Dont talk to me about the Vectra. I have a 1996 N reg 1.8. I have had it three years and since I have had it I have nothing but problems with the ECU and sensors. I have had
three engine sensors replaced, a new idle value (and cleaned several times I am a dab hand at this now!), the fix issued by Vauxhall for the idle value problem and still the car either conks out or the revs fluctuate up and down, one rear passenger door the lock jams and wont even let you lift the lock from the inside, the central locking has failed on the other rear passenger door, the glass in the drivers door has fallen out of the mechanism (can anyone tell me how to take the door panel to bits to repair this), new driving panel lights as they all went, 2 new alternators, new suspension, full exhaust, the zapper unit on my key fob does not open the car despite being reset, have been told that the ECU is losing voltage to the mass airflow hence the car stalls, engine over runs when the key is taken out, I seems to replace a bulb at least once a week, heater has stopped putting out hot air, the engine temperature keeps looking like it will over heat even though it has enough water and the thermostat is working, the stalling while driving is dangerous especially if I happen to be going round a bend as you lose the power steering,
the list is endless. It has cost me over £3000 so far. Aaggghhh!!
My local garage have been feeling so sorry for me that they have been looking at it for free as I am down there so often! They offered to take it off my hands and scrap it for me.
Seriously though, if you can help with getting to door panel off so I can fix the drivers window it would be much appreciated. [Log in to view email]
I have driven many flavours of the infamous Vectra Over the years and quite honestly I am at a loss other than for reasons of misguided brand loyalty (i.e. owners haven't tried anything else but Vauxhall so they think it's great) why someone would part with their own money for these appalling cars. I have had a 1996 1.8ls and a 1998 2.0 Sri as Company Cars and have had 2001 2.0gls estate and 2002 1.8ls cars either as hire vehicles or pool cars (through work). They were all awful. I have never had the displeasure of driving such a collection of totally dynamically inept vehicles.
I will openly confess now to not being the worlds biggest Vauxhall fan but I really think Vauxhall should be shot for the disgrace that is the Vectra. Anyone who says these cars are good looking must be blinkered or have their eyes closed. This car was nothing more than a dodgy makeover of the cavalier and somehow Vauxhall in their wisdom managed to make the Vectra a whole heap worse than it predecessor in every aspect.
Do Vauxhall actually know what suspension is for? All they given us is a bouncy castle on wheels. Every example I had seemed to be relying on the grip of the tyres for any kind of attempt at handling, anything other than travelling in a straight line or in dry weather caused the suspension to totally lose the plot and tie itself in knots, and cause a sickening pitching and wallow for the occupants, even on long motorway bends I experienced this. Even more frightening was the tendency to understeer violently on roundabouts. The steering on all models was totally dead and lifeless offering no feedback or feel and the manual gearboxes where long throw and notchy with the clutch being spongy and every model I had had a vibration and boom through the cabin and pedals from the engine.
The interior was a joke, could they have made it any cheaper looking and plasticky? From the garish Orange display (two of mine packed up, I wont tell how much Vauxhall wanted to charge my company for a replacement) to the hideous huge lump of plastic that sweeps across the top of the facia to the stupidly placed window switches by the base of the gearstick, and who the hell designed that stupid armrest behind the handbrake? I lost count of the amount of times I caught my elbow on that thing. The seats where thin and unsupportive and the remaining seats in the car used to vibrate if they were not in use.
Reliable? Dont make me laugh, faults include. Failed brakes, ECUs that seem to have a mind of their own causing rough idling, fuel flooding or in one case Complete Engine failure on the Sri at 65K, wheel bearings going at 10K, Failed handbrakes, Broken power steering in central London, Failed wipers on the M1, Water pump and alternator failure, I could go on. The biggest laugh was when the 1.8ls broke down for third time in 6 months and the dealers diagnostic computer displayed amongst other things faulty Air conditioning, the car didnt have air conditioning
My main gripe with the Vectra is mainly that it is totally obvious that Vauxhall or GM simply couldnt be bothered with this car and slung it together with the least amount of development they could get away with. They did this because know that the Company Car Market and hire car companies will lap them up no matter how rubbish they are. Vauxhall must be laughing at us and all the way to the bank having sold so many of these poor excuses of an automobile.
