Why do people buy vauxhalls?
Discussion
ST Ford said:
SidewaysSi said:
But I would always choose a Renault or Honda over a Ford so why bother with Ford? Of course that is if I wanted FWD.
So u would rather have a Honda Jizz or Clio over the superior Fiesta? Also when has a Megane ever been as good a Focus? Honda also cost a good few grand more than the Ford or Vauxhall equivalents Why do people buy Vauxhalls?
Because they are bloody good cars, backed up by a first class dealer network, very good three year warranty, and better in almost every sector than Ford (imo)
Six out of my last seven cars have been new Vauxhalls (Bought privately), all have been 100% reliable and decent to drive.
Residuals are not the best in the industry, but this works in your favour if you are buying secondhand.
Because they are bloody good cars, backed up by a first class dealer network, very good three year warranty, and better in almost every sector than Ford (imo)
Six out of my last seven cars have been new Vauxhalls (Bought privately), all have been 100% reliable and decent to drive.
Residuals are not the best in the industry, but this works in your favour if you are buying secondhand.
I've got a 16 plate Insignia SRI as a company car. Cruise control at an indicated 80mph and it will get mid 60s mpg, tank range is about 750 miles if I remember correctly, probably about average for the class. It has the 1.6 Whisper engine, 170bhp and 320nm of torque, it's not a fast car by any stretch but it doesn't feel out of breath on the motorway and perhaps most importantly the NVH is superb. The interior is in my opinion nicer than the competitors bar Audi. The area where it does the better than the competition is the sat nav, which is a country mile ahead of similar units I've had in Peugeot, Renault and VAG rental cars in the past year.
I don't pay for the servicing, consumables etc, but I'd imagine it works out cheaper on that front than some competitors and wouldn't be depreciating as quickly, which is a consideration if you're buying the car out of your own pocket.
I think it's a good option as far as BIK tax goes, I pay the higher rate and I'm not bothered enough the marginal upgrades of an Audi A5 to pay the extra. When the time comes to change this one I'll probably just replace it with a new model Insignia. I need a car that is comfy for long drives, quiet and has good seats, all boxes ticked.
It's not inspiring, it's not fun, it's not sexy but then neither are any of the competitors. Something like an RS5 is attractive, but then it's not remotely comparable. If you put a diesel engine in a kitted-out saloon car then you'll never make an inspiring drive. You can make a quick car, but let's not kid ourselves, no one is taking an Audi A5 with the 3.0 TDI engine out for a drive for the sake of it. Cars in this class are tools and Vauxhall have made an effective one and priced it keenly and that's all there is to say about it really.
I don't pay for the servicing, consumables etc, but I'd imagine it works out cheaper on that front than some competitors and wouldn't be depreciating as quickly, which is a consideration if you're buying the car out of your own pocket.
I think it's a good option as far as BIK tax goes, I pay the higher rate and I'm not bothered enough the marginal upgrades of an Audi A5 to pay the extra. When the time comes to change this one I'll probably just replace it with a new model Insignia. I need a car that is comfy for long drives, quiet and has good seats, all boxes ticked.
It's not inspiring, it's not fun, it's not sexy but then neither are any of the competitors. Something like an RS5 is attractive, but then it's not remotely comparable. If you put a diesel engine in a kitted-out saloon car then you'll never make an inspiring drive. You can make a quick car, but let's not kid ourselves, no one is taking an Audi A5 with the 3.0 TDI engine out for a drive for the sake of it. Cars in this class are tools and Vauxhall have made an effective one and priced it keenly and that's all there is to say about it really.
Mastodon2 said:
The area where it does the better than the competition is the sat nav, which is a country mile ahead of similar units I've had in Peugeot, Renault and VAG rental cars in the past year.
Not sure if the same Nav as ours (2015 Elite Nav) but I rate it behind the Tom Tom I use in the van. No Speed Camera Alerts, dim witted when putting a route in, and annoying on roundabouts as it doesn't show the turning in real time often, leaving you trying to work out which exit it wants you to take. Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
Not sure if the same Nav as ours (2015 Elite Nav) but I rate it behind the Tom Tom I use in the van. No Speed Camera Alerts, dim witted when putting a route in, and annoying on roundabouts as it doesn't show the turning in real time often, leaving you trying to work out which exit it wants you to take.
You're right, a Tom Tom is better but I'm only talking about built-in OEM navs. The screen is big and the resolution is high compared to some I've used, the day and night modes are good, the display is clear. I don't struggle with roundabouts as mine tells me in advance which exit I'm taking as well as drawing the route on the screen.Mastodon2 said:
You're right, a Tom Tom is better but I'm only talking about built-in OEM navs. The screen is big and the resolution is high compared to some I've used, the day and night modes are good, the display is clear. I don't struggle with roundabouts as mine tells me in advance which exit I'm taking as well as drawing the route on the screen.
