For sale Vectrashite price drop! £450

[jonathan_dyane]

As mentioned in the 'should I buy a minicab' thread, for less than the cost of the leggy Octavia we discussed I am now the proud owner of a somewhat disreputable Vectra C with the unpopular 2.0 DTI engine.

 

I got it cheap partly because it has lots of dents. As well as the obviously distressed drivers dooe note also the large dent in the bonnet.

 

Were it not for the nasty crease in the rear wing this would be the better side. Note the window tint!

 

I have thrown the lovely wheeltrims straight in the bin prefering to go wihout but unfortunately the tyres remain. They are Polish remoulds and are starting to break up, with portions of tread begining to detatch. Saturday I'll be right along to the scrapyard to try and score some new rubber...

 

So what's it like? Well, I'm almost embarrassed to say I'm really rather pleased with it. It drives well, is comfy, and seems good on diesel. Aside from the tyres the only other defects yet obvious are broken seat adjuster cables (which I will attempt to bodge with bike brake cable) a door which you need the knack to open and a clunk on hard braking/acceleration from the front suspension which I suspect may be a wishbone bush which may also be responsible for the inside of the drivers side front wheel being tracked off. More investigations at the weekend.

 

 

[srad34]

Don't flame me, but I think they are potential autoshite gold.

They are really big inside, hooooge boot and comfy (if a little soulless to drive), don't rust (that I have seen) and thanks to their reputation, rife in scrapyards.

I had a new '03 SRI company car back in the day, loved it and I hammered the tits off it to 90k

 

What's not to like?

[Cavcraft]

You have quite clearly won in life.

[philsford]

We have a couple of vectra diesels at work which do not give massive problems. The top trump in this model is the factory dualfuel 1.8, I have run a couple of them up close to 200k without major problems.

[HMC]

Why is the 2.0 DTI unpopular? Seems yesterday this shape Vectra was announced, now it's gracing these pages!

[CortinaDave]

Aye, these are only ten minutes old in my head. where has the time gone?

[morris_ital_lover]

I've only been subjected to a three hour journey in one of these and I have to say it was rather enjoyable, TOP MOTAH NO VOXALS R SHIT. 

[bub2006]

I loved the 1.8 03 plater. Did find it a bit gutless on hills though. Very economical for its size. Wife's brother wont have anything bar fords or Vauxhall bought cheap from an auction and he had a 53 plate DTI for 2 years now with no issues. Really comfy and boot is cavernous.

[Cavcraft]

Why is the 2.0 DTI unpopular? Seems yesterday this shape Vectra was announced, now it's gracing these pages!

 

 

They had an early reputation for shitting fuel pumps that were (supposedly) a £1,000-£1,200 job as they were sealed and couldn't be repaired. Until a bloke in Birmingham found out actually, you could take them apart and repair them. 

[stuboy]

everyone said these were bland... but better than its replacement

[Station]

My mate got a brand new one of these in 2004, and we thought it was 'amazing'.

I saw an 04 plate one last week for sale by the side of the road for £350! I like the shape of these, I'd happily drive one.

 

Has anyone else gone straight into ebay to check what prices they go for (like I just have)?

[Waderider]

I had one as a company car in 2003. For me they shall be forever shit, not shite. At least, not for another decade.

[Bren]

They are not as bad as you would think. Not as nice to drive as a mondeo, but will give you fewer problems.

 

Ropey ones are cheap, good low mileage examples make strong money.

 

Mine is a derv, would like to try the full fat v6 model.

 

Buy the best tyres you can afford - wanli ditch finders will make it steer like an aldi trolley.

[Cavcraft]

I'm waiting for my mate (who's after a sports car) to sell me his 2004 1.8, as it's only done about 45,000 miles and is mint. My last 9and only) ownership experience with a Vectra C (1.9 diesel) was not a happy one though.

[twosmoke300]

I'm a big fan of the vaux 2.0 and 2.2 dti.

They hate any sort of air leak in the fuel system and take ages to start if there is one.

Injector seals and leak off pipes are favourites. Use either vaux or gates leak off hoses and new t pieces. Check the fuel filter , if it's black it's getting engine oil in the fuel system through the injector seals. About 70 quid in bits and max 3 hours work Inc cleaning manifold etc.

[HillmanImp]

They currently have an image problem. Most people driving them seem to be scumbags with attitude problems and peroxide blonde hefalumps in the passenger seat.

