glacial. Near us is a hill in Harting Hants and my Dolomite sprint would reach 60 as does a Mondeo 2 litre SI together with a Fiat Ducato van but the Vectra,s were reduced to a wheezing 2nd gear crawl to ascend it.
To add insult to injury it was also crap on fuel too so I replaced it with a Mondeo SI that beat it hollow at everything.
However we had a 2.2 Vectra for sale and that drove very well indeed so perhaps the Vectra has to be chosen for the engine.
I guess its probably down to me driving that many alternatives too then.
I did test a mondeo ghia x back to back with my vectra and in all honesty preferred the vectra. Not for anything more than the mondeo just felt a bit duller (possibly engine based).
I think the introduction of the focus may have swayed opinion too? By all accounts 10x better than the relative astra at the time. That mk4 Astra really did look hugely dated in comparison.
I did test a mondeo ghia x back to back with my vectra and in all honesty preferred the vectra. Not for anything more than the mondeo just felt a bit duller (possibly engine based).
I think the introduction of the focus may have swayed opinion too? By all accounts 10x better than the relative astra at the time. That mk4 Astra really did look hugely dated in comparison.
I had the SRI diesel 150, i had it re-mapped which made a world of difference to how it drove. It made the acceleration much sharper and in turn really transformed the car from a unresponsive family car to a relatively quick motorway cruiser.
Equiptment wasn't much to right home about, the seats where comfotable though. The ride was also quite crashy. But it was very spacious and took the buggies/kids and general shopping easily.
Equiptment wasn't much to right home about, the seats where comfotable though. The ride was also quite crashy. But it was very spacious and took the buggies/kids and general shopping easily.
My dad had a 1.9d mk2. The handling, ride and refinement were fine but behind ford. The car suffered from such a large number of design faults (suspension, engine, wipers(!)) confirmed as being generic faults to the model, there will not be another vauxhall in the family again.
Okay design, careless execution.
Okay design, careless execution.
If there is one thing I've learnt from a lot of PH Lurking, is that the Vectra is a hated car, mostly by those too blinkered by other brands and not looking at the bigger picture.
For 2 years now, I've owned a Vectra VXR - seemingly the epitome of the worst possible vehicle ever created if many threads/comments on PH are to be believed - yet in all of this time, it hasn't once tried to steer me into a hedge/ditch/pedestrian. It also hasn't fallen apart. It hasn't blown up either. It's now 6 years old with 105k miles on it, and with full history that suggests no major issues had been experienced prior to purchase.
If you discount the extortionate RFL & accept the low economy of the 2.8 Engine, it's hardly cost me anything to run, with very reasonable servicing costs, and reasonable insurance rates.
I've used it to help move house, it is suprisingly practical, even as a Hatchback model. I've comfortably transported 4 people and a boot full of gear across Southern & Central England for weekends of camping and motorsport without fault.
I've owned the car alongside a 2nd Gen Mazda 6 Sport (2.2d 185) - this was an excellent car overall, however in it's 3.5yrs of ownership from factory delivery, it suffered with a Gearbox failure, Seat subframe fault (snapped weld) and a Timing Chain system recall. The Mazda may have had an arguably better looking interior, but it was no more functional than the Vectras much simpler design.
I currently run my Vectra alongside a 3rd Gen Mazda 6 Sport Tourer (2.0 165) - this again is an excellent car, so far, yet I don't rate it much higher than my VXR - it's equally comfortable and has similar equipment. It feels much less stable on smaller roads though.
I previously owned a Mk2 Skoda Octavia vRS TDi - a VWAG Car that by most accounts should have been pretty good just for being from that Group - it wasn't. I owned it for 2.5yrs from factory delivery, and in that time it had an engine mount snap, that wrote off the engine through cambelt damage (which took Skoda 6 months to resolve), a Gearbox failure, an Exhaust system failure due to a DPF fault, a Boost hose failure and doorcard material delamination. This was easily the least reliable car I had ever owned, and also showed the lowest build quality. I will never buy another after those experiences.
Finally, I've had many Mk2 Focus & Mk3 Mondeo hire cars of the same era as the Vectra (2006-2008) for long term periods of use at around 3-4 months at a time. The Focus' were ok, until the facelifts which weren't great atall. The Mondeos were ok also, not exciting really, but good enough as workhorses. They certainly weren't any better than a Vectra overall in my view, both equally competent mid-range Family cars.
