How dull is your Vauxhall??

[Monkey_boy]

If you own one or jsut drive one and find it duller than dishwater then here is the place to post your dull-omiter results.I drive a '98 silver Corsa Auto 1.4It's slow and eats petrol more than most much larger cars.It's got rubbish suspension & due to the non-vauxhall back box every time you have someone sat in the back and go over a bump the exhaust hits car.The seats are....well dullThe only thing I can say is that it starts every time and heasn't let me down............It's still stupidly dull!

[Mr Average]

POOR YOU! But I did vote yes, the LUSTRE of owning 1.3 mk2 Chavalier still burns bright for me

[Cavcraft]

Cheeky mo-fo Guess what I voted? Also if you don't get pwned by your own poll then I shall throw my toys out of the pram and stamp my feet for at least three minutes!

[r.welfare]

Mmmm...make mine a Belmont 1.3 auto special edition, I'm not fussed which but the "Club" version on which everything - and I mean everything - was white would suit me perfickly.

[pogweasel]

On current experience of unreliable horrible 2003 cack, NO WAI!But like m'learn'd colleague states, some old griffin bilge is deffo exciting. Cresta PC for me please. In black. GR8 4 MENACING.

[vicsmith]

Just swung it back in favour....Seeing as though I`ve bought about 80 Vauxhalls this year I couldnt exactly say "No I wouldnt buy one."

[CortinaDave]

Yep.. i like them! Not so keen on the 2000 - on crop but as this is an autoshite forum, and therefore we are talking vivas, cavaliers, victors, crestas etc.. then yes!

[Spottedlaurel]

Yes, but it would have to be either a Cavalier coupe (as in the early Manta B clone) but not the hatch version, or a Transcontinental Victor FE, a VX4/90 would do thanks but ideally a late-model GLS with a V8 conversion and rolling on Centerlines. Chevy smallblock, to keep it in the GM family. This is quite specific I know, but I’ve had such a car in my head for nearly 25 years now and still think it would be good fun.If the poll had just been about modern Vauxhalls then I’d have said no, can’t see a Carlton estate with nearly 200k on the clock would be doing as good a job as the Camry though admittedly I did seriously consider getting one as they met my on-paper brief well.Signum might be interesting in a few years time, but like any modern I suspect there’s just too much technology in there for its own good. Can’t see me moving beyond ‘90s cars for a long time.

[Cavcraft]

'Signums are shite' according to my local garage owner who's a long term Vauxhall owner/lover. I know you wanted to know that.

[garycox]

I've just sold my Vauxhall.......and bought another one...FD Victor gone, they've always been one of my favorite cars but it was a base model with a badly executed 2.3 engine conversion so I thought I'd get rid and wait for the Ventora I've always wanted.Replaced by an early '90s Carlton limo... proper 'budget wedding' car in white with pound shop stylee wheeltrims. Was a bit of an impule buy and I've no idea what to do with it but its in good nick and I do quite like it in a strange way...(So that'll be a YES from me then...)

[MrRegieRitmo]

Hmmm this seems to be a hot topic at the moment!

 

As I said in the following thread....

 

http://autoshite.commlm/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3268&start=30

 

I have just realised that despite owning 100's of cars over the years I have never owned a Vauxhall and quite frankly I feel that this must be redressed!

I have nothing against Vauxhalls, I just tend to find them not overly exciting. However, if you want to experience a Vauxhall, these are the few that float me boat....

 

MkI Cavalier, MkI Carlton, Viva HC Sportshatch, Viva HC Droopsnoot, Firenza (either with the HC or Magnum front end), MkI Astra GTE, Lotus Carlton. All based on looks alone, apart from the Lotus Carlton, which is based on everything!

 

As a general rule Vauxhall's have never really done anything for me. Indeed if we were talking about modern age Vauxhall's, I wouldn't give anything without a VXR badge a second look! If I was looking for just an ordinary A-B car I would overlook Vauxhall's as I can't face to drive anything dull. I did once consider a nice metallic green Y reg Astra MkIV Coupe but that's as far as it got.

