Vauxhall Insignia GSI | Spotted
The Insignia has followed the Ford Mondeo into banishment. RIP, D segment trooper...
And just like that, it was gone. “The Insignia is stopping for Vauxhall,” UK managing director Paul Willcox told Autocar this week. “We will fulfil orders, but there is no plan in the short-term to replace it straightaway.” While the model might not have carried quite the same weight as its arch rival in the national consciousness - a byproduct, of course, of the ‘Mondeo man’ stereotype - the Insignia bloodline is no less significant, running as it does back through Vectra to Cavalier to Victor. All told, a 65-year family car presence on British roads. It'll continue to be sold in Europe, and possibly return as an EV in time - but, for now, over here, it's done with.
While it’s hard to get overly misty about the ceaseless shift of market forces (indeed, the removal of what was often viewed as a so-so product might strike some as just reward for a very large company’s failure to meet its myriad challenges head-on), the Insignia and its forbears have easily been around for long enough to earn some retrospective affection from the British public. The anecdotes alone must number in the millions.
Not for nothing, but PH recalls driving a just-launched second generation Insignia Grand Sport from Kristiansand to Kristiansund back in 2017 for a magazine feature, and the car was almost beyond reproach. Sure, even in range-topping 260hp format it wasn’t deeply thrilling - it didn’t even have paddle shifters to suggest it might harbour the faintest intention of edging much beyond the functional - but you don’t need thrilling for four days of Norway in March; you want ease-of-use and sure-footedness and an unfailing sort of comfort. The Insignia had all this in spades. It’s genuinely hard to recall it putting a foot wrong.
There’s one very much like it here. It’s done 40k, is said to have a full main dealer service history and will set you back £15,981 - or little more than half what it likely cost when new. No, it won’t make the neighbours jealous - in fact, short of crashing it into a ditch, it’s unlikely to turn heads for any reason. But experience suggests it’ll quietly and confidently get on with the job of being a fairly brisk, appreciably spacious and generally okayish modern family car for many years to come. And while it isn’t necessarily the car you’d choose to drive up to and across Norway's impossibly majestic Atlantic Road, it’ll get you there just fine.
Obviously we wouldn’t tender it as the last word in Insignia splendour. Vauxhall has several notable goes at spicing up the model in the face of mounting competition - most notably with the first generation VXR, a car which combined an Australian-built 325hp 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 with adaptive all-wheel drive. There’s a 2012 manual example here with below average miles for a smidge over £10k. Or you could go the whole hog, and blow £34k on a nearly-new (and vanishingly rare) 230hp GSI - the last carrier of Vauxhall’s once mighty performance badge. Not a shining example of the wider breed, perhaps - but probably a fitting sign-off for the dearly departed.
Specification | Vauxhall Insignia GSI
Engine: 1.998cc, four-cylinder, turbocharged
Transmission: 9-speed auto, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 230
Torque (lb ft): 258
MPG: 35.3
CO2: 179g/km
First registered: 2021
Recorded mileage: 6,000
Price new: £38,680
Yours for: £34,099
This just doesn't raise any pulses and I suspect has a heck of a lot of depreciating to do still. It didn't build on the previous version, it's almost like they wanted to bring Insignia sales to a death to demonstrate to the board that nobody wants to buy them anymore.
A shame because I think the Insignia was a massive step up in quality to the 2000s Vauxhall line up (Zafira, Astra, etc.).
Also, as impressed as I was in the first 100 miles, the 1.6d SRi engine felt a bit coarse after that.
Later, Enterprise gave me an older generation SRI but a 2.0d. It was a much nicer engine.
I would seriously think about buying an Insignia.
Another line of cars lost to the relentless march of the SUV/crossover sadly. When you think about all the interesting variants over the years - Cavalier Turbo, Vectra ST200, GSI, VXR, then the Insignia VXR, it's still rather sad in my view.
The death of the saloon car is strange one. You don't seem to be able to give them away in the UK, but go to the US and Middle East and they seem to be everywhere. Here in Saudi, almost everything that isn't an SUV is a three-box saloon.
I've always admired the performance Vauxhalls over the years, so it is definitely a shame I reckon with how things have changed.
Thing is the V6 AWD combo was also available in the RSV (standard) and RS (optional mainly for plod) spec in both hatch and estate and had exactly the same power and torque, which made for a confused line up.
The 2.0 petrol used in the base spec and standard on the RS was detuned otherwise it would have outperformed the V6!
However the segment was already dead in Oz before the car was launched, and calling it a Commodore when it wasn’t didn’t help. As a result it didn’t last long and was killed off just before GM shafted Holden and shut the brand down.
Thing is, it was actually a good car.
The engine was a little course but was economical and went reasonably enough. Not an exciting car, but exceedingly competent. Not one bit of surface corrosion underneath on any components after eight years & 110k miles of ownership, too-impressive given the all year round use. Sold to a family friend who is still running it (on a shoestring, looking at the MOT history, but there you go).
Why? Well they were just full and unremarkable and if used for a metaphorical bank job any witness would have difficulty telling the cops what make or model was used
Having said that I had an SRi turbo diesel of the previous mode and it did exactly what it said on the tin, well built, safe, economical, quick enough and swallowed a new double oven on an entertaining drive down to central London and back
The only real downside i would say is the manual gearbox (like every other Vauxhall i've tried) is vague and mushy affair with a huge throw, the autos were fine though.
Also, as impressed as I was in the first 100 miles, the 1.6d SRi engine felt a bit coarse after that.
Later, Enterprise gave me an older generation SRI but a 2.0d. It was a much nicer engine.
I would seriously think about buying an Insignia.
Great cars for motorway, where all you need is good NVH engineering.
I wonder what I will buy second hand in 20 years, as no-one buys saloon from new nowadays
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