The following is a list of all of the problems we have had with this car along with the odometer reading:
2487 handbrake not holding
3343 handbrake not holding
6823 handbrake not holding
12392 erratic idle and stalling
13810 clunk in windscreen wipers
13810 erratic idle and stalling
14539 click in wipers
14539 clunk on start
23597 creak in seat
34055 clunk in steering
43176 tyre wear and noise
48114 tyre wear and noise
49575 handbrake not holding
51562 clunk on start
55802 erratic idle and stalling
55802 squeak in steering
55802 tyre wear and noise
58082 r/h/f door handle catching
58082 tyre wear and noise
61250 erratic idle and stalling
61250 reverse light not work
61250 tyre wear and noise
62836 tyre wear and noise
64391 clunk in steering
64391 erratic idle and stalling
64391 tyre wear and noise
64391 tyre wear and noise
64603 clunk in steering
65411 faulty auto windows
65411 squeak in steering
65411 tyre wear and noise
89246 Coolant level indicator on
94600 erratic idle and stalling
94654 erratic idle and stalling
? clunk in steering
? clunk on start
? creak in seat
? erratic idle and stalling.
Don’t touch it!
We have had over seven types of fault with this car, with all of those faults being addressed multiple times by Holden dealer mechanics. The most significant being the stalling problem.
It has been addressed six times and is currently being addressed again. On the fifth occasion, a new re-designed IAC valve was installed. It lasted just under a year until it caused our car to stall in the middle of a four-way intersection. This was a life-threatening situation.
It should be noted that the day before this life-threatening situation, the stalling problem had been addressed by Holden dealer mechanics during the car’s 90,000km service. We were told the idling mechanism was fixed, clearly it wasn't!
During the first two years of owning this car, we had it in the repair shop on average one day a month. Currently, it’s back in the workshop for five working days, to have four outstanding problems addressed.
The following is a summary of the key problems and the number of times we have had them dealt with.
Idling mechanism (8) ; clunk in steering (5) ; clunk on ignition (4) ; handbrake not holding (4) ; knock in steering (3) ; tyre wear and wheel noise (10) ; click in wipers (2) ; failing reverse light (1) ; and creak in seat (2).
Clearly, Holden believes that these faults and having this number of faults with a car is acceptable.
Readers probably wonder why we haven’t rid ourselves of this car. Holden insists they can fix these problems and it has only been over time and with patience that we have put up with this lemon car. We now have no confidence in Holden being able to fix these outstanding problems, in particular, the stalling problem.
We decided to buy an Australian-made car to support our local industry. We will never buy a Holden again and will think very carefully before we buy another Australian-made car.
Clearly this country needs lemon laws.
Our advice … don’t touch a Holden Vectra!
Does one bad experience necessarily mean that an entire dealers range is not worthy of consideration?Perhaps the author of this review needs to experience the pleasure of driving/owning a vehicle mass produced in any of the Asian countries, ones that perform superbly, until the 5yr/60000km warranty expires. It is then that the true meaning of "lemon" can be used to describe a car. After all, if you purchase a car in the lower end of the car market, you must expect that the car will have a few problems associated with it.
No comfort, but you are not alone in believing these cars to be "lemons" - this exact comment has come from an Auto Electrician. Seems the only possible servicing is through Holden Dealerships as they are refusing to provide information to other mechanics / auto electricians. There "fixes" are based on "trial and error".
My experiences -
Vehicle refused to start - NRMA called, they managed to start vehicle - driven to Holden Dealership - never explained what problem was. have since found out through other sources that there is a known problem whereby the Idle Control Module is replaced under Warranty. This information is NOT being released to mechanics outside of Holden Dealerships - probable solution to idling problems - seems a "common" problem.
After religiously having my regular services done, at the end of my 3 year warranty period I paid for an NRMA inspection on the vehicle and I was advised it had NEVER been serviced properly.
Vehicle began losing all power including steering and motor then stopping. This happened twice in a short period of time. Then the Warning light on the ignition would glow then extinguish. The vehicle was taken to an Auto Electrician, who advised it was impossible to obtain any information from Holden re the vehicle and possible problems / solutions. From previous experience with these vehicles he suspected it was the Crank Angle Sensor.
