1998 Vauxhall Vectra GLS review from UK and Ireland

Thermostat sticking open, only cost £12 to fix.

Electric window passenger side stopped working. Didn't bother to fix, probably a faulty switch/motor.

Very good car. I had heard a lot of bad things about the Vauxhall Vectra before I bought it. To be honest this car has had a lot of unfair criticism. Many motoring programs and magazines gave the car a lot of stick over the years, but I can't really see what they were talking about.

The car drives well, handles OK, again they say it under steers a lot, but hey it's a front wheel drive family car, what did they expect would happen when you drive it hard? It cruises very well and that's all I need, I don't drive like an idiot.

The car is the 98bhp 2.0 DTi, and pulls very well. I've had a lot of 1.8 and 2.0 petrol cars previous to the Vectra, I can say that the performance of this diesel is just fine, it's not slow at all compared to a petrol equivalent. It's also economical as you would expect - I average 48mpg.

So the Vauxhall Vectra had also taken a lot of criticism about being uncomfortable. Well again I don't know what they are talking about as I find it fine. Supportive seats, good driving position, etc. Car is well equipped too - this is the GLS model (about mid range spec) electric windows, air con, usual.

Looks pretty good too - Blue with alloy wheels. It's also an estate car I have. Again not bad looking for what it is.

Only cost me £800. Car has over 140k miles now, but still runs fine apart from the little glitches mentioned above in the cars faults. Mechanically the car is as good as any other, bodywork wise a little rough, but it's over 10 years old now.

Overall, the car was much better than expected, and I don't think it deserves all the bad reviews it got at the time.