[cms206]

I wouldn't kick an SRi out of bed; driven a few and found them to be eleventy times better than the Vectra B so that'd be good going if it weren't compared to the Vectra B.

[Split_Pin]

The more H8R's they have then the cheaper they become for everyone else. I did know about the fuel pump thing but didn't know that they could be repaired. Good going I say, I'd be happy with it too.

[Cavcraft]

They currently have an image problem. Most people driving them seem to be scumbags with attitude problems and peroxide blonde hefalumps in the passenger seat.

 

 

Sadly, you're quite right. Another car I notice that's usually being driven really badly is the Zafira, along with the Meriva and the Citroen Picasso. It's like scummy knobhead 30-something mums with a few kids think they're invincible in the 'big' cars.

 

Ian's also on the money, the more H8RS the better. If we can also try and shift that balance onto Zafiras it'll mean I can score a cheap one of them again soon. 

[twosmoke300]

Lets not forget that the fuel pump isnt made by vauxhall !!

Bosch , never goes wrong cos its german !! NOT

 

Ive seen loads of people change fuel filters on these by just pulling the old element out of the canister and dropping the new one in . All the shit and water that was on the dirty side of the filter is now mixed into the clean side. That and not priming the system and starting on brake cleaner cant help the pumps.

[cms206]

Sadly, you're quite right. Another car I notice that's usually being driven really badly is the Zafira, along with the Meriva and the Citroen Picasso. It's like scummy knobhead 30-something mums with a few kids think they're invincible in the 'big' cars.

 

Ian's also on the money, the more H8RS the better. If we can also try and shift that balance onto Zafiras it'll mean I can score a cheap one of them again soon. 

 

Oddly enough I quite liked the Zafira too; the only one I've never liked was the Vectra B.

[mat_the_cat]

We had one as a company pool car back in 2004. I remember thinking it pretty quick at the time, although that was my first drive of a modern diesel. It was surprising tricky (and fun) to try and keep the instantaneous fuel consumption in single figures as long as possible. That was a follow on game from the Avensis we had previously, with a small green ECONOMY light on the dash...with practice I managed an entire journey without getting it to come on, even when slowing down!

[Madman Of The People]

I got to ride as a passenger in one of these on a trip to the UK back in 2003.  1.8 petrol, if I remember correctly.  It was very roomy and comfy comfy old barge.  Unfashionable or not, I like them.  It was a HUGE step up from the crap GM was foisting on us over here at the time!

[ShiteRider]

My mum has one of these, it's a 55 plate 1.9 cdti SRI in resale silver. She bought it for £11,750 (it was a pre-reg she got cheap because the face lift had come out).

In 80K-ish and 8 and half years the worst it's done is shit the alternator out twice, at £400 a pop fitted, which for a modern ain't bad.

I mustard mitt, it's an okay car, fairly well built and good on the motorway, the suspension is harder than i find ideal and the seats are rock hard (coz it haz ez/ar/eye sport biz innit).

God has seen fit to curse mum with arthritic knees,so there's a pretty good chance this wil end up as my new smoker in time. Every cloud and all that........

[warren t claim]

Does anyone actually like the indicator set up on these? I loathed the similar setup that the XJ40 had.

[warren t claim]

Does anyone actually like the indicator set up on these? I loathed the similar setup that the XJ40 had.

[mat_the_cat]

Nope. Bugged the hell out of me, but maybe if I'd driven it more I would have got used to it.

[philsford]

Indicators do take some getting use to. Don't know what they were thinking when they designed them, it must have been tasked to the same bloke who designed the cruise control too. I would say he must have been relieved of his duties and recruited by NASA for his sterling efforts.

[TRW]

Stumbling out of _________ club at 3 am pissed these are a very attractive vehicle. I do apologise in advance for puking in the back.

 

Seriously though, these still seem new to me. Can't believe that the model has aged that quickly

 

Not wanting to go down the ALL VOXHALL R SHIT route, personally I think these are much better looking that the gopping Insignia. Have you seen the Insignia funeral conversion

[ShiteRider]

Yes the indicators are a shit idea, every time i've borrowed my mums i've found them a ballache.

The insignias are a whole new world of shit, bigger than a vectra outside smaller than a nova inside, with the visibility of a welding helmet. The sooner these fuckers disappear over the weighbridge the better.