Otherwise for me it would just be any of the tasty examples listed in the quote above & on that basis I therefore can't say that I wouldn't buy one!

[Albert Ross]

Just sold the Disastra Turdblower Inastate to greenvanman. Missed it after half an hour. Still mourning, but cheered up by my new Dagenham Dustbin. I work at the Local Vauxhall main dealer, and wouldn't buy anything built in the last ten years, wouldn't have a Vectra of any type (that includes Mk3 Cav) but would have an Astra F convertible, but with the Isuzu diesel plopped in it instead of the lacklustre petrols that were shoved in. Always fancied an Astramax petrol though........in that China blue colour.........Mk1 or 2 Cav would be welcome, especially Mk2 Estate, but 2 litre injection auto for towing! Mk 1 Astra YES PLEASE, would have another after my old all green 1200 URM 826Y.....Sadly missed. I would dump all the Corsas in the Atlantic, and make them into foundations for a cross-pond highway!FD victor would be nice, as would a 101 estate.That's about it really, except for the obvious two tone pink PA Cresta Auto...............

[Guest greenvanman]

Just sold the Disastra Turdblower Inastate to greenvanman.

So I vote yes, obviously :)But is it dull? Well, no ride is all that dull when you've got the sunroof wound open and The Ruts live at Deeply Vale blasting out of the stereo. It's all good so far!

[AnthonyG]

I voted yes, because the 60s & 70s stuff has got great styling - make mine a FB Victor or FD VX 4/90. For the modern stuff, I'm a Ford man at heart - would always pick a Mondeo over a Vectra, Fiesta over a Corsa etc. However the exception would be the Mk3 Astra, which was light years better than the Escort Mk5.Dare I say it that Ford Europe seems to have more Brits (or just people who like driving!!) at senior levels who always make sure they handle well? As an example GM took a '94 Corsa and made the Tigra, whereas Ford took a '96 Fiesta and made the Puma...

[scrappylad]

My daily for the last 8 years was a 1990 Cavalier 2.0i CD & I rate it as 'the best' car I've ever had. Fast if you wanted it to be (within reason), ultra reliable, comfortable & economical to boot. I've had other Cavaliers (one was a bit rubbish but it hadn't been well looked after by previous owners) & a Calibra for a short time too... Oh & a rusty 1973 Opel Kadett that I had for a whilst following the passing of my old Papa ! Now that was a great driving car !Back to my Cavalier, rust issues were a downside, but for an 18 year old car it was still in awfuly good nick when it went off on its final journey.... tried selling & there were no takers

[Hertz]

They are dull but on the whole I have had a lot of "Free Motoring" cars over the years most of which were Cavaliers. My father in law is running a £250 GLI 94 on the L and it's still going strong after the 5 years he has had it.Before the Shitron C4 Picasso I had 5 Vauxhall Vectra Estates on the bounce (I work for a car rental company - not Hertz BTW and get a new company smoker every 6 months or so) and they were all good motors with no problems at all.Would love a Vauxhall (OK it's a Holden really) Monaro one day to tick the V8 box

[Mash]

Up to the modern generation (ie after the Mk3 Cav in my book!) I would say yes and certainly over equivalent Fords. I've always liked the styling of the pre-90s models and it's a shame they seem to be a bit more scarce than their rivals.I had a 1963 Victor FB which was a fabulous car. A seemingly bulletproof engine, lovely column change, comfy and relatively good handling. Went all over in that car.By contrast, we had Mk1 Vectras as company/hire cars at one stage and I hated them. Dull as the man says, but more than that I found the ergonomics poor. Not favourite of mine. I also sampled a Mk2 Ashtray at one stage which I thought was piss-poor too. Admittedly it was only an L but it felt and looked cheap and nasty.Actually, I have always wanted a decent sized car from the late-30s and for me, first choice would be a Vauxhall 14.By the way, Cavette; is your sig your own or has someone been messing?

