Vauxhall Vectra Hatchback (1995 - 2002) 2.2 SRi (150ps) 5d (2001/51) Owner Review
Want to know everything there is to know about this car?
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Summary
What does this car say about you?
'I would dearly love a BMW M3 but am, unfortunately, too poor!'
What do your friends / family / neighbours think of the car?
Mostly people respect it, as the SRi badge sets it apart, in the eyes of even the slightly knowledgable, from the normal vectras/rubbish/fords/french cars/etc/etc/etc. When they find out its a 2.2 they raise eyebrows. Not sure what that actually means.
Would you buy this car again and why?
Hell no. It not that its very uneconomical (30-32 in summer/ driving like an OAP, 28-30 in winter/thrashing it's nuts off) but compared to modern turbo diesels its a bit of a dinosaur. Plus £190 RFL and Ins.Grp 87. I'll have an Astra SRi 1.9 CDTi please.
What are you likely to buy next?
Just.Said.That. I still love my Vectra and will be sad to get rid but cars like this are hard to justify against more stylish, greener, faster modern machines. Sob.
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Buying experience
Type of dealer you bought from?
Independent
Did you buy this car new?
No
What price did you pay?
£5,995
When did you buy the car?
March 2005
Did you get a good deal and why?
Ok really. I p/x'd my Seat Toledo although I also rather stupidly bought from a locaton at some distance. This affected my ability to sort out a few problems. One of which being that the garage told me the Air con needed re-gassing when in reality it needed new pipework at a cost of £240.
Is there any special reason why you bought this car?
Vauxhall fan. Wanted, on a tight budget, a family car with balls! Not interested in 'wide-boy' cars or anything modified. Not sure if I strayed wide of the mark.......
What was the dealer like?
A bit behind the times but if you are in the market for a £6k car you should expect that??
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Driving it
What's it like to drive?
like a not-very-impressive turbo. half asleep up to 3500 revs then goes off like a firework right up to 7000revs. can go like stink but you have to gun it ruthlessly to get it's best - not very cool next to modern turbo-diesels for example who blow their beans somewhat effortlessly.
What's it like to park?
no issue. made before the 'letterbox-style-windows' design school kicked in so you can actually see out of this car.
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Living with it
Have you had any problems with the car?
All the common things. Sticking elec.windows. Steering wheel bush. Air-Con pipes. Cat went along with centre section at a total cost of £LOTS but given it was original system after 5years/70000miles can't really grumble.
What's most practical about your car?
Huge boot. general 'all-rounder' capability.
Favourite gadget, option or accessory?
hardly up-to-the-minute technology but the 'range' function on the dash computer is worth gold, especially with the sort of economy this thing turns in! half-leather sports seats are excellent.
