Vauxhall Vectra Hatchback 3.2 V6 GSi 5d (2003/03) Owner Review
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Economy
Value
Bought 10 months old with 13k on the clock, for £10,000 off list price! This would be horrendous for a new buyer, but in the used market it makes it one of the best family sized performance car bargains currently available
Costs
I use the car for short urban journeys to work predominantly which make fuel economy pretty poor. I'm only getting around 22mpg based on my usage, but you can get 30 mpg on a motorway run easily. As with other Vauxhall cars, services are cheap
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On the road
Driving
Sports suspension and the electronic wizardry like ESP, traction control and cornering brake control makes handling very assured. Doesn't take the ""twisties"" like an Impreza but who cares, that's not what cars like this are for
Performance
0-60 in 7 secs is fast enough for me but it's the motorway acceleration that impresses most. 30-70 at a bit over 6 secs is faster than many performance cars such as an Impreza WRX, 225bhp Audi TT and a Porsche Boxster amongst others. Lots of torque too
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Living with it
Reliability
Starts first time every time. Occasional electronic glitches (as with most modern cars with an advanced ECU), but these are sorted by simply switching off and starting up again. Problems with xenon leveling in mine but soon to be sorted under warranty
Image
Not great due to fleet sales and not helped by some peoples bizarre loyalty to every word Clarkson says. Cars like the Alfa Romeo's have a much better image but very poor reliability so others opinions don't mean that much to me. New GSi is still uncommon
Comfort
Extremely comfortable car even with its firmer sports suspension. Long motorway journeys are a joy and climate and cruise control makes things even better. In my opinion, this is the area that cars in this class should excel and the GSi doesn't disappoint
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Security and Service
Security
Alarm, immobiliser and deadlocks means that this will be a very difficult car to drive away in unless you have the key. Strong on safety features with 6 airbags and very good crash test results
Service
First service was about £150, second is £240 so very reasonable. Still waiting for them to give me a date to repair my xenon leveling however.
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Problems and Ownership
Problems
Engine
Superb, cannot fault it
Other
Self leveling headlights are the only real issue I've had with the car and in many way I'd probably just prefer normal user leveled headlights to save the messing about. It will be worth it all when it's repaired though
Ownership
Did you buy the car new?
Used
Would you buy the same model again?
Yes
Did you buy from the same manufacturer again?
Yes