Stop hanging around the car lads and get back to our corner.Biker's Nemesis said:
Stop hanging around the car lads and get back to our corner.
I only rode the bike once last year, I just didn't have the urge to ride. Last year was pretty hectic with starting my new job, but it's settling a bit now so the urge might come back, I'll probably sell the GSX-R1000 this spring as I expect I'll be moving house this year, the money can go towards that. I'll be back, maybe on a big super naked like an MT-10 in 2019. Don't retire from the roads before then, you need to show me the lines in those hills again 
At work we had a brand new (2014 this was) corsa d 1.4 Sri 5 door. We also had a 1.25 fiesta zetec of the same year.
I presume the fiesta costs more. It was definitely better made, more advanced stereo and gubbins, much better gearbox too. But the corsa had a lot more room inside , far more comfortable especially for your left leg. Also had cruise control which surprised me. Let down by being gutless and terrible gear box.
I owned a vectra 2.2 direct, 55 plate in 2011/12ish.
Again comfy, terrible gearbox, did this annoying thing of holding onto rpm when you depress clutch to make gear changes smoother.... Wrecked synchros .
Very dull. I'd be surprised if I ever owned a vauxhall again but I wouldn't rule one out.
I presume the fiesta costs more. It was definitely better made, more advanced stereo and gubbins, much better gearbox too. But the corsa had a lot more room inside , far more comfortable especially for your left leg. Also had cruise control which surprised me. Let down by being gutless and terrible gear box.
I owned a vectra 2.2 direct, 55 plate in 2011/12ish.
Again comfy, terrible gearbox, did this annoying thing of holding onto rpm when you depress clutch to make gear changes smoother.... Wrecked synchros .
Very dull. I'd be surprised if I ever owned a vauxhall again but I wouldn't rule one out.
Mastodon2 said:
I only rode the bike once last year, I just didn't have the urge to ride. Last year was pretty hectic with starting my new job, but it's settling a bit now so the urge might come back, I'll probably sell the GSX-R1000 this spring as I expect I'll be moving house this year, the money can go towards that. I'll be back, maybe on a big super naked like an MT-10 in 2019. Don't retire from the roads before then, you need to show me the lines in those hills again
Ah, OK.I'm not that bloody old!
SidewaysSi said:
The RS cars are much better than Fords. Dame as the Type R stuff. The Fiesta is not a bad little trolley but not as focused as I want.
The vast majority of car magazines and shows seem to disagree how many times has the Focus RS come out top against even more expensive motors like the Amg45, S3 M135 etc. Granted the latest gen RS Megane is a cracking car but go back 10-12 years and even the Focus ST225 used to come out top over all its rivals like the Type R or the Megane RS that ran until 2008 etc. Even the mk7 Fiesta ST always got more positive reviews than the more expensive RS Clio. Everyone has there own tastes though when it comes to hot hatches etc we all prefer different cars for one reason or another
Oilchange said:
Lots of misconceptions, probably based on prejudices regarding Vauxhall (18th) but even Alfa Romeo as highlighted by the 5th place in the What Cars reliability survey!!
Why cannot Alfa be in 5th. For all we know Alfa could be ultra reliable now. After all fiat are a huge company with a plethora of r&d to access. All the scandals from VAG coming to light how can you trust them to be reliable? Empires rise and fall all the time. History shows over all forms of sport, politics etc that staying at the top forever is hard. I can guarantee most beliefs including mine are based on history which is not really relevant anymore. What I mean by that is people expect a Mercedes to be built from granite with the smoothest engines going not made from rusting south African steel and 4 cylinder diesels.Edited by BricktopST205 on Saturday 17th February 21:23
BricktopST205 said:
Why cannot Alfa be in 5th. For all we know Alfa could be ultra reliable now. After all fiat are a huge company with a plethora of r&d to access. All the scandals from VAG coming to light how can you trust them to be reliable? Empires rise and fall all the time. History shows over all forms of sport, politics etc that staying at the top forever is hard. I can guarantee most beliefs including mine are based on history which is not really relevant anymore.
I think that’s kind of his point. Misconceptions based on one incident years ago aren’t relevant now.Why shouldn’t a Vauxhall or Alfa be good, even though some poster owned one in 1988 that was crap? That’s how I read it
ST Ford said:
SidewaysSi said:
The RS cars are much better than Fords. Dame as the Type R stuff. The Fiesta is not a bad little trolley but not as focused as I want.
