1990 Vauxhall Senator CD 3.0 litre

Summary:

This car is as good as your Mums cooking on a Sunday!

Faults:

Air con not working on purchase.

Door lights missing.

General Comments:

This the best car that I have bought!

Took my beloved Senator across Europe for the summer period and the car performed as well as I do!

Only problem being is that you should never trust a Vauxhall or Opel dealer with your beloved friend as they don't know what they're doing!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th January, 2002

1990 Vauxhall Senator CD 3.0 petrol

Summary:

How many other 140mph cars can you pick up for a grand?

Faults:

Rear diff noisy when bought.

Passenger heated seat not working.

Air con not working.

Mysterious misfire occasionally.

General Comments:

The rear diff (£90 s/h and 8 hours - I did it myself) and heated seat (FREE - a broken wire) have been fixed, but the air con (£1006 quote) doesn't stand a chance, according to the good lady.

This is my second Senator, the first being a 12v ex Lincs police job with 260,000 miles on the clock (expired after driving through flood water - the air intake is low). I'm hooked and my current one is a direct replacement, big thanks to my local Vauxhall dealer who had it round the back going for a song.

Huge amount of car for little money.

It's quite good fun to switch the digital dash over to KPH and see how far over 200 you can get ;-) (on the autobahns of course).

Mechanical parts appear to be reasonably priced, but trim parts are expensive.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd March, 2001

1st Oct 2001, 22:13

You might want to check the airflow meter regarding the misfire.

I had a similar problem with my Carlton GSI 12v, and it took quite a while to find the source of the problem.

I couldn't find a nice 24v for a decent price in time when I needed to part with my 12v, so I've got a bargain Citroen XM 2.0i now. Nice car, but seriously lacking torque and horsepower compared to the GSI.

Best

Moritz

27th Dec 2005, 09:31

I had a similar intermittent misfire. Traced to loose spark plugs, split breather pipe between cam cover and throttle body and one partially detached plug lead. Good luck.

1990 Vauxhall Senator CD 3.0 24v petrol

Summary:

A high performance luxury bargain

Faults:

CD Player sticks.

Heated seats don't work.

Heater won't work.

Broken wire from the ECU caused a loss of power.

New timing chain and head gasket.

Air con won't work.

Digital dash broke.

General Comments:

An excellent car. There have been a few niggling faults with the electrics. It seems that all Senators seem to be having a problem with electrics. Some however have been caused by myself and garages who don't know what they are doing. Vauxhall dealers are a waste of time.

The car is a 3.0 24v CD white 1990 model (not ex police). It has all the usuals including alloys, ABS etc. The main problem with this car is finding someone who will fix it. Every garage that I have been to seem to either bodge it or break something else. It best to do the work yourself.

I have made a few modifications to the car. I've had the head gas-flowed, stainless Scorpion exhaust (cheaper than a Vauxhall one) and a Autobahnstormers owners club chip fitted. All have made a big difference. I estimate the power to be around 215bhp. It would eat a five series for breakfast and out handle most boy racers.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th February, 2001

1990 Vauxhall Senator CD 3.0 24v petrol

Summary:

Half the price of a 5 Series and just as good, but the badge lets it down. A big car bargain

Faults:

Timing chain has just been replaced.

Heater broke.

Heated seats won't work.

CD player sticks.

Scorpion exhaust.

Owners club chip.

Gas flowed head.

K+N filter.

Cat replacement pipes.

General Comments:

Very smooth, and powerful.

Handles very well for a big car.

Not very easy to work on, but well made.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 26th February, 2001

1990 Vauxhall Senator CDi 3.0 24v petrol

Summary:

Excellent value combined with prestige motoring

Faults:

Air conditioning failed and removed as too expensive to replace.

Cruise control unit failed.

CD cartridge not working.

Intermittent engine fault resulting in jumpy acceleration.

Timing chain tensioner failed.

New timing chain.

New 24 valves.

New distributor.

New lambda sensor.

General Comments:

If only the intermittent engine fault could be cured I would keep the car until it rotted under me.

This is my third Senator and I am looking for an 'immaculate' 1993/4 replacement.

The huge surge of power in sport mode makes the 25mpg worth while, and for cruising it is the only car I have driven, where you can drive all day and still want to continue into the night.

Vauxhall dealers are not worth visiting, but finding someone who knows much about Senator's is difficult.

Why did Vauxhall stop production of what is arguably one of the best prestige cars in its class - to replace it with the Elite?

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 30th November, 2000

27th Feb 2001, 02:32

I may know why your car surges. Check the wires running from the ECU. There are two black wires. Check them both. When these break the car runs on emergency fuel mode. Which means you lose power and thus causes surging.

23rd Mar 2001, 12:17

Re: the surging. Could be the lambda sensor. My 24v surged when accelerating, took it to numerous experts, eventually got a tip from the internet.

Replaced sensor (£45) - cured!