1994 Vauxhall Cavalier LS from UK and Ireland - Comments

1> 10 days after having the car, the steering column broke. Had the unit replaced free of charge, it would have cost me £230 if the car was not under warranty.

2> Air bag light came on, it turned out to be the alternator not giving enough current out hence the headlights were also dim.

They were the only 2 problems (touch wood). I was lucky that they all went wrong in the first year of me owning the car so they were under warranty.

The faults were down to the car being poorly checked over by the garage before they sold it to me.

After the problems at the start, the car has been great. It performs well for a diesel, pulling off is a bit of a plod but cruising and the car pulling at higher speeds(65-80mph) is very good.

Seems to judder a bit when driving in 4th gear at 30mph, driving in 3rd gear seems a better choice.

Easy to work on.

Very reliable.

The Isuzu 1.7TD engine will last forever if serviced regularly. I know these cars are still going strong after 160,000 miles.

Only buy if they have a full service history.

The Head is weak and prone to cracking around 90,000 miles. This has happened on a number of our fleet cars (1.7TD Isuzu).

The repairs are very expensive.

I had the head off mine at 183,000. It's not the head that cracks, it's the inserts around the injectors which you can have replaced seperately at an engineering firm. Mine ended its life after an accident at 236,000, engine/box are still very good.

I have had a problem with the Airbag light coming on. It was diagnosed by the Vauxhall garage (with the diagnostic computer) to the alternator regulator not working properly and allowing the charging circuit to have a too high voltage.

My car is at 196000 miles can't complain to much water pump went 189000 had 2 new wishbones fitted for £50 break hoses prone to rotting engine and gearbox sound just can't seame to bring myself to get rid of it.

I have a vauxhall cavalier 1.7 turbo D. had the head replaced and the turbo has not worked ever since. the car was of the road for 4 weeks do you think the tubo has ceased. the car runs great, but no turbo. any ideas please thanks joe.