As the car is only 3 months out of warranty I contacted the dealership and was advised there was a "known problem" with the Crank Angle Sensor". It is being repaired under warranty. Have contacted other people who have Vectras and no surprise they have had the same problems.
This is extremely dangerous I was fortunate my car stopped on a country road, other peoples experiences have been on freeways, where the traffic is travelling at high speed, and they have families in the car.
Thank for the comments above please can some tell me what part do you need to fix the idling problem Thanks.
At least you are dealing with a Holden dealer. We purchased a second hand one with 50K's on the clock and have experienced all the problems listed above. BUT, the Nissan dealer appears to be totally in the dark about all the issues and every visit to address an issue requires at least two revisits. I'm not going to let them win! All be warned, don't make the same mistake I did.
I couldn't resist adding my thoughts to those presented above on the Holden (Opel/Vauxhall) Vectra. I have just gotten rid of my 1997 GL Hatch which I loved, however it had most of the problems listed in this entry. PARTICULARLY the stalling problem. I bought it second hand from a friend, with a full service history, and I maintained the servicing interval as set out in the owner's handbook. I sold it at 114,000 kms as I couldn't bare the thought of a ~$600 120,000 km service in the coming months after spending at least that much in trying to solve the stalling and erratic idle problem. Some days it would be OK, while other days, every time I pulled up at an intersection it would very suddenly drop in idle, then kick back up, or, stall completely. The IAC valve was replaced twice in two months after there was a re-call on faulty IAC valves, then it took two weeks to get another (must have been in high demand!).
It appears there are some serious design flaws associated with this car. Just before the heat of summer (Melbourne) kicked in, the A/C went. It turned out that a hole had gradually been worn into a section of the HP piping from a component covering sitting above it. The pipe alone was $440 + $200 in labour.
All up, nice car, but poorly engineered. BTW, it is not a 'local' car. While assembled here, it actually hails from Opel's Belgium plant. I'm not defending Holden esp as they don't seem to be carrying their wait in the servicing and advice on these cars.
As my mechanic said, 'technologically, its no better than a Camira!'. WHOOPS. Hope my 2000 Mazda 626 is more reliable.
I wouldn't call spending $35,000 plus on a car, a vehicle at the lower end of the market. It's not pricey, but it's certainly not cheap. Ultimately when one buys a new car they expect it to at least run reliably and safely and not be getting fixed on average once a month for the first two years of ownership, as with what happened to us.
We bit the bullet after the car stalled in the middle of a four-way intersection and traded the lemon for a second-hand Subaru Forester. Yep, a Japanese gem!
The whole experience has cost us $11,000 to get rid of the Vectra - so it was a bloody expensive lemon.
Remember these two points:
1) ALL cars have potential to be a lemon.
2) A percentage of ANY make of car will have problems.
To ignore these points when presenting an argument is foolish. I think that it makes sense to find out how many of these cars were manufactured and estimate the percentage of ones with problems.
Te Vectra ZC is a car in a completely different category. I suggest you check them out (read European web-sites to see how great they are).
;-)
I owned a JS Vectra for 4 years and was very happy to see the back of it when I traded it for a Mazda 6 about 18 months ago.
The Mazda 6 has given me 25,000 km of trouble free motoring - in the same time/distance I owned the JS Vectra I already had a number of components replaced at least twice (IAC, steering shaft, trim (internal/external) etc etc.
The current Vectra *may* be a better car, but these comments relate to the JS (as does the original comment) and I doubt if you'll see any owners of the JS buying a newer Vectra (ever) if they had the problems the writer of this review and I have had.
I bought my 1998 Holden Vectra a six weeks ago. I am now up for a bill of $2000- $3000 to rebuild the engine after the timing belt tensioners failed and therefore the timing belt slipped, smashing the engine. I had the car checked out before I bought it serviced two weeks before and was informed by my mechanic that it was in excellent mechanical condition with a perfect service history. Holden recommend the timing belt be replaced at 100,000 clicks, but not the tensioners. I suppose it is just one of those things and I am unlucky, but I would be interested to hear of anyone else with this experience.