[MrRegieRitmo]

Actually, I have always wanted a decent sized car from the late-30s and for me, first choice would be a Vauxhall 14.

I don't care if it was around first, there's only one car deserving of a mention on this board with a model number of 14 & it was built in Lille!

By the way, Cavette; is your sig your own or has someone been messing?

I think he was taking self deprecation a bit too far!

[pogweasel]

I wonder if this 'straw poll' went national the people at Griffin House would start packing their pants. I've thought some more about this.... and it really is only the most modern Vaux's that have given grief / been crud. Here's a synopsis of my Luton lovelies...1976 Opel Kadett C (It counts, basically a chevette)Horribly rusty, it had sat by the sea for 6 years. I had it running it ten minutes of twidding.1981 Vauxhall Chevette Again a bit crispy, but ran & drove perfectly. A testament.1982 Vauxhall Astra 1.2L (X2!)Both of these were corking cars to drive, no hassles and pretty fun through the twisties too. 1984 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6L Value, fastest car I had ever experienced when I was 17. And it showed, cos I binned it into a field within 3 hours of purchase. 1989 Vauxhall Astra 1.6L WagonQUALITY. I bought this for £300 to use for work, ragged the nuts off it everywhere, got off-roaded alot, filled with kit & generally abused. Killed it 16,000miles later by attempting to set the land speed record on the M1... oily guts everywhere. 1990 Vauxhall Astra 1.6L WagonWhat a honey! This was a total minter that I sought after killing the above. Even more capable & reliable as it was an old-giffer as-new, managed 7k in 3 months before it was nicked & torched by pikeys.1993 Vauxhall Astra 1.4LS HI-TORQUESlow, but good. Bought off a mate for a pittance, cos it overheated (yeah a 50p size hole in the rad might be a clue!!!), over 20,000 trouble-free miles, thing was mint when I sold it with 176k on it. Amazing machine. 1998 Vauxhall Astra 1.6GLS This was for 'Er Indoors, but I used it a fair bit too, nice, comfy, much faster than the above. Sadly not as well put together though. The beginning of the end?The ones I disliked: Her coarser 1.0, and my current AstraVan.... for reasons which are already well documented.

[Split_Pin]

I tried to vote but couldnt access the Poll for some reason?Anyhow, I voted 'Yes' since I have now owned 2 and my family have owned a third for 3 years without any major problems

[fotorabia]

does a 72 Opel Ascona A count..way back in 92 i bought it on a farm in Bavaria after drinking 700 litres of beer...400DM..failed to notice it didnt have any front indicators ..dont buy cars at nightime!..so got a vintage pair of trailer blinkers and bolted them onto the tops of the wings using a hammer and nail..was cooool..bright blue with yellow hubcaps..drove it up to Berlin..and also went way out to the sth east czech border in the midst of a white winter..where the ossies had never met western europeans before. when it was thoroughly illegal i swapped it for a bag of wacky weed...and it went off to Hanover to be restored.. and i love my Viva..faultless apart from the fact its a gutless barge..

[CortinaDave]

Vauxhalls I've owned...1963 Victor FB.... Nice car but a bit too agricultural for me.. and the worst brakes in the world. Looked cool though!1963 Cresta PB - Cool as hell big gangsta barge... column shift "hydramatic" gears were cool. Knackered steering idler not so cool... bloody hard to get it to go where you wanted.85 Cavalier SRi - bought for 50 quid in 1998 and was driving it home when stopped by plod... no insurance as this was back in the day before online service and my broker was shut. gave a false name and weighed it in the next day.. got away with it.86 Cavalier 16 GL... my first car.. rusty as hell but utra reliable. I wrote it off86 Cavalier LXi - Looked the business and handled brilliantly, but tin worm and swiss cheese exhaust sent it to the scrap yard in the skyVarious Mk3 Cavaliers.. the best a 93 Diplomat. Fully loaded with leather etc and great to drive.. all for £40096 Corsa 1.2i.. only car i ever bought on HP.. a total nightmare.. always broken in some way. Parked it up in the drive at 3 years old and ran about in a Y reg Sierra until id paid enough of the finance just to hand it back.2000 Vectra SRi... quite liked this, but the head gasket went after 3 months of ownership.... cost £450 to put right then the next day it went on fire and was written off.

