Bought a Vectra; Any Advice?

[DanB7290]

So, we kind of accidentally bought a Vectra on eBay (in my defence, the OH egged me on to stick £500 on it!) and we're off to collect it tomorrow. Seems like a bargain to me; 2000 X, 1.8 LS with 1 owner from new and 50k on it

Despite now working for Vauxhall I have little to no clue of what I'm looking for fault wise (I've had a whole 5 days in the job, with about 5 minutes of training so far!). A mechanic friend has advised on checking the chain/belt has been changed around 40k and that the heat shields aren't rattling too much. Anything else I should be watching out for?

[Big Dee]

Suspension bushes at the back

[0a]

Assuming the car drives, do what I do - drive it for 100 miles to decide it's a viable car, then take it to your mechanic to give it a full assessment (then if he says it's a good car, get him to give it a full service).

[DanB7290]

Cheers, the only problem is that because I'm in the top of Scotland, it's a 400 mile trip back home (getting the train in the morning). Should be an ideal test of the car. Question is, M6 or A1?

[gog440]

DanB7290 said:

Cheers, the only problem is that because I'm in the top of Scotland, it's a 400 mile trip back home (getting the train in the morning). Should be an ideal test of the car. Question is, M6 or A1?

M6 every time.
the A1 is really frustrating as there always seem to be trucks snail racing on the 2 lane bits, and there is quite a lot that is single carriageway so the m6/m74 is a much better bet just keep an eye out for the speedtraps everywhere in Scotland, especially on the m74 and if you are heading that way the a90 which seems to have speed cameras very 1/2 mile!

[DanB7290]

gog440 said:

M6 every time.
the A1 is really frustrating as there always seem to be trucks snail racing on the 2 lane bits, and there is quite a lot that is single carriageway so the m6/m74 is a much better bet just keep an eye out for the speedtraps everywhere in Scotland, especially on the m74 and if you are heading that way the a90 which seems to have speed cameras very 1/2 mile!

Cheers, thought so. Yeah the bit between Dundee and Aberdeen is especially bad!

[fitz1985]

on a 2000 it will be an X18XE1 at a guess in that,

- Check the chassis rails aren't corroded
- Check the brake pipes, especially the one to the rear which goes under the fuel tank
- Timing belt is a good thing to check too
- Rose bushes / cracked or broken springs
- Check for cutting out at junctions etc, can be down to the throttle body.

An op-com tool is a good investment unless you get to run the car in at work!

Welcome to Vectra ownership

[DanB7290]

Cheers I'll need to write all this down! Just looking on eBay at Op Com tools now, does £20 sound about right? Only issue I'm going to have is lack of driveway and living on a main road, however may be able to get the guys at work to take a peek at it. Had a look for similar spec cars and the only ones I can find (similar age 1.8 LS) all have at least double the mileage, so assuming no funny business I should be OK.

[blue van]

is this any better on price

http://www.amazon.co.uk/OP-COM-VAUXHALL-DIAGNOSTIC...

[folos]

Scrap it?

[DanB7290]

Right, I have got it back to Aberdeen, long drive on Saturday afternoon/night, but I can say that the car is absolutely fine! There's the odd scratch and ding, but not as many as you'd probably expect with a 12 year old car, and the interior could do with a good cleaning out, but all in all it's great. My only worry at the moment is that the ABS light comes on every now and again, but it is intermittent and the ABS itself works fine, so I think it's just a bad sensor. Will get it checked over at work today but it's all looking pretty good, and just £500! 4 new tyres on it, but the spare is slick so will get that changed, but it's shed motoring at it's finest!