I have recently purchased a 1998 CD 2.5L V6 Vectra Hatch and am starting to have numerous idling problems. Whilst set on cruise control the car lost all power and then starting kicking in and out, not much fun in 110 km zone and with my 5 and 6 year old children in the car with me. Sometimes whilst waiting at the traffic lights the car will be idling fine and then just start missing and cut out. The engine light comes on intermittently one day and then the following day won't come on at all and other days it just stays lit up. I have taken it to my local Holden dealership and they have informed me that it could be the crank angle sensor or the battery!! Your guess is as good as mine with that answer. Has anyone else had these stalling, idling problems that they can please shed some light on before my nerves give out on me?
I have owned my JS vectra for just under 2 years now and have had absolutely no problems with it at all. It is a 1998 model that had 50K on the clock when I purchased.
Looks like not all the opel made JS machines have this idling (and other) problems!!!
My girlfriend owns a 1997 vectra and we have the stalling problems above. This is a very dangerous problem when the car stalls going into intersections.
Just had cam shaft sensor replaced and it still stalls every now and then.
The central locking has now jammed on two of the doors and the boot.
Can't wait to get rid of it!
I have a 1999 JS Vectra that is currently in a Melb Holden service workshop to fix the stalling problem. It has done about 101,000km, and it is the 4th time it has been in for service for stalling over the 6 years when I bought it new. The first time it went in was 4 months after I bought it, and it was fixed under warranty. Apparently they loaded a new software to fix a false error that a sensor was picking up.
The second time was just after 3 year and I got it fixed under warranty. Apparently they changed a sensor.
The 3rd time was end of last year where it cost me about $400 to change another sensor (it could even have been the same sensor!)
Now they say that it is the IAC that has to be replaced ~$550. My gripe is that how will a layperson know whether they are being ripped off? Because it was in the workshop, I asked them to change the camshaft belt as it was going to be due for replacement anyway. They rang me up to say that they found that my water pump was leaking and suggested that I have it replaced (what can I say, but OK to another $500). So I am expecting a HUGE bill when I collect my car.
I love the Vectra road handling and have no issues with this car... except for this ECU light that comes up and the car stalls (in sometimes VERY dangerous situations).
I have a JS II Olympic Sedan (2.2) and like a few others I love to drive it. The road holding is excellent and the economy is also good. I am 6'5" so driving anything smaller is out of the question. Also, like just about everyone else in this survey, I have a terrible stalling problem. I work with some very clever engineers at work and they seem to think that a crank angle sensor is pretty likely. As for not knowing what has been changed by the mechanics, always ask for the old part back if anything is replaced. This ensures that they don't try and take you for a ride and also helps you to identify if it is the same item being replaced time and again. I drive over 1000ks per week and if I could be confident that the idling can be fixed I would consider keeping it for a while longer. Of course if it keeps bugging me it will be passed on to someone else. I love both of my cars, but you have to be realistic about the incurred costs. After all its not exactly a classic.
Yes, I'm afraid all of the above covers my experience. I swapped a 1981 Sigma for a JS Vectra V6 and, in hindsight, that was a sad day.
All the roof struts have come loose and bits rattle around inside the hood lining when going around corners. The inside lining of the rear hatch refuses to stay attached and hangs down sadly on one side.
The electric mirrors no longer work, neither does the remote key ("fixed" 3 time by Holden - I've given up asking now).
Dash lights go off and on at will. I have replaced more than a dozen brake and tail light bulbs this year alone (I started counting). It's latest trick is to blow the brake light fuse which results in the car being locked in "Park" and unable to be moved. My wife is not happy.
The clock on the dash has stopped working.
Apparently disk brake discs only last as long as the pads. Why do they fail on Vectras after 60,000K's, but last on our Pajero (driven by the same drivers) for more than 150,000 K's (and still going strong)?
Idle intermittently rough. More recently very hard to start. It seems from the above comments that stalling is not far away.
I have always maintained my own vehicles with much success. Holden refuse to release any technical information and appear incapable of fixing any problems, don't communicate what they have done and are happy to keep on randomly replacing parts as long as you are prepared to pay them to do so. This leaves with with a very expensive lemon.
I too bought a Holden because of their name for reliability and build quality. I will not make that mistake again. Unfortunately, I'm almost too embarrassed to sell it to some other poor soul.