1993 Vauxhall Cavalier Turbo 4x4 from UK and Ireland - Comments

You name it:

Cam belt snapped after dealer had changed at 36k miles. Cost £2000+. Luckily part was under warranty.

Tyres - all four must be replaced at the same time £600+.

Clutch cable.

Front discs and pads.

Core plugs.

Exhaust.

Various mountings/bushes.

I had the car for 2 years and in that time it gave me so much pleasure but cost me dearly.

Outperforms Cosworths without chipping.

Rare sight.

Leather interior superb.

Main dealers seemed to think that because I drove a top of the range Cavalier then I would pay for anything repairing. They seemed to find things wrong at every service. I don't think I had a service that cost less than £400.

Be warned - lovely car, thirsty on fuel 26mpg at best, heavy on servicing.

I've owned a Cavalier 4X4 Turbo for over six years going from 40 to 90 thousand miles. There have been numerous problems, but nothing terminal or requiring a tow. If you are prepared to get your hands dirty and shop around for parts you won't find a faster and cheaper car to run. The handling is foolproof rather than rewarding. Wear on tyres and brakes can be heavy, but obviously depends on how hard you drive. Check the inside edge of the front tyres for excessive wear - characteristic rather than a fault. You can get a set of premium make tyres for 340 quid fitted (if you're paying 600 you need to develop your haggling skills). Swap the tyres around regularly to even out wear and avoid premature 4X4 transfer box failure which I hear can be a problem. Change the water pump as soon as it gets noisy or you notice any leakage, or it'll take the cam belt with it - usually every 40-60k miles. I'd advise changing the cam follower/tensioner pulleys as well since the OE ones are known to seize. The clutch is heavy and the gearbox quite notchy - this is normal. If the clutch is light to operate beware! - a non original spec clutch has been fitted and you'll be lucky to get 25k miles out of it. OE clutches last up to 90k. Changing the clutch is a gearbox out job and not cheap or easy DIY. Porous heads (oil/water mixing) can be a problem so check oil and coolant before buying. Generally speaking, the engine/gearbox/turbo seem to take sustained hard use pretty well. Even with 90K on the clock performance is as good as the very fastest modern hot hatches and in the same ball park as the Audi TT, Impreza etc. These turbo Cavaliers were widely used by the Police and luckily they seem to be pretty neutral towards them (unlike a black 16VGTE Astra I owned which seemed to have a "please stop me" sign on the back). Expect 26 - 37 mpg. Cheap to insure too, despite being group 17.