Why do people buy vauxhalls?

[mattyn1]

I was on the cusp of a Insignia Estate when my deal on the 335D came to light. In fact, I was sat in one when I was talking to the BMW sales girl!

They are not bad.

[jimbo761]

Jag_NE said:

my first "fast" car was a 98' Vectra Mk1 (Vectra B).

It was about 170bhp which was reasonably hot at the time and it felt fast to me. Most relevant however was that it was built extremely well, 11 years and 80k miles all that needed changing apart from consumables was a fuel pump and a coil spring, very solid interior too.

.

You were lucky, mine was an absolute piece of s**t.

[LuS1fer]

Prof Prolapse said:

Did you leave or just get lost? It's not on the Wirral and never has been?!

Same 1986-1997. Still have family there, Grandfather came up from Luton to work at the current Astra plant. Chevette at the time perhaps?

The locals kicked off because of property values. So it became Cheshire again... Which it still is!

Incorrect. The modern interpretation may have shifted it up, to attract tourists or for Council purposes but The Wirral was historically "within Cheshire; in the Domesday Book, its border with the rest of the county was placed at "two arrow falls from Chester city walls." However, since the passing of the Local Government Act 1972, only the southern third has been in Cheshire, with the rest in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in the modern county of Merseyside"
In the 70s, before postcodes, our postal address, in Great Sutton was The Wirral. Oh and what's that on this map...ah yes, South Wirral
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Great+Sutton,+...
Oh look,
Quick facts
Great Sutton is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.

[WJNB]

GeordieInExile said:

That is a really smart looking estate... apart from that huge crease in the side. Totally unnecessary. Appears totally unconnected to the rest of the styling. Shame.

Mazda also do a svelte looking estate & the equal of what Mercedes churn out these days. Sadly badge means all to most.

[Prof Prolapse]

LuS1fer said:

Incorrect. The modern interpretation may have shifted it up, to attract tourists or for Council purposes but The Wirral was historically "within Cheshire; in the Domesday Book, its border with the rest of the county was placed at "two arrow falls from Chester city walls." However, since the passing of the Local Government Act 1972, only the southern third has been in Cheshire, with the rest in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in the modern county of Merseyside"
In the 70s, before postcodes, our postal address, in Great Sutton was The Wirral. Oh and what's that on this map...ah yes, South Wirral
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Great+Sutton,+...
Oh look,
Quick facts
Great Sutton is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.

Right so we agree it's in Cheshire. That's why it says so on their addresses.

Move on.

[nonsequitur]

Prof Prolapse said:

LuS1fer said:

Incorrect. The modern interpretation may have shifted it up, to attract tourists or for Council purposes but The Wirral was historically "within Cheshire; in the Domesday Book, its border with the rest of the county was placed at "two arrow falls from Chester city walls." However, since the passing of the Local Government Act 1972, only the southern third has been in Cheshire, with the rest in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in the modern county of Merseyside"
In the 70s, before postcodes, our postal address, in Great Sutton was The Wirral. Oh and what's that on this map...ah yes, South Wirral
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Great+Sutton,+...
Oh look,
Quick facts
Great Sutton is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.

Right so we agree it's in Cheshire. That's why it says so on their addresses.

Move on.

Well alright. I fancy a nice executive neo Georgean in Essex somewhere.

[Ron99]

I'm potentially in the market for a really small town car, but one with a bit more poke than the usual 60-70hp 1-litre models.

There seem to be plenty of Citroen C1 around with a 1.2-litre 82hp engine. I sat in one this morning but my knees were touching the underside of the dash/steering column when trying to get to the pedals. Same applied to a Toyota Aygo I sat in about four years ago. Probably the same is true for the Peugeot 108 due to the three cars being very similar.

However, my wife has a Vauxhall Viva and the driving position in that is fine for me.

Therefore, for me, Vauxhall beats Citroen, Peugeot and Toyota. I'd choose a 1-litre Viva over any of the PSA/Toyota because of the driving position for tall people. Unfortunately, I want something a bit quicker than a 1-litre town car.

[underphil]

HustleRussell said:

Because Vauxhall's engine range seems to lag half a generation at least behind all the other major manufacturers these days. Quite different from 20 or 30 years ago when Vauxhalls had overhead camshafts while Ford were still fitting rattly old CVHs (and continued to do so through the 90s...)