My other gripe is that if a company such as Hyundia or Kia where to launch a car that was this bad people would quite rightly slate them from the rafters, dismiss them as rubbish, and no-one would buy them but for some reason the British public despite all the bad press and know list of issues with the Vectra still go out and buy them anyway because of some bizarre emotional attachment to the Vauxhalls of old and put with such a bad design and inept dealers.
The joke is on us for buying so many of these insipid devices. I desperately urge you if you are considering one to avoid one like the plague. Please, please, please consider the alternatives. The Mondeo, hugely underrated Primera, Avensis and Passat, all out drive, out perform and are more reliable than the Vectra. Dont be duped by other peoples brand perception that the Vauxhall Vectra is good old British car, it aint. It is a designed by committee, cheapest they could get away with, dont care about our buyers shoddy shitty excuse of a car. AVOID.
Hi my name is mike,i bought a vectra 140 sri 5 door in silver with a good looking set of wheels in april last year.I have always been a vauxhall man,i can't see past them'but the vectra has got to be the best vauxhall yet!!It is a dam good looking car and goes very well.I put it down to COURTNEY SPORT for a turbo to be fitted with water injection..It is very quick and theres not much that will catch it.AM SMITTEN!!
Vectra 1.6 GLS EcoTec 16v DOHC 5-dr Hatch. 1996 N reg in red.
Just bought this peach of a car for £650.00 (MOT but no TAX) - has FSH and has done 86k. It has a good spec for the work I need it for namely
Electric windows/sunroof cd player 5-spoke 15" Alloys with Firestone tyres New Exhaust Box Front Fogs All things in the car work, except for one or two bulbs behind the dash, and the from dipped headlight bulb (should be sorted for a fiver!)
Its been reliable so far and drives nicely. Still frugal on fuel, does around 120 miles on a tenner.
Only other niggles is that the dirvers window doesnt go up on its rail properly, but thats not too hard to fix I dont think, and it might be due a clutch soon. Other than that its been good so far! For £650 I think it was a bargain! Having said that, I wouldnt pay more for a vectra anyway!
i have had my vectra 1.8 ls on an R plate 107k £1900- artic for a month.After hearing so much negative press i was constantly waiting for something tragic to happen but nowt has thats that bad .i suffered one day of our famous idle rate cut out to stall.But nothing since(all vectras have low revs-750 rpm).Gear box likes to pop out in 3rd on the odd occasion-funny noises fron beyond the dashboard when the heaters on-watch that cambelt! But over all a silver stunner with a smooth ride the family love it: TIP-There are alot of vectras out there so treat yourself to the colour you really want and full service history this way any of the above problems on this site should have been rectified.Anyway mine has alloys front fogs and looks alot better than most.
I have a '97 vectra estate 2.0 LS diesel with 36k on the clock which I bought from a dealer when 10 mths old with 11k mls for £12000, although I like the car which suits my purpose for towing a caravan, ihave and still am experiencing starting problems when the car is not used for 24hrs, it just doesn't want to know!! Haines and strange had the thing for two weeks about 18mths ago and told me it needed a new pump at a mere 1500 quid!! they also changed the turbo unit, exhaust system,and injectors were tested when they somehow caused the engine to loose power. The most I could get out of it was 30 mls hr flat out!! Anyway they eventually changed the injectors (at my suggestion I might add) and it then went like the proverbial **** off a shovel,They then had the cheek to charge me £500 quid and said they would like to have the car back in at a later date to put my old bosh pump back in. (yeah right!!!) The first thing they did regarding the starting problem was to cut into the fuel line under the bonnet pre. filter and put in a non return valve so they obviously Know there is a problem with the engine but will not admit it, to me anyway!! I also am having trouble with the drivers electric window which keeps sticking and needs a helping hand unless it's ******* down with rain! and to top it all the remote central locking only works now and again despite new battery and constant resetting.Never having paid more than £500 quid in my life before for a car I thought a shiny new economical diesel vectra was the answer to my motoring dreams, just shows how wrong you can be!! What was it Jeremy Clarkson said? "Vectra sounds like a personal disease of some kind!!) Did he know something that he couldn't talk about!! One thing is certain Vauxhall will never see any more of my Money!!!!
Well : vectra have made a car that is more disliked than simon cowell what more can i say, i will never own another vectra as long as i live, ford mondeo by fare the best car around today, 10/10 for comfort, 10/10 for reliability, 10/10 for parts what more do u want keep the mondeo get rid of the vectra once and for all.