For 2 years now, I've owned a Vectra VXR - seemingly the epitome of the worst possible vehicle ever created if many threads/comments on PH are to be believed - yet in all of this time, it hasn't once tried to steer me into a hedge/ditch/pedestrian. It also hasn't fallen apart. It hasn't blown up either. It's now 6 years old with 105k miles on it, and with full history that suggests no major issues had been experienced prior to purchase.
If you discount the extortionate RFL & accept the low economy of the 2.8 Engine, it's hardly cost me anything to run, with very reasonable servicing costs, and reasonable insurance rates.
I've used it to help move house, it is suprisingly practical, even as a Hatchback model. I've comfortably transported 4 people and a boot full of gear across Southern & Central England for weekends of camping and motorsport without fault.
I've owned the car alongside a 2nd Gen Mazda 6 Sport (2.2d 185) - this was an excellent car overall, however in it's 3.5yrs of ownership from factory delivery, it suffered with a Gearbox failure, Seat subframe fault (snapped weld) and a Timing Chain system recall. The Mazda may have had an arguably better looking interior, but it was no more functional than the Vectras much simpler design.
I currently run my Vectra alongside a 3rd Gen Mazda 6 Sport Tourer (2.0 165) - this again is an excellent car, so far, yet I don't rate it much higher than my VXR - it's equally comfortable and has similar equipment. It feels much less stable on smaller roads though.
I previously owned a Mk2 Skoda Octavia vRS TDi - a VWAG Car that by most accounts should have been pretty good just for being from that Group - it wasn't. I owned it for 2.5yrs from factory delivery, and in that time it had an engine mount snap, that wrote off the engine through cambelt damage (which took Skoda 6 months to resolve), a Gearbox failure, an Exhaust system failure due to a DPF fault, a Boost hose failure and doorcard material delamination. This was easily the least reliable car I had ever owned, and also showed the lowest build quality. I will never buy another after those experiences.
Finally, I've had many Mk2 Focus & Mk3 Mondeo hire cars of the same era as the Vectra (2006-2008) for long term periods of use at around 3-4 months at a time. The Focus' were ok, until the facelifts which weren't great atall. The Mondeos were ok also, not exciting really, but good enough as workhorses. They certainly weren't any better than a Vectra overall in my view, both equally competent mid-range Family cars.
Every car has its place and therefore I have nothing against these.
Their place is a cheap, large, family car for comfortable mile munching.
Therefore its pointless comparing it to any (expensive, uncomfortable, smaller) hot hatch or a (more expensive) Honda Accord.
There will always be a better car but if these were really that bad they wouldn't sell new.
Their place is a cheap, large, family car for comfortable mile munching.
Therefore its pointless comparing it to any (expensive, uncomfortable, smaller) hot hatch or a (more expensive) Honda Accord.
There will always be a better car but if these were really that bad they wouldn't sell new.
They are absolute turds of cars. Just absolutely useless. We had a few at work as demos and they were useless, so much so that we actually ended up paying (marginally) more for Mondeos on the fleet. Which makes cars like the new Astra all the more remarkable, to think that just a few years ago Vauxhall were turning out lumpy old turds like the Vectra.
Though I hear the Vectra VXR was supposed to be very good, I never got to try one.
Though I hear the Vectra VXR was supposed to be very good, I never got to try one.
Dad has a Vectra VXR... Wouldn't say it "handles dangerously" etc, in fact it handles quite competantly but coming from my car to that, despite mine being a good bit older mine has better: build quality, ergonomics, quieter, sound system is truely woeful in the Vectra and everything in mine feels "right" when you push it; it doesn't in the Vectra. The gearbox is also crap and the throttle mapping is stupid...
Thought the biggest problem with the vectra was the mondeo, which raised the bar for the sector while the vectra was just meh and half assed rather than being a really terrible car, but such was the significance at release of two new cars that the vectras struggled to lose the image.
My company has 2 chipped vectras. Sri diesel jobs. Nice enough cars but they really do handle like a pile of pooh. understeer understeer understeer and then WHAM! the arse is trying to overtake you. Also if you creep into a roundabout in first and the turbo is already spooled up, when you put your foot down nothing happens. Has scared me a few times in Aberdeen.
If it's just going to be used for pootling and family duties then it's a fine car.
If you want something you can drive properly fast on twisty bits and not kill yourself, get something else.
If it's just going to be used for pootling and family duties then it's a fine car.
If you want something you can drive properly fast on twisty bits and not kill yourself, get something else.
Gassing Station | VX | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff