1996 Vauxhall Vectra SRi review from UK and Ireland

The Central Locking motors failed on three of the doors locking them shut which cost £260.

The knuckle joint in the steering system needed replacing, cost of £155.

The Rocker Cover Gasket was replaced as a condition of sale and is leaking again.

The rear bushes are banging and need replacing at a cost of £50 per corner.

The main display screen has pixel's missing all over.

The Dashboard creaks and moans over bumps and the drivers seat has loud squeak from the lumber support.

I spent a good couple of months hunting down a decent vectra as I was all to aware of the abundance of problems associated with the car, until I came across a 1996 SRI with 68000 miles and a fully stamped up service book.

It is a practical family car with loads of room in the boot, loads of room in the back, and lots of storage paces, while also appearing sporty.

The trouble with the car is that is not sporty. It handles very poorly with lots of body roll and no feel to slow steering. The brakes are effective though, and the traction control system helps standing starts. My other car (corsa sport 1.4) would beat it on any country road, or any corner/roundabout/vague change in direction! It does cruise on the motorway very well though, with minimal wind noise.

I choose the 2.0 over the larger V6 engine for insurance reasons, but I am impressed with the engine. It lacks torque at low revs which calls for lots of down changes, but does fly when revved hard. In a straight line the car does feel fast, and will hit 60mph in second and 90mph in third gear. It is quite thirsty though, and I don't believe what the trip computer tells me about the fuel consumption!

I recently went down to Cornwall with a roof box and even fully loaded, it managed a 100mph cruise with ease. I covered over 1200 miles without problem.

The problems on vectra have been expensive to fix so far, but a lot of the smaller ones I have sorted myself. If you are capable of using a screw driver and some WD40, then research the problem and the solution and have a go at fixing it yourself. I have found the car easy to work on and some of the 'more expensive' problems are an easy DIY fixes. E. G instead of paying Vauxhall to plug your vectra in to their computer to find a fault, simply remove the plastic trim near the handbrake and place a paper clip over two the terminals and count the number of flashes. This will indicate what problem is. The Internet forums and vectra websites (www.vvoc.com) are fantastic sources of information for the vectra.