Faults:

Clutch and flywheel (expensive £1000).

Turbo pipe split, common but cheap and easy fix (£30).

Condensation in headlights constantly.

Gearbox notchy but did not fail.

Plus all the usual wear and tear. I done the cam-belt and water-pump, plus all services at reasonable prices.

General Comments:

Good looking, great to drive and very comfortable. Those are the Insignia's strong points.

Bad points are average reliability and a few annoying common and expensive issues.

Still, the few years I had the car it was an enjoyable experience for the most part. 2.0 turbo diesel has good power while doing around 46 - 50 mpg on average; more on longer drives.

SRi trim is the one to have, sporty and comfy seats along with plenty of electric extras. The car is spacious and comfortable, huge boot area.

Plenty on the used market, but do not pay too much for one - this generation is getting on now and a well known fault with these diesel Insignia's is the oil seal pick up valve - a £500 + job to fix or a new engine if it fails and seizes! That's why I sold mine last year as it was past the infamous 100,000 mile mark, but this can happen anytime apparently, especially on abused cars. Bear in mind a lot of these cars are used as taxis as well.

Faults:

Clutch, oil leak, coolant leak, exhaust, etc.

General Comments:

The Insignia is a fantastic to drive car in this range. I bought it used and put serious mileage on it. Had quite a lot of wear and tear parts fail, but the car in general was reliable if looked after.

SRi Nav trim is nice, you get sporty seats and plenty of electrics. Sat Nav built in is a bit dated, but can be retro fitted with an update.

Really good looking car in black. Nicer to drive, slick gear change and good handling on SRi models.

The engine is pretty mediocre. 1.8 petrol is fast enough if pushed, but miles per gallon suffers easily, spirited driving and short/town drives sees the MPG drop to only 32 mpg or less! You need to get out on the motorway and select 6th gear and cruise for many miles just to see 37 - 38 MPG; much better but hard to maintain. I'd have went for a diesel CDTi Insignia but was advised they were not very reliable, but at least they can manage 45 - 50 MPG; you will never get near that out of petrol. The Insignia is a heavy car and is at home on motorways, do not buy any of them if you only do short drives.

Have since moved on to a BMW 3 series which is a better car in every way, but the Insignia for the money provides a great family/executive car for anyone.

Faults:

A lot of maintenance work, new cam-belt + water pump and so on.

Brake discs and pads.

Exhaust and suspension components as required per MOT.

Coolant leak.

ABS sensor.

Difficulty selecting gears.

Low oil pressure - Oil pick up seal failed and seized engine.

General Comments:

This Insignia, although a basic "Exlcusiv" model, was a really nice looking and comfortable performing car over the time I had it.

2.0 CDTi engine was fast and economical. Great to drive. Engine a bit noisy around town, but a quiet refined cruiser on the motorway doing anything between 50 - 60 mpg.

Very comfortable interior, nice seats and plenty of kit as standard. Rear headroom a little limited if you are 6 foot or more, but otherwise no complaints.

Plenty of space in that boot. Practical car.

It's a shame the engine failed after a well known problem with the oil seal/pick up valve; do check this when buying high mileage diesel Insignia's, they are a known weak spot. I decided to scrap the car as it was higher mileage and older and not worth repairing, gearbox was feeling and sounding dodgy also. Shame really, it was a fantastic car otherwise all the time I had it. I do not know if I'd buy another - I think Vauxhall really dropped the ball here with the Insignia, they really could have had a Ford Mondeo beater if they just put a bit more effort into quality and reliability, and this could have been the perfect car, but in all honesty the Ford Mondeo is still the better car on reliability alone.