Why do people buy vauxhalls?

[Mercury00]

I'm not fussed on Vauxhalls but the Astra and new Insignia are really good looking cars.

[Packrats]

I’ve have had a gtc 1.6t 200ps since new it’s now 4 yrs .never had a issue with it cracking car in my opinion

[Jimmy Recard]

DJP said:

I drive police cars. We spank the tits off them.

We used to have Vauxhalls. They felt downmarket but drove well and didn't go wrong much.

Then we had Beemers. They felt posh but broke down a lot.

We went back to Vauxhalls. They still felt downmarket but drove well and didn't go wrong much.

Then we had Skodas. They also broke down a lot.

So we went back to Vauxhalls, again.

They just work.

That’s pretty much my experience of them. I’ve had a few including one ex police car. They just work well with no drama or special maintenance. When you do need to fix something, it’s easy and cheap to do.

They’re not posh but they do what I want perfectly

[av185]

DJP said:

I drive police cars. We spank the tits off them.

We used to have Vauxhalls. They felt downmarket but drove well and didn't go wrong much.

Then we had Beemers. They felt posh but broke down a lot.

We went back to Vauxhalls. They still felt downmarket but drove well and didn't go wrong much.

Then we had Skodas. They also broke down a lot.

So we went back to Vauxhalls, again.

They just work.

Several years ago a company of ours acquired most of the ex police covert cars from bca auctions to retail.

Had very few problems with them relative to other cars.

[Lincsls1]

Alucidnation said:

What a load of cobblers.

And just in case you or anyone else has missed this...

[ElectricPics]

Jimmy Recard said:

I miss this car which I sold about a year ago. It looked like a diesel taxi apart from having two exhausts and enormous brakes that the wheels barely cleared.

Also the noise wasn’t much like a diesel taxi

I had a 3.2 GSi as a company motor back in 2004. Not the most stylish car and the interior was a bit basic but even then it had satnav and digital radio, went like stink and handled well. It's predecessor was the previous model 2.5 V6 SRi that also was fairly workmanlike but still let me average 92mph on a late evening run from Manchester Airport to Newcastle. You could get away with stuff like that in 1998.

[Jimmy Recard]

ElectricPics said:

I had a 3.2 GSi as a company motor back in 2004. Not the most stylish car and the interior was a bit basic but even then it had satnav and digital radio, went like stink and handled well. It's predecessor was the previous model 2.5 V6 SRi that also was fairly workmanlike but still let me average 92mph on a late evening run from Manchester Airport to Newcastle. You could get away with stuff like that in 1998.

This one didn't have any of that, but it did have the VXR 2.8 turbo V6, suspension and brakes. The interior and exterior were basic (apart from dual zone climate control and xenon headlights) because it was a V6 Special (ex police car). I even had the diagrams for the original police livery and photos from the day it was delivered to Thames Valley police in 2006.

168k miles when I sold it, and it really felt like a new car. No rattles or worn out suspension, it just went well and drove well. I was stupid to sell it. That's my main regret in my car history

[coffeebreath]

Vauxhalls are mostly inoffensive and affordable cars, with subpar motorsport heritage but enough to have nostalgia and charm, and a cringeworthy marketing campaign about "Made in Britain" to try and counteract the fact that most people now choose to buy Golfs over Astras.

[Pommy]

I hold my hand up here - I have a 2017 Astra RS-V, which I think is the Sri 200bhp in the UK.

Gonna be honest I simply bought on budget first- needed a 1 yr old or newer car for less than $20k (theyre the tax and finance reasons) and personal selection second - it had to have a lot of kit and grunt were the other reasons.

The only options here in oz at the budget and age requirement was a boggo Hyundai i30 or Kia Somethingorother- the only redeeming feature for them was warranty. Horrifically mundane to drive and sit in. The other was the Focus but didn't fancy the exploding gearbox potential and 90's Sony Hi-Fi issue interior.

The Astra does (apparently) 0-60 in 6.6 which I'm sure it could if it had front end traction, which it doesn't, but it's got more than enough grunt to be ok every day, drives actually really tight and well, although it does suffer from average front end handling and scrabbly understeer, but ultimately I'm not ragging it every day. It also sounds nearly decent with a few revs.

The interior is a pretty decent place to be, nice low rent leather and plastic piano black trim but totally not offensive.

Stacked with equipment which is nice:

Leather
Sat nav (decent modern thing)
Lane departure, aeb, parking sensors etc
Apple and Android
Wonderfully fast phone connection and streaming
Keyless go

Also it has averaged 42mpg for the last 9000kms, costs $60 (£40 To fill), cost £150 To service.

The worst aspects? Horrifically sensitive and always on parking sensors and whoever designed them needs shooting and piss poor headlights.


Total cost to buy $18,500 or about £10,300 at 1 yr old and 2000miles.

Overall bought because budget, will keep as it's actually rather good.

Edited by Pommy on Sunday 23 September 06:05

[jamoor]

Fermit and Sarah said:

Go on then, elaborate on why the Germans are built to a higher standard than the mainstream.

We had not one warranty claim on our 2015 Insignia, now just out of warranty. A close friend of mine had 11 on his brand new E46 M3 some years ago, numerous on his A5, and a borked engine on his 997 C2.

Oh, and edit to add. My company restores leather. There is a product known as bonded leather. Essentially it's scraps of leather mixed with PU, rolled on to a cotton or paper backing. It is a cheapskate cost saving product, which has a typical life of 4 years.

The worst offenders for using the stuff, that shall be BMW and Merc.

Edited by Fermit and Sarah on Saturday 22 September 20:04

I think people are confusing german cars with Japanese ones.
Japanese ones are much better quality than the rest of them.

[Jaguar steve]

jamoor said:

Fermit and Sarah said:

Go on then, elaborate on why the Germans are built to a higher standard than the mainstream.

We had not one warranty claim on our 2015 Insignia, now just out of warranty. A close friend of mine had 11 on his brand new E46 M3 some years ago, numerous on his A5, and a borked engine on his 997 C2.

Oh, and edit to add. My company restores leather. There is a product known as bonded leather. Essentially it's scraps of leather mixed with PU, rolled on to a cotton or paper backing. It is a cheapskate cost saving product, which has a typical life of 4 years.

The worst offenders for using the stuff, that shall be BMW and Merc.

Edited by Fermit and Sarah on Saturday 22 September 20:04

I think people are confusing german cars with Japanese ones.
Japanese ones are much better quality than the rest of them.

I wish the Honda factory knew that when they threw my ex Jazz out the factory door.

At just under 80k it needed a new gearbox, has six MOT advisories for corrosion and shagged front suspension bushes ripping it's front tyres to pieces, a partially siezed rear caliper and badly needed discs and pads all round. The interior trim featured more rattles than Mothercare and most of the nuts and bolts on the oily bits were rusted away to a crusty mush making it way too much hassle to even think about fixing it.

Around 80k might be the mileage I'd think about buying a Shed - not getting rid of it.

[Maldini35]

Jaguar steve said:

I wish the Honda factory knew that when they threw my ex Jazz out the factory door.

At just under 80k it needed a new gearbox, has six MOT advisories for corrosion and shagged front suspension bushes ripping it's front tyres to pieces, a partially siezed rear caliper and badly needed discs and pads all round. The interior trim featured more rattles than Mothercare and most of the nuts and bolts on the oily bits were rusted away to a crusty mush making it way too much hassle to even think about fixing it.

Around 80k might be the mileage I'd think about buying a Shed - not getting rid of it.

Blimey! That’s a surprise to hear.
In the Jazz’s defence, needing new discs and pads and perhaps bushes are reasonable after 80k if it’s led a hard life (It doesn’t sound like it received much love over those 80k miles)
But new gearbox, bad corrosion etc.

