2005 Vauxhall Vectra SRi 1.8 petrol
Summary:
It's OK
Faults:
Biggest pain was coolant leaks, from thermostat and other places.
Most expensive thing was the clutch needed changed.
Air con stopped working long ago.
Cosmetically the car is rough looking, but it is older now.
The rest was honestly just the wear and tear expected of an older high mileage car (brakes, exhaust, suspension parts, etc). I service the car on time and it gets any belts or anything else it needs changed on time.
General Comments:
Yes I still have this 18 year old Vectra as a daily driver. Why? It's cheap enough to run and still has reliability.
Average performance, running costs and economy, this car is nothing special, but I like it for simplicity. The mid 2000's were the last time cars were simple and easy to work on simple jobs yourself if you are handy with tools.
1.8 petrol is arguably more reliable than diesels, but is also a bit dear to tax, but it can still achieve a solid 35 mpg or more if you drive carefully. Insurance is reasonable and parts are cheap. SRi spec is good (plenty of electrics) and is nice to drive, sporty and comfortable.
Interior still modern looking for its age in my opinion. Exterior also styled nicely.
Still worth a look if you find a nice one for cheap enough, but only buy a looked after car. The Vectra is getting on now however and you can even get early Insignia's for the same price on the used market. So only consider a Vectra if it is really cheap.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 13th December, 2023
29th Mar 2014, 07:16
The factory it was built in is shown on VIN plate starting WOLOXXXXXq123456. It is the eleventh character as q shown, and is a number:
Factory code : Town / Country
1 Russelsheim, Germany
2 Bochum, Germany
3 Azambuja, Portugal (since 1993)
4 Saragossa, Spain
5 Antwerpen, factory II, Belgium
6 Antwerpen, factory I, Belgium/ (since 1993) Eisenach, Germany
7 Luton, Great Britain (since 1993)
8 Ellesmere Port, Great Britain
9 Uusikaupunki, Finland
A Azambuja, Portugal
B Bertone, Torino, Italy
C Eisenach, Germany
E Ellesmere Port, Great Britain
G Gliwice, Poland
H Greek
P Varsova, Poland
S Szentgotthard, Hungary
T Dunstable, Great Britain
V Luton, Great Britain
Z Izmir, Turkey
Our December 2013 Zafira was Bochum built and gives any VW/Audi a match on quality, which is amazing as it was £9970 new with cruise, ESP+, curtain 'bags etc and the lifetime/100,000 mile warranty.
Some VWs are China and India built.