2003 Vauxhall Vectra LS review from UK and Ireland

Two steering racks in succession have sprung leaks and needed replacement.

Rear seat belt failed to retract at 35,000 miles; required replacement.

Rear brake calliper seized, necessitating replacement of discs.

Gear selector snapped at 45,000 miles (on a roundabout, too - lots of fun). It was then very difficult to engage gears.

Cruise control no longer works at 60,000 miles.

Intermittent fault on rear screen demister, also at 60,000 miles.

This car replaced a previous model Vectra, with which I'd had no trouble at all (apart from writing it off!)

The car handles better than the previous Vectra, but plenty of room for improvement.

The 2.2 engine has a good amount of torque, and is particularly responsive between 3,000 and 4,000 revs.

Good acceleration, and an excellent motorway car.

Well specified; comes with ABS, rain-sensitive wipers, cruise control and traction control all as standard.

Rain-sensitive wipers are very effective; this surprised me as I thought that they'd just be a gimmick, and be pretty unreliable.

The interior build quality is poor, and very "plasticky".

Good, sizeable boot, but the rear passenger legroom has paid the price. Front seat comfort adequate for long journeys.

As usual, dealer support was poor, but the Network Q used car warranty saved me over a grand in repair bills (see "What things have gone wrong with the car" section).

Fuel economy averages out at about 30mpg. I have a mainly urban 15 mile run to work, a largely rural (~50mph) 33 mile run home every day, and frequent motorway trips. It handles this better than the previous (2000) model I owned, which had a 1.8 petrol engine.

Reliability issues (see previous section) and general lack of build quality will prevent me from buying another Vauxhall, so this car ends a run of three, the first two of which I was very happy with.