[Jimmy Recard]

Maldini35 said:

Blimey! That’s a surprise to hear.
In the Jazz’s defence, needing new discs and pads and perhaps bushes are reasonable after 80k if it’s led a hard life (It doesn’t sound like it received much love over those 80k miles)
But new gearbox, bad corrosion etc.

Being fair, modern Vauxhalls aren't immune from exploding their gearboxes (the M32 six speed manual is the one I'm thinking of)

That said, I have one in mine and it's still perfectly good at 131k miles

[Jaguar steve]

Maldini35 said:

Jaguar steve said:

I wish the Honda factory knew that when they threw my ex Jazz out the factory door.

At just under 80k it needed a new gearbox, has six MOT advisories for corrosion and shagged front suspension bushes ripping it's front tyres to pieces, a partially siezed rear caliper and badly needed discs and pads all round. The interior trim featured more rattles than Mothercare and most of the nuts and bolts on the oily bits were rusted away to a crusty mush making it way too much hassle to even think about fixing it.

Around 80k might be the mileage I'd think about buying a Shed - not getting rid of it.

Blimey! That’s a surprise to hear.
In the Jazz’s defence, needing new discs and pads and perhaps bushes are reasonable after 80k if it’s led a hard life (It doesn’t sound like it received much love over those 80k miles)
But new gearbox, bad corrosion etc.

It didn't have a hard life 'tho. It was the proverbial little old ladies one owner and serviced every year from new car when we bought it - for exactly that reason. At the time it seemed a real treat compared to the rest of the knackered old Sheds I've had.

Discs and pads, you'd think yes fairynuff at 80k, but they'd been replaced already along with a new exhaust with Honda parts. All 4 discs picked up another MOT advisory because they had pitted badly and were a long way off worn out.

I wasn't going to flog that POS privately to some poor sap so px'd it. The dealer didn't bother driving it so he wouldn't have heard the gearbox rattling like a tin box full of spanners but his little face when he saw the page of advisories after we'd agreed a deal was priceless.

[Piginapoke]

I've had a Vectra C 2.2 SRI and a Signum 1.9 CDTI, back in the day. I liked them, but it was the dealers that caused me to never look at another Vauxhall. Incompetent and could not give a toss.

Mercs, VWs etc are much of a muchness as a car, but as an experience, they are leagues better.

[av185]

There are good and bad main dealers for all cars including very expensive ones.

[david106]

I've had plenty of Vauxhalls cavaliers,omegas, vectras and even a signum 3.2v6 I leased an astra 1.4 turbo elite on a 2 year lease and it was excellent .
I've hired lots of cars aswell and the astra is no worse than an over priced golf I actually enjoyed having the car for 2 years and I'm currently leasing a Hyundai i30 se nav and again decent car well put together but not the most exciting car to drive being a 1.6 diesel but In sport mode and a 7 speed auto its ok I'm just glad it is only a short lease.

I lease cars as I don't use them during the week so its only used as a weekend car and trips away car so a cheap hire car

[frye]

Ive only had 3 cars in short car owning career and all have been Vauxhalls. Had a 1.6 LS (with front fogs I may add ). This was a first car / runaround. Solid and did its job well.

2nd car was a 2001 Astra SXI that I picked up for £550. Loved this car and served me well for over 6 years. Had to scrap it though recently as cost after the MOT repairs were just too much. Got decent money though for the scrap value.

Now on a 2008 Astra SXI. Its a decent runner, smooth on motorway and just no frills. Could do with more power as only 1.6 but it does the job.One thing that does cheese me off with the 2008 car, no temp gauge on the dials.

However, ill probably run this car into the ground and get another vauxhall no doubt.

I was thinking of getting a Focus before the latest car, but drove my mates Focus and just didnt like the feel of it.

[douglas james]

I do not know the new cars, however the classic cars are a dream. See photo.

[LuS1fer]

douglas james said:

I do not know the new cars, however the classic cars are a dream. See photo.

Those Victors had a horrendous reputation for rusting so nice to see one surviving.