1997 Opel Vectra Caravan review from Norway
"Opel Vectra has not impressed me regarding quality"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
The warning lamp for the airbag-system were lit a week after I bought the car,
and has been on while driving since.
The container for the fluid for wiping the windscreen an head-lamps is leaky.
An electric pump or engine makes noise
for the first minutes of driving, and then shuts off. The sound is annoying.
Worse is the sound of the roof, which
vibrates from both many of our asphalt roads, as well from the shaking of the
engine. The inner roof must be teared down and parts of the roof glued together. This is not going to be cheap.
The sound from the roof is so annoying that I would either have to fix it
or (and?) sell the car.
It uses many times as much oil as my previous, more than 20 year old Passat
did; 1.5 litres in 4000 km.
I suspect that it uses at least as much
petrol as the 20 year old VW Passat. I can't see how Opel could name the engines "Ecotec".
Now the engine has started making howling noises a couple of days ago, while it's cold. It might be the register or parts connected to it that
are worn out. Got to fix it before
serious damage is done.
General comments?
The car has a nice design and is comfortable to drive. It "flies" over
humps in the road, which are many in Norway..
But until now the car seems to have
as many faults, and more expensive ones,
than my Russian-built Tula 200 motorbike. I might sell it and buy a Mitsubishi or Toyota next time..
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Don't Know |
| First year of ownership | 2002 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2002 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.6 16 V. Manual |
| Performance marks | 7/10 |
| Reliability marks | 5/10 |
| Comfort marks | 8/10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 7/10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 3/10 |
| Distance when acquired | 83500 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 89000 kilometres |
| Previous car | Volkswagen Passat |
| Date of Entry | 12th July, 2002 |