Sure you can buy a traditional nat asp 16v engine from Vauxhall but everybody else have started fitting smaller engines which as far as I can tell are basically better in every way.

that's just not true of the current range

[HustleRussell]

underphil said:

HustleRussell said:

Ali G said:

Point taken - reasons for buying Vauxhall remain too. Mid capacity petrol engined hatch-backs appear to becoming scarce 'though.

Because Vauxhall's engine range seems to lag half a generation at least behind all the other major manufacturers these days. Quite different from 20 or 30 years ago when Vauxhalls had overhead camshafts while Ford were still fitting rattly old CVHs (and continued to do so through the 90s...)

Sure you can buy a traditional nat asp 16v engine from Vauxhall but everybody else have started fitting smaller engines which as far as I can tell are basically better in every way.

that's just not true of the current range

Well yeah they got there eventually, approx half a generation behind. Hence Ali G could buy his mid capacity nat asp petrol.

[LuS1fer]

underphil said:

that's just not true of the current range

The CVH was ohc and the Cavalier era ohc had chocolate camshafts. Knock, knock, who's there

[Winky151]

Ron99 said:

I'm potentially in the market for a really small town car, but one with a bit more poke than the usual 60-70hp 1-litre models.

There seem to be plenty of Citroen C1 around with a 1.2-litre 82hp engine. I sat in one this morning but my knees were touching the underside of the dash/steering column when trying to get to the pedals. Same applied to a Toyota Aygo I sat in about four years ago. Probably the same is true for the Peugeot 108 due to the three cars being very similar.

However, my wife has a Vauxhall Viva and the driving position in that is fine for me.

Therefore, for me, Vauxhall beats Citroen, Peugeot and Toyota. I'd choose a 1-litre Viva over any of the PSA/Toyota because of the driving position for tall people. Unfortunately, I want something a bit quicker than a 1-litre town car.

After she wrote her 100bhp 1.4 Adam off at Xmas we've just bought a 1.4 s (1.4 turbo 150bhp). She drives it a short distance to work but out on the open road its got some guts I must admit (bearing in mind my daily is a 460 brake VXR8). Worth a look 2nd hand.

[HustleRussell]

LuS1fer said:

The CVH was ohc

Blimey, i’d guessed by the noise / reputation. But Ford did drag out the old OHV engine a long time.

[Ron99]

HustleRussell said:

Well yeah they got there eventually, approx half a generation behind. Hence Ali G could buy his mid capacity nat asp petrol.

I like nat asp petrol engines. I like the way they deliver their power.
I like it that the power doesn't come in to soon which makes smooth town driving easier.
Also less wheelspin when pulling away enthusiastically.

And no turbo lag which allows a better choice of gear and more flexibility when creeping up to a roundabout; a small turbo would have to choose 1st at 2500rpm instead of 2nd at 1300rpm in order to avoid lag.
A mid-size n/a petrol engine is a very nippy thing for roundabouts and general darting out of side roads to take those rare small gaps heavy town traffic without lag or wheelspin.

Also n/a has less to worry about regarding additional complexity, along with DI-related coked engines, LSPI, damaged pistons or general longer-term durability.

Real-world mpg of small turbo engines is exceptionally poor compared to manufacturer claims (often 30-40% less than claimed) whereas mid-size n/a engines often get quite close to published figures (often within 10% of manufacturer figure).

I'd choose a nat asp Corsa 1.4 over a Fiesta 1.0T Ecoboost.

I guess I'm still way behind the times with my Swift Sport 1.6 n/a.

[HustleRussell]

Each to their own, and my car is nat asp so I’m aware of the benefits, but Vauxhall’s twinport engine’s are hideous. I drove a 1.4 Corsa ‘D’ for much of past year and the engine was nearly as bad as the suspension. Give me the eco boost Fiesta 100%.

I had an Insignia hire car with the 1.8 petrol and it was so underpowered and thirsty.

[Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah]

It struck me recently that the new E-Class all terrain has a bit of an Insignia look from the rear.

[LuS1fer]

HustleRussell said:

LuS1fer said:

The CVH was ohc

Blimey, i’d guessed by the noise / reputation. But Ford did drag out the old OHV engine a long time.

That's because they were a bunch of Kents.

[Ron99]

Winky151 said:

Ron99 said:

I'm potentially in the market for a really small town car, but one with a bit more poke than the usual 60-70hp 1-litre models.