[Rocket88]

In order of purchase [starting in 1975!]1] FB Victor saloon2] Opel Rekord3] Qpel Commodore4] ditto5] ditto[all the above whilst in the service of Her Maj in the Fatherland]6]FB Victor Estate7] PC Cresta8] PB Cresta9] HB Viva Estate10] FD VX 4/9011] PC Viscount12] PC Cresta13] PB Cresta14] Mk 2 Senator15] 101 vx 4/9016] FB Estate[ with Rover v8]17] FB Estate18] FD Ventora19] FE Ventora20] Opel Monza21] Royale convertible [yes really, one of only 4 ever made!]22] Carlton gsiBlimey!

[Cavcraft]

My signature IS real, it was a comment made to me by one of the lads on a BX forum and I thought it was one of the funniest things anyone had ever said about me. The lad who made the comment is actually a top banana and even if he meant it I still had to call the rolfcopter I'm currently eyeing up a Vectra C as I like the look of them and they're very cheap at the moment. Weapon of choice if I could afford it? Astra Nurburgring(sp?) or VXR.

[retrogeezer]

I had a one owner, 4 year old Calibra in 1998 with 50k on the clock, seeemd to need new sensors with every tank of fuel, new track control arms, new exhaust, wheel bearings, fuel pump relay (every VX I've had has needed one or 2 of these, at £35 odd quid a time). It was a lovely car but it just seemed like every month something else was going wrong. One camshaft sensor lasted less than 1000 miles!It only had 80k on the clock when I sold it in 2003 but I'd had enough by then.I also had an 86 Astra GTE (2.0 8valve) and that broke down 4 times - to this day I think that is the only car that has ever broken down and left me stranded. Fuel pump relay, fuse for the fuel pump (twice) and once in the snow it just conled out. AA guy thought it was where snow was thrown up on to the fuel lines and froze the petrol....I'm not so sure but there was no other explanation.The sensor issue would put me off buying any Vauxhall, especially a cheapy as the sensors are over a £100 a time.

[Richard]

Aren't dullness and unreliability both things to be celebrated on this forum?

[retrogeezer]

Aren't dullness and unreliability both things to be celebrated on this forum?

Not when the repair costs are £100's of pounds and not what the DIY mechanic can fix.

[vicsmith]

My signature IS real, it was a comment made to me by one of the lads on a BX forum and I thought it was one of the funniest things anyone had ever said about me. The lad who made the comment is actually a top banana and even if he meant it I still had to call the rolfcopter I'm currently eyeing up a Vectra C as I like the look of them and they're very cheap at the moment. Weapon of choice if I could afford it? Astra Nurburgring(sp?) or VXR.

What`s the rolfcopter? Something Rolf Harris uses to distribute emergency wobbleboards and airlift hapless individuals away to be press-ganged into joining the cartoon club? " It`s Rolf`s Cartoon club, y`can join today! You`ve got no choice, yaaaay!"

[Cavcraft]

A quick tinternet search reveals this. Watch out for the WTF bombs, the LMAO planes and the LOL skaters http://www.rofl.name/roflcopter/

[Mash]

Spotted at a local show recently, this Chevette made me weep it was so gorgeous! Had a fair bit of time and money spent on it and done extremely well, not seen it before. The nice thing for me is that it's another local car still with the dealer number plates. Photos don't do it justice.