where have all the Vectras gone?
Discussion
Most 1990s Vauxhalls (MK4 Astra excepted as they ran into the mid 2000s) have all but disappeared.
When I was a kid around 20 years ago, the most common cars on the road were Cavalliers and Escort. I can't remember the last I saw either of them except on Google Images.
Interesting facts:
Vectra B (1995-2005)
Astra G MK4
Astra H MK5
Zafira A (1999-2005)
Zafira B (2005-2014)
All share the same wishbones and front suspension drop links. Only the track rod ends differ. That's some mileage that Vauxhall/Opel got out of the same design.
When I was a kid around 20 years ago, the most common cars on the road were Cavalliers and Escort. I can't remember the last I saw either of them except on Google Images.
Interesting facts:
Vectra B (1995-2005)
Astra G MK4
Astra H MK5
Zafira A (1999-2005)
Zafira B (2005-2014)
All share the same wishbones and front suspension drop links. Only the track rod ends differ. That's some mileage that Vauxhall/Opel got out of the same design.
Edited by Schermerhorn on Thursday 23 August 17:14
Herbs said:
Plenty down here still - must be the warm weather! 
17 for sale currently within a 40 mile radius
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?advertisin...
They're all Vectra Cs - OP wants a Vectra B.17 for sale currently within a 40 mile radius
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?advertisin...
Vectra A:
Vectra B:
Vectra C:
Herbs said:
That A was a Cavalier here 
Hence why i thought the C was a B
It was! Hence why i thought the C was a BThe Vauxhall and Opel names don't line up. The weirdest one is the Astra - the Astra A is an Opel Kadett although there wasn't even a Vauxhall Astra at the time.
It's just one of those things. Opel Corsa A was Vauxhall Nova
J4CKO said:
I don’t think that argument will get you into Greenpeace but sort of agree, cars could last longer but become uneconomical to repair/keep going, especially in the UK, I see perfectly serviceable looking cars that run fine going for scrap, because they need tyres, brakes, a suspension component or two.
Back when I was a kid, old heaps were kept going long after they were rotten smoking death traps.
My old mans a classic - he has always bought brand new (not even Pre reg) but then self serviced it - oddly rfBack when I was a kid, old heaps were kept going long after they were rotten smoking death traps.
king the OEM warranty but in 70 years never needed to call upon a warranty. He buys brand new every option he wants the exact car he wants. Not owned or abused by anyone before him —- but then runs and runs and runs and runs and runs then until they are what most kids would call scrap. He usually sees 250-300k out of a car and the. It’s something where he doesn’t have a tool to fix it or it’s so pricy to fix its then part X and go again. Trust me every ounce of value is extracted from it.
Car is used as a tool a to b from day 1 onwards.
Helps him being a mechanic by trade + he loves and came from an era where you made good and kept things going. The number of times he’s pulled his hair out seeing the stuff we throw away.
Environmentally though he is spot on and £ wise it makes a vast amount of sense.
I must be weird as I ran a 98’ v6 vectra B from 2004-2009, it was a one OAP owner car so it was low mileage and mint, I really liked it and it did a good job of running up and down the motorway for 5 years. Chopped it in on the scrappage scheme but the car was still in great nick, I just couldn’t afford 30mpg at the mileage I was doing at the time, I think fuel was about 1.30 a litre too. I was only 23 at the time so the novelty of a v6 was what I wanted, granted it wouldn’t be a B road blaster but it was very comfy and really well screwed together. In those 5 years and by 90k miles it only needed a new fuel pump and a coil spring, excluding consumeables. I’m convinced Clarkson soured their reputation!
Glasgowrob said:
on the lookout for a winter hack for the next 6-7 months and settled on finding a roughish Vectra B V6. it ticks all the boxes for me comfy seats easy to work on, cheap and because I've also got a thing for Omegas a lot of interchangeable spares. trawling the classifieds theres not a single one for sale 
I know their getting on a bit but bloody hell they've vanished, even the vectra Cs are a bit thin on the ground getting
There are a couple for sale on Gumtree.I know their getting on a bit but bloody hell they've vanished, even the vectra Cs are a bit thin on the ground getting
https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/vau...
https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/vau...
https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/vec...