There seem to be plenty of Citroen C1 around with a 1.2-litre 82hp engine. I sat in one this morning but my knees were touching the underside of the dash/steering column when trying to get to the pedals. Same applied to a Toyota Aygo I sat in about four years ago. Probably the same is true for the Peugeot 108 due to the three cars being very similar.

However, my wife has a Vauxhall Viva and the driving position in that is fine for me.

Therefore, for me, Vauxhall beats Citroen, Peugeot and Toyota. I'd choose a 1-litre Viva over any of the PSA/Toyota because of the driving position for tall people. Unfortunately, I want something a bit quicker than a 1-litre town car.

After she wrote her 100bhp 1.4 Adam off at Xmas we've just bought a 1.4 s (1.4 turbo 150bhp). She drives it a short distance to work but out on the open road its got some guts I must admit (bearing in mind my daily is a 460 brake VXR8). Worth a look 2nd hand.

Thanks for the suggestion.
I think the Adam is an OK car. My wife and I looked at them when she bought her Viva - between us we tried 1.2, 1.4 and 1.0T and overall we liked the 1.4 best but other design features persuaded her to choose Viva and I think for my wife's needs/wants the Viva was most suitable.

At the moment I have a Swift Sport 1.6 which is probably in the same class as Adam S.

I had been thinking of changing because:
1. Although I want quicker than 13s to 60mph, I don't need 8s - in fact in poor conditions a low-powered car is often a more driveable choice. Something around 11s like the C1 1.2 would be sufficient.
2. A less-sporty car would better tolerate the worrying increase in potholes that I fear will soon cause an expensive breakage (or accident) on the firm-sprung and low-profile-tyre SSS.
3. The SSS is more tiresome on longer journeys than my wife's Viva, partly due to the ride and partly the seats.
4. My mileage for the SSS looks set to rise from 10k last year to 20k this year. Given that the SSS isn't the most economical car to begin with, running costs become a consideration.
5. Lack of Suzuki dealer support near Cambridge.
6. I like really small cars (SSS is nearer Corsa/Polo/Fiesta size; I'd prefer Viva/Up/Ka size) but modern ones with a bit of life in them are hard to find.

[Ron99]

HustleRussell said:

Each to their own, and my car is nat asp so I’m aware of the benefits, but Vauxhall’s twinport engine’s are hideous. I drove a 1.4 Corsa ‘D’ for much of past year and the engine was nearly as bad as the suspension. Give me the eco boost Fiesta 100%.

I had an Insignia hire car with the 1.8 petrol and it was so underpowered and thirsty.

The thirst of an Insignia mostly reflects its size and weight. It's almost twice the weight and twice the engine size of a typical town car, so its fuel usage would be expected to be almost twice as much (minus a small adjustment for better aerodynamics of larger/heavier hatchback/saloon cars if driven mostly on fast roads).

My wife runs a 1.8-litre petrol Zafira B as her second car and I quite like the way it drives. It's a bit unrefined/buzzy on the motorway but otherwise I think it drives well considering its intended purpose. It's not fast but it's fast enough. I think she gets mid-30s mpg.

It's an ideal sacrificial car to park in shopping centre car parks and it acquires a handful of small dinks and scrapes every year as a result of being bumped by trolleys, scratched by handbag zips and knocked by other car doors.

[lyonspride]

I went from 2004 Vectra to 2009 Mondeo and I believe it was a mistake.

Ford just don't know how to build a quality car, f**king cardboard door cards that bend and shake and just feel cheap, razor sharp metal behind every trim panel, plastic clips holding everything together, cable ties all over the engine bay. Try to fix anything and you break half the car doing it, meaning you have to visit a Ford dealer for new trim clips, the 3rd brake light bulbs? nah forget it, you have to remove the entire boot trim panel starting at the top and it's all easily broken single use clips, which means driving about with your boot trim flailing about the place until you visit Ford.

Oh and the OBD port, you can't use it without the access hatch open, so self diagnostics on the move is just not possible with normal size knee's, at least on the VX I could take the ashtray inner out, plug in the ODB scanner and close the ashtray top cover.
It's so bad that it has to be deliberate.......

Edited by lyonspride on Friday 23 February 20:22

[covert]

in 2018 the reliability of them have gone up, Vauxhall is in the TOP 10 most reliable car brands