1997 Opel Vectra review from Germany

+++ Fixed problems +++

Water in headlights - fixed under dealer's warranty

Trunk was leaking - fixed under dealer's warranty

Fuel door couldn't be locked - fixed under dealer's warranty

Control light for A/C didn't work - fixed under dealer's warranty

The washer for the front window didn't work correctly - fixed under dealer's warranty.

Estimated costs if I had had to fix the above problems on my own: 140-200 EUR or more.

+++ Other problems +++

Background lighting for ventilator doesn't work - not yet fixed

Background lighting for rear window heating doesn't work - not yet fixed.

Estimated costs for fixing the problems: 10 EUR or less.

The car's appearance is very nice, but opinions may differ ;)

The 1.6 engine (100 PS) should be sufficient for most situations (city traffic, sporadically autobahn).

Maximum speed according to the documents is 188 km/h, although I think that you can push the car a little faster actually.

The engine is relatively quiet.

A/C works very well for me. (About 35°C were no problem this summer.)

The seats are comfortable.

Even big persons should have enough space in this car (a friend of mine is 2 meters and didn't complain!).

The original sound system (especially the loudspeakers) are of good quality.

Even if you don't like to spend a lot of money on a better radio, you'll be rapt by the sound.

The interior is appealing.

The car has no oil consumption at all.

Mileage is acceptable at about 9 litres per 100 km (according to the manual, the engine requires at least 95 octane gasoline).

The handling is easy, but due to it's length you could have problems finding parking spaces.

The trunk is very big, you could even hide corpses in it ;)

The cup holders are too small for bottles or cups, only cans would fit in.

There is only few space for your accessories like cell phones, keys, money, etc., you'll only have the glove compartment or the compartments at the doors...

The rear window is quite small, the look out of it is hampered.

The mirrors at the doors could be bigger, too.

For having as few worries as possible, I recommend buying this car from a dealer only, for he can fix problems under warranty.

(In Germany, dealers are obligated to offer an implied warranty; private persons aren't...)

Although I did experience quite some problems already, I would buy the same car again.