1989 Vauxhall Senator CD review from UK and Ireland

Air conditioning very poor

roof lining came off.

Bought in 1990 from auction for £10000 with 10000 miles on the clock this 3 litre CD Senator in Beige with alloy wheels (must have) was shipped to Cyprus in a container to be used in Cyprus. Over the next 15 years it was used with out problem the only expense was servicing at £80 a year and tyres over 50,000 miles covered. In 2005 it was traded in for a brand new Renault Megane.

The Senator did 17 mpg over it life its 65,000 with my family the on board computer told me and also it averaged 17mph in the same period. The 3 speed automatic gearbox gave it 0-60 timing of around 11 seconds and a top speed once seen on the electronic speedometer of 137 mph. Full leather seating was always of the utmost comfort. The air conditioning was pretty poor no even sure if it worked properly.

It turned heads in Cyprus as there were only 3 on the roads when it arrived in 1990. They were only one generation from being a part of the British Empire so the country was very poor. We were treated like millionaires were ever we went in the Senator the best seat in the local tavern the manger would greet us where ever we went even at the local supermarket as if Christmas had come early.

Such is the cache of owning a Senator a Mercedes means a Taxi in Cyprus so is seen as a utilitarian vehicle the Senator is seen as luxury. We went to the Cyprus Hilton and it was the best car in the car park. Where it is now I do not know as it was still in perfect running order when it was confiscated by the Cyprus tax authorities as you can only have one duty free car it probably went to auction to be sold on the a middle eastern country were its fuel consumption does not matter.