2001 Vauxhall Vectra CD from UK and Ireland - Comments

I've had this car since new, and, touch wood, nothing has ever gone wrong with it. For me, the reliability has been spot on.

When I ordered it, I had a few problems with the dealer. It was 2 weeks later arriving than they said it would be, it wasn't sparkling clean either. They also forgot to fit TrafficMaster, which is a dealer-fit item.

There are a lot of bad reviews about the Vectra. There have been three Vectras owned in my family, and none of them have EVER broken down. I know many other people with Vectras, and they love them. My mum has just ordered the new shape - should be here in 4 weeks.

I personally think that too many people are Jeremy Clarkson wannabes, and knock the Vectra down before giving it a chance, just because it's not the most stylish of cars. I speak from experience. Has Jeremy Clarkson ever owned one?

I have a 2.2 CD. Smart looking car, but not the most stylish... that's opinion though.

The engine is sweet, extremely smooth and reliable. Performance is untouchable. There is so much power, always ready when you need it.

The ride is pretty smooth, especially on motorways. Can be a little choppy on the rougher of surfaces mind.

Handling is quite for a car of this size, although with the 2.2 engine, there is a little torque steer, even with traction control engaged.

Build quality seems to be good. Paintwork seems to be strong. Very few scratches or chips, despite a lot of motorway driving.

Overall, this is a superb car, with good reliability. It is just let down by bad unreliable dealerships.

An Extremely Well written review, that almost don't see, such a excellent reading in this survey site, specially about this car.

I couldnt agree more with this review. When my father passed me on his Vectra I remembered hearing Clarksons voice saying how much he hated the car, saying that if he sat there long enough he'd find something he hated about the windscreen wipers - ITS NOT A RERRARI OR A LAMBO! Its just a Vauxhall and like all Vauxhalls found itself the target of a throwback to the eighties who by some act of the devil found himself working for a TV show. I love my car, okay its had a few problems, but nothing that every other car has. When I finnally get rid of my car and have had other cars, I think I shall always look back fondly at my Vectra.

Dear Steve.

I bought a 1600 LS Vectra from Guildford last January for £3,700. It had 33,200 miles on the clock and was, and still is, bright as a new pin.

The engine runs smoothly, she returns up to 42 MPG and possesses all the power I need on the motorway as well as sticking to our Cornish lanes extremely well.

Nothing has fallen off yet. Well! Almost nothing. The exhaust did completely break off all the way back to the catalytic converter. The dealer in Guildford did sportingly authorise the fiting of a new system at Truro.

Putting aside fashion, image, status, etc.

The Vectra is A FAMILY CAR. It does its job as FAMILY CAR perfectly. It's not Formula 1, a rally car or a peroxide blonde-enticing HOT-ROD, but merely a cracking good family car. My kids fit onto the back seat comfortably, with legs still attached and the boot is big enough to comfortably secrete at least four ilegal immigrants without making the tailgate bulge.Well! The Safeway shopping, anyway!!!

And by-the-by. Who could entrust any positive credence upon the judgment of a motoring journalist who is willing to park an obsolete jet fighter in his front garden and then buys a car incapable of getting him to work without having to refill his fuel tank every 70 miles?

Just about one in seven cars down here in Bodmin is a Vectra. I've never seen one broken down and I know they are very solid when crashed.

Well done Vauxhall for making such a good car, very well done Jeremy for helping to give The Vectra such a bad reputation and keeping used prices so low.

I'm planning to be back in a couple of years time for the newer model. So prepare to work your magic yet again Jezzer. Get ready to stuff the newer model again, with another in-depth expose'on the telly, about two weeks before I pop into another Vauxhall showroom looking for another large family car, three years old with delivery mileage and the polythene still on the seats and only four grand in the bank.

Bryan Gibson.

Fantastic comment, my sentiments exactly, I've had my Vectra for nearly 4 years, put 90,000 miles on it, now done 115,000 miles and she is still sweet, never even put new pads in it. It's a 1.8 and I get 42mpg, just change the oil and filter regulary and change the cambelt/tensioner/rollers every 40k, cars worth about £1300 but for me its priceless, I laugh at people that spend thousands on a car, and still have so many expensive problems, ill run this into the ground and buy a new shape vectra, 3 years old for about 4 grand thanks to Jeremy.

Guys... I could not agree more with all of your reviews/ comments. Vauxhall build great cars, I just had to add my penny's worth.

I have a Cavalier, and although it not as fresh looking as it once was, it has yet to fail us, we bought it back in 1998, with 51,000 on the clock it now reads... 107,000.

I have recently put a full set of tyres on it, so in other words it, we are not going to part company just yet.

Our experiences with Vauxhall, has led us to purchase a Zafira... that was only two weeks ago on the 05/03/2005. We have not even done 500 miles in it yet. We did want a Zafira back in 1999, when they first appeared, but our finance's would not stretch that far, until now that is.

All the Zafira reviews regarding the 1600cc engine say... 'it's not this' 'it's not that' 'it could have been this' but believe me it is FANTASTIC. I have not known of an engine to spin so sweetly and yet pull so well, it is hardly audible at any speed. The ride quality, well, where do I start. It's no wonder that so many people have bought the Zafira, it is a great car, and the 'flex 7' seats, are a stroke of genius. I could go on, but I think you get my drift.

We have owned a few different makes of cars since buying the 'Cavalier' a Renault Scenic... COMPLETE and utter JUNK, which actually fell apart. And a Chrysler PT Cruiser the latter was in fact traded in for the Zafira.

The Renault Scenic, I'll say no more, but the PT Cruiser although a reliable car, it was not without it's faults too, but was a money pit.

Everything about the car involved BIG money, it cost a FORTUNE to run, servicing costs, insurance, and to fuel the thing... was a wallet stripping experience.

All of these issue's took their toll, and as for spare parts, you cannot just pop down to Halfords... they DO NOT stock anything for Chrylser's.

NB: The Zafira does NOT have a drink problem... like a good whiskey, JUST SIP IT!!

Regards, Andy.

Yes it's a fine review and while I agree the current Vectra is a fine car, the old one was... OK to poor. It's not like people want to be like Jeremy Clarkson at the Vectra, it's because the old Vectra wasn't the evolution over the Cavalier as Vauxhall claimed with their "Designed for the next millenium" motto at the time.

Mind you, the old Vectra (Vectra B) is a re-shelled Cavalier Mk3 (Vectra A).

Agree with all the comments regarding the Vectra.

I owned a 1.8LSi Vectra for 5 years before swapping it for a Ford Focus in April. Unfortunately I managed to drop the Focus in a ditch a couple of weeks ago and wrote it off, which in a way is a shame because it was a great car, but it did give me the opportunity to go back to the Vectra.

I've now got a 2001 (Y) Vectra 2.2 CD, with 88,000 miles on the clock. However, you wouldn't know it had done that many miles as it still runs extremely smoothly, and when I stop I can't hear the engine its so quiet (I keep thinking I've stalled). It's very quick, comfy, and roomy. Unlike the Focus I can fit my daughters pushchair in the boot and still have room for several bags of shopping, which is, as has been stated on here, the point of a family car. The only issue I have at the moment is the air con that isn't working, hopefully this will be a simple re-gas job.

The last Vectra I had was extremely reliable, just the usual exhaust, brakes etc. needed replacing. Though saying that, it was very thirsty for oil, I kept forgetting to check the level and would find it dry at least every couple of months - nobody could find any leaks, and it wasn't burning oil, apparently it was just a high consumption engine. But apart from that, great car.

Lets hope this Vectra is as reliable, I'm sure it will be.

Damian