1999 Vauxhall Omega Elite review from UK and Ireland

Oil leaks. Car was taken to a friend who is a specialist in these cars. When he slowly looked at me, I knew I was doomed. 'Why?' was his first word.

The standard fault was explained as a rocker cover gaskets leak, and is a design fault, so replaced these.. this lead to second fault.

Mis-fire... This was a fault on the leads, that are one offs for these cars ie:- only Vauxhall parts work best, at a huge cost for a lead set for both banks what a rip off!!! Got both fixed £400.00 thank you GM.

It's annoying that a manufacturer will make these, and yet is still unable to design them to repair at a cheap price or make them overcomplicated to repair.

2k miles later, the oil leak returns. Not a happy bunny. It turns out that it might be the oil cooler, but sadly not, it is a suspect head gasket out on to the side of the block. Has not affected the engine YET, but in the end has written off the car..

Total mileage 108k, FULL service history with GM.

All other parts working well, apart from the cruise control, where the connector to the accelerator is plastic. This has hardened and has broken, again poor design and poor choice of materials.

When asked how much to repair the head gasket, my friend just laughed and said go banger racing instead with the car.

It is a shame as the car is very rewarding to drive. It's just a shame that GM still make economic cuts just for the bottom line, and have no respect for the buying public.

PS noticed that a person said that Police were happy with these cars. They have no choice in the end. They drive what they are given and these cars are regularly checked, regardless of cost. Any car is going to be good with a blank cheque book to pay for repairs!!