16th Nov 2012, 18:31

I agree, but unfortunately found out the hard way. We looked at petrol vs diesel, and went for petrol due to our last diesel having faults that were expensive to repair. So simple petrol it was. After 1 week, the car was traded back in and a diesel one was bought. Lost a lot of money, but couldn't look at the car and feel happy at all. It was powerless, and the MPG was really shocking. The diesel was more expensive, but by far the better car. My advice is pay for the diesel Insignia; it may cost more, but in the long run the petrol will bleed you dry.

23rd Nov 2012, 07:31

Well guess what? The new 1.4 turbo hasn't solved the problem. It is just as bad as the 1.8, although it has lower CO2 emissions, which means cheaper VED.

And to think that 15 years ago the 140 BHP Vectra 2.0 offered the ideal combination of performance and economy, but ever since manufacturers started their relentless pursuit to achieve the highly coveted 5-star EuroNCAP safety rating, cars have gotten so heavy that 140 BHP is not enough any more.

I'm all for cars getting safer, but manufacturers should focus on weight reduction as well.

27th Aug 2023, 17:14

Interesting comments all these years later. I had a 1.8 petrol Insignia a while back, yes the performance was poor but economy is OK on motorways (37 -40 mpg); about town you won't get much more than 33 mpg, but that is true of most petrol cars.

The diesels have proven to be unreliable in the long run and any savings you make on fuel get spent on expensive DPF and injector issues. So what's the point? Might as well have a simpler reliable petrol car. Most people are now moving away from diesel back to petrol.