Jag_NE said:
I must be weird as I ran a 98’ v6 vectra B from 2004-2009, it was a one OAP owner car so it was low mileage and mint, I really liked it and it did a good job of running up and down the motorway for 5 years. Chopped it in on the scrappage scheme but the car was still in great nick, I just couldn’t afford 30mpg at the mileage I was doing at the time, I think fuel was about 1.30 a litre too. I was only 23 at the time so the novelty of a v6 was what I wanted, granted it wouldn’t be a B road blaster but it was very comfy and really well screwed together. In those 5 years and by 90k miles it only needed a new fuel pump and a coil spring, excluding consumeables. I’m convinced Clarkson soured their reputation!
That's how I feel about them too. I don't bother protesting on here though!Too many people have heard Jeremy Clarkson and therefore have to be one of those cool kids
Jimmy Recard said:
Jag_NE said:
I must be weird as I ran a 98’ v6 vectra B from 2004-2009, it was a one OAP owner car so it was low mileage and mint, I really liked it and it did a good job of running up and down the motorway for 5 years. Chopped it in on the scrappage scheme but the car was still in great nick, I just couldn’t afford 30mpg at the mileage I was doing at the time, I think fuel was about 1.30 a litre too. I was only 23 at the time so the novelty of a v6 was what I wanted, granted it wouldn’t be a B road blaster but it was very comfy and really well screwed together. In those 5 years and by 90k miles it only needed a new fuel pump and a coil spring, excluding consumeables. I’m convinced Clarkson soured their reputation!
That's how I feel about them too. I don't bother protesting on here though!Too many people have heard Jeremy Clarkson and therefore have to be one of those cool kids
I had this one in 2012. It was rust free but that was it's best feature..
The central locking stopped working and it came with some aftermarket air filter and ebay chip. It also handled really rubbish and collected loads of moisture inside the windows when it was parked up so much so I had to have about 2-3 cloths in the car to wipe it all up every morning.
I had it for about 5 months and scrapped it before the MOT was due as I just didn't want to own the thing any longer and didn't want a large service and MOT bill.
After scrapping it I got myself an Alfa 156
Another one here for having had a Vectra (a C rather than a B) and finding it was a very good car. Is that an unconventional view? It was an "Elite" spec estate so I had a very comfortable old-man leather interior, huge boot and even though it was a lazy 6-speed auto the 2.8T engine made it just, JUST slightly faster than my mates Focus ST mk3 in a drag up to 120-130 (which was surprising for both of us).
I'd read so many people raving about the Mondeo that when the time came for a replacement I decided on a range-topping Mondeo 2.0T Powershift Ecoboost. I drove a couple and found them gutless (I assumed the first one was abused or broken), and the handling was honestly no better than the Vectra. The Mondeo MPG was almost certainly better, but that wasn't enough for me.
The older Mercedes E-class I replaced it with is superior in most ways but is not as spacious inside.
(Sorry OP, off topic but glad to see I'm not the only one who enjoyed Vectra ownership... just don't be one of the "look how many blue leds I fitted to mine" people - there were some odd ones on the Vectra forums...)
I'd read so many people raving about the Mondeo that when the time came for a replacement I decided on a range-topping Mondeo 2.0T Powershift Ecoboost. I drove a couple and found them gutless (I assumed the first one was abused or broken), and the handling was honestly no better than the Vectra. The Mondeo MPG was almost certainly better, but that wasn't enough for me.
The older Mercedes E-class I replaced it with is superior in most ways but is not as spacious inside.
(Sorry OP, off topic but glad to see I'm not the only one who enjoyed Vectra ownership... just don't be one of the "look how many blue leds I fitted to mine" people - there were some odd ones on the Vectra forums...)
donkmeister said:
(Sorry OP, off topic but glad to see I'm not the only one who enjoyed Vectra ownership... just don't be one of the "look how many blue leds I fitted to mine" people - there were some odd ones on the Vectra forums...)
I had a Vectra C (also a 2.8 turbo but the police spec one with a manual gearbox) and I quickly backed away from that forum after seeing those posts 
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