Just recently encountered a problem with the rear door on my vectra its just locked itself and it wont open you can lift the catch but it still wont open!! any one any ideas how to fix or how much it`ll cost????? if so please email me on [Log in to view email]
I HAVE A VECTRA 2.0 DI 98 R REG. I AM HAVING STARTING PROBLEMS WITH IT DIESEL IS GOING THROUGH THE PUMP BUT THE CAR SARTS ONLY SOMETIMES. PLEASE EMAIL ME ANY SUGGESSTIONS [Log in to view email]
I have a vectra 2000 glstdi16v, rently put injector cleaner in , a week later after being left for 6 hrs failed to fire, engine turnered no firing? called RAc they adv pre heat system, qk tilla week ago left car for9.5hrs car wouldn't start continulsy turnewrd car over she then fired, now put in new glo plugs car has 1/4tank of fuel , fittted car would not start after not running for 3hrs, bled air from fuel filter after inital cranking engine she fired, is ok on flat suface ie garage or street?? is it pre heat or fuel sytem , would appreciate anyones advise
Bought my 1.8 ls '96p in 2001, and have only had one sensor replaced (only because it was warrant - would not have bothered otherwise) . have done 40,000 miles - ecu light still comes on and limits revs - but so what? , it still goes don't it.I have thrashed this car with in an inch of it's life , it is bomb proof!!. For 1'st year - drove everywhere at 7000rpm - from cold :). never changed the oil / filters or anything. Have saved enough on serviceing to pay for another engine!!! if you are going to buy one though , make sure you have a warranty ( available from your local insurance company - and quite cheap ) love jeff
Anybody know of a web site where I can find information on how to carefully dismantle my dashboard and facia to change the blub on the temperature display for the climate control. Cheers.
Mine is a Vectra 2.5 SRI V6, all I can say is, it is a bloody marvellous peice of kit. I bought it from Carcraft of Rochdale, The Air mass meter went after about two month's and battled to have it replaced under warranty which vauxhall eventually did, best car I ever had and first Vauxhall I ever bought
After my 1996 N reg 2 ltr GLS Vectra, I bought an SRi 140 - T reg with 39,000 on the clock. It is superb. The driver's door lock gave up the ghost after a couple of weeks - cost £125, but otherwise perfect. I've done 5000 mls in three months - used no oil at all and averaged 30 mpg even though driven fast. The 16 inch low profile tyres and SRi suspension make the handling a real treat without shaking my bones (unlike my earlier Cavalier SRi 130). Its confortable, reasonably fast, quiet and spacious. Frankly if you want utter reliability buy a booring Toyota. My friend has had two Mondeos and theyv'e had their problems. I've driven Vauxhalls now for the last 9 years (two Mk 2 Cavalier SRi's and two Vectras) and they are great value for money. The electrics can be erratic and it frustrates the hell out of you. If you get a bad one shove it through the auctions and buy another. Believe me no manufacturer is immune from bad cars. Vauxhall engines are one of the best around - I've done 250,000 miles in 4 Vauxhalls in the last nine years and still my running costs are less than 15p a mile including depreciation. That's carrying four adults around town and country. How can public transport compete with that?
Hello Vectra owners, I bought a Vectra 2.0 CDX W reg about 6 month sago as a damaged car, smashed at the front near side. Well being a CDX it has loads of electronic stuff, Xenon headlamps, incidentally the bulbs for these headlamps are £80+ EACH, yes 80 quid for a bloody light bulb. I love the car but now having a few niggily problems, my battery keeps going flat, there are no warning lights on dashboard, everything works perfect, just, wham bham thankyou mam, in the morning, nothing, well radio lights up, dash lights up, no power to turn engine over, then the bloody thing starts to talk to me saying traffic master blah, blah. What I really need to know is that I have noticed there seems to be no earth straps from engine to body ?, looked everywhere, cant find one, could this be a cause ??. Please email me at [Log in to view email] if you know, thanks
I have a vectra estate V6 sri. In recent hot weather whilst going on holiday it broke down. The bottom pulley used to drive ancillaries fell apart. It is formed as two parts, an inner and outer, seperated by rubber. The trouble is, and this is a direct quote form a deputy service manager when I asked if there was a problem with then "Oh yes, in hot whether they fall off, we have had loads". The other problem is when they come off the rubber tends to go into the timing belt/pulleys either causing it to slip or snap. Mine has slipped, don't know yet if it has slipped enough to bend anything, if it has i'm sure it won't be worth reparing.
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