The vast majority of car magazines and shows seem to disagree how many times has the Focus RS come out top against even more expensive motors like the Amg45, S3 M135 etc. Granted the latest gen RS Megane is a cracking car but go back 10-12 years and even the Focus ST225 used to come out top over all its rivals like the Type R or the Megane RS that ran until 2008 etc. Even the mk7 Fiesta ST always got more positive reviews than the more expensive RS Clio. Everyone has there own tastes though when it comes to hot hatches etc we all prefer different cars for one reason or another
The Mk7 Fiesta is not a bad thing and agree, the current Clio has fallen from grace somewhat which has played into Ford's hands. However personally I would go for a Clio 200 Cup over the Fiesta.
And if everyone likes different things as you say, any reason someone can't prefer a Vauxhall over a Ford?
Personally I have only ever owned one vauxhall which was a B reg chevette which was ok at the time. Apart from the mk2 Astra GTE they havent made a car I actually want to own since. I have had an astra and an Insignia as hire cars, the Astra was new but was a gutless pile of crap, the I30 I had the following week was faster, drove better and was more economical despite being 15bhp down. The 5k mile insignia SRI i had was quick enough but vague handling, crap ride and several design flaws left me wishing I could get back in my 4year old 100k mile mondeo. My mrs has also owned a couple of Zafiras (they are spot on for her child minding) but I hate driving them, it is a hell of an achievement to sign them off with such a poor ride, over sprung and under damped so they bounce all over the bloody road. To be a fair the newest one is better but its still not good.
Jimmy Recard said:
I think that’s kind of his point. Misconceptions based on one incident years ago aren’t relevant now.
Why shouldn’t a Vauxhall or Alfa be good, even though some poster owned one in 1988 that was crap?
Alfa build stylish cars that aren’t particularly reliable. Vauxhall (in my experience) build cars that aren’t particularly reliable or stylish. Give me a Giulia over an Insignia any day of the week.Why shouldn’t a Vauxhall or Alfa be good, even though some poster owned one in 1988 that was crap?
http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer
Edited by jimbo761 on Sunday 18th February 10:48
I've owned two Astra's over the last four years, a 2013 j model which was replaced by an 2016 k Sri nav 136. Both very reliable except the newer k version had a major problem with the nav system that was fortunately fixed under warranty. I can't knock them, they do what they are built to do as well as any of the competition.
Why did I buy them? They've allowed me to run a half decent reliable car for everyday driving, commuting, family duties etc while keeping something a bit more interesting in the garage for the weekend.
Why did I buy them? They've allowed me to run a half decent reliable car for everyday driving, commuting, family duties etc while keeping something a bit more interesting in the garage for the weekend.
Before getting into BMWs our family had a run of Vauxhalls. I wasn't a fan of the A reg Astra 1.6GL or the E reg Cavalier 1.6L that we had - beige carsick inducing and totally gutless/a bit of an embarrassment respectively - but the Cavalier and Vectra SRi we had after were pretty decent in an understated kind of way. The interior quality was a lot better than the previous models and the Vectra especially almost felt German. It also had a pretty decent sound system which was a lot better than anything I've ever had in an E36 or E46 of similar age. I've not really liked the aesthetics of the more modern ones; mostly too much plastic chrome and some awkward styling.
I am reminded I hired a Zafira,last year which got nicknamed The Blancmange for its handling prowess. My 2005 Mazda 5 was a vastly superior car to drive. My kids wanted to ban me getting another which is a first. Hoping for a Pug 5008 this time but fear the Zafira is the cheap default.
Other than that, two Corsas, both wholly forgettable and unexceptional (a Corsa A, a very long time ago was a shocker).
An Adam was about the best, quite characterful, actually and, garish accents aside, a good car.
Other than that, two Corsas, both wholly forgettable and unexceptional (a Corsa A, a very long time ago was a shocker).
An Adam was about the best, quite characterful, actually and, garish accents aside, a good car.
I think that in the last 5 years they have come on leaps and bounds. I had the previous gen Astra with the 1.7 Diesel, for the price it had a great spec and did a decent MPG. Did around 54k in it and the car never missed a beat.
The new Astra is a fantastic car, handles very well, is a lot lighter than the previous gen and looks pretty good.
I would rate the Astra over a Focus of the same vintage a friend had.
Vauxhall get a real unfair bashing, subjectively they make cheaper cars that are better equipped and more reliable than the German equivalents. But because they don’t have the VAG badge they get bashed.
Having said that I did chose a Scirocco over the Astra for the next company car, purely because I always wanted a scirocco and they didn’t make a facelifted Astra GTC!
The new Astra is a fantastic car, handles very well, is a lot lighter than the previous gen and looks pretty good.
I would rate the Astra over a Focus of the same vintage a friend had.
Vauxhall get a real unfair bashing, subjectively they make cheaper cars that are better equipped and more reliable than the German equivalents. But because they don’t have the VAG badge they get bashed.
Having said that I did chose a Scirocco over the Astra for the next company car, purely because I always wanted a scirocco and they didn’t make a facelifted Astra GTC!
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