The slow death of Vauxhall?

[face]

I quite like Corsas, for what they are. And I think the Mokka is OK in a Tonka kind of way. Not for me, but I see the appeal.

 

I think that pretty much every dealership I have seen is made to look low-rent by a plethora of cheap and tacky stickers and billboards. They look terrible more often than not.

 

I almost bought a new Corsa VXR a few years back, they drove great. But they were at the end of that model and couldn't get one for me.

 

The sales guy was moaning like hell about the Adam, as the shear amount of options made them a nightmare to spec up and order. It took 'bloody ages' as the customer had far too much choice. I looked online and they were a nightmare to specify.

 

Growing up around GTEs and SRIs (The Cav SRI-130 was ACE) I hope they sort this all out and get back to being a respected name.

[sam simmons]

I quite like Corsas, for what they are. And I think the Mokka is OK in a Tonka kind of way. Not for me, but I see the appeal.

 

I think that pretty much every dealership I have seen is made to look low-rent by a plethora of cheap and tacky stickers and billboards. They look terrible more often than not.

 

I almost bought a new Corsa VXR a few years back, they drove great. But they were at the end of that model and couldn't get one for me.

 

The sales guy was moaning like hell about the Adam, as the shear amount of options made them a nightmare to spec up and order. It took 'bloody ages' as the customer had far too much choice. I looked online and they were a nightmare to specify.

 

Growing up around GTEs and SRIs (The Cav SRI-130 was ACE) I hope they sort this all out and get back to being a respected name.

 

Were they ace as my 130 and 1.8 sri were both crap,rust and more rust mixed with some leccy gremlins sent both of mine to the breakers at just 8 or so years old....

[Cavcraft]

The Cavalier Mk2 was a fantastic car, even more so in SRi flavour.

[sam simmons]

The Cavalier Mk2 was a fantastic car, even more so in SRi flavour.

Mk2`s yes they were nice but my fav was the GSI...

[artdjones]

One thing that's a characteristic of Vauxhalls is that the styling dates very quickly.Except for the Corsa B.So now that they are trying to keep models going for longer they can look very uninteresting.The Vectra C looked way out of date by the time it was replaced,far more than the Mondeo 3 did.

[sam simmons]

One thing that's a characteristic of Vauxhalls is that the styling dates very quickly.Except for the Corsa B.So now that they are trying to keep models going for longer they can look very uninteresting.The Vectra C looked way out of date by the time it was replaced,far more than the Mondeo 3 did.

I was always a ford fan up until i owned a mk1 Mondeo and it had so many faults i soon got shot and gave Ford another chance buying a mk2 but that was also shite.A 2.5 v6 that soon blew its head gaskets and from that day i have kept away from Ford......Saab and Volvo`s followed for many years then Alfa (my most reliable marque to date)

[artdjones]

I haven't owned a Ford since the mid 80s.That was an 8 year old mk 2 Escort.It had great sills and floor but the sides of the footwells behind the front wings was rusted out.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

That is brutal. Was anything done correctly? Sill damage is a major issue.

Just thinking about the last Vauxhal I owned, it was 20 years ago! They just haven't made anything since that was either attractive to me as a work car or that Mrs N would drive.

That last VX was an M reg Omega 2.0 16v CD , it was also my last work car without aircon. It was a bit unmemorable to be honest , I think I got it from The Great Trade Centre( now Car Giant) using their finance . Then chopped it in about a year later for a Fiat Ulysee because I got a school contract, that was back when they were so profitable you'd go and buy a new vehicle to do one!

Prior to that I had 2 different 2.0 Carltons , a man CDX and an auto GLi, which went like fook and was better on petrol than the manual CDX, go figure.

Mrs N had a Mk1 Astra GTE and a couple of Mk 2 SRi Cavaliers and I had a few Cavalier company cars from C965 SLO a lovely red 1600L hatch to an H plate SRi. Even had a Belmont 1.8 CDi which was much faster than it had any right to be. Drove numerous Senators and Carltons for work when I had a job, even a Turbo Technics Monza.

So all Vauxhalls aren't shit, just those from the last 20 years, although saying that I quite liked a high spec Insignia Elite I rented a couple of years ago, apart from the cramped back seat.

 

Almost forgot my favourite! An A reg 2.2 Cdi Carlton in light metallic green, swapped it for Mrs' Astra GTE when the kids were getting too big to fit in the back, kept it for a couple of years and replaced it with her first Discovery.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Don't know how or why I've quoted oldcars !!

[inconsistant]

Confirmed. Ampera owners love them. They were *the* most practical and best-engineered design. Second hand values of them in the UK are still very strong - although the potential disappearance of the last few dealers who will service them is starting to be a worry.p

 

All plug-in hybrids have been compromised in some respect - tiny battery, awful performance, bad MPG on petrol, stupid price, need engine running for heating in winter, etc etc - Ampera was the best of the lot. It's been hard to escape the conclusion that the automakers just didn't want them to sell.

Who killed the electric car?

 

Spoiler: GM did, just like last time.

[Lacquer Peel]

The Bolt seems great, achieved what Tesla couldn't, a mass production, relatively affordable electric car with good range. Shame it's not available for those who drive on the left.

[rantingYoof]

Who killed the electric car?

 

Wasn't it the Stonecutters?

 

[MarvinsMom]

the local rag had some motoring thing in it last week.

 

a corsa base poverty plus thing 1000cc, all yours for £15,000.

 

FIFTEEN THOUSAND FUCKIN' QUID!!!!

 

FOR A CORSA!!

 

no wonder they are in the toilet.

 

but since vauxhall-opel haven't made a penny profit since 2001 this doesn't come as a shock that a corsa base is £15k.......

[Junkman]

 

FIFTEEN THOUSAND FUCKIN' QUID!!!!

 

FOR A CORSA!!

 

 

I had no problem pushing it past 20 grand on the configurator.

[wuvvum]

To put that into perspective, I narrowly missed out on a 2007 Corsa D on eBay yesterday - still essentially the same car they're flogging today.  It sold for £388.

[Junkman]

But if a Corsa is 20 bags and an Insignia is 23, then something is fundamentally wrong with humankind.

[Isaac Hunt]

the local rag had some motoring thing in it last week.

 

a corsa base poverty plus thing 1000cc, all yours for £15,000.

 

FIFTEEN THOUSAND FUCKIN' QUID!!!!

 

FOR A CORSA!!

 

no wonder they are in the toilet.

 

but since vauxhall-opel haven't made a penny profit since 2001 this doesn't come as a shock that a corsa base is £15k.......

Buy on 6 months old, it will be worth about 55% of that. Bought new by free fall parachutist's who like to see a rapid descent in the early part of the jump

[GrumpiusMaximus]

the local rag had some motoring thing in it last week.

 

a corsa base poverty plus thing 1000cc, all yours for £15,000.

 

FIFTEEN THOUSAND FUCKIN' QUID!!!!

 

FOR A CORSA!!

 

no wonder they are in the toilet.

 

but since vauxhall-opel haven't made a penny profit since 2001 this doesn't come as a shock that a corsa base is £15k.......

 

New Fiesta is just shy of £14K in bASe.  In silly spec, I can get it up to £23,915.  Five-door, 'Vignale' model with fancypants extras.

 

It's a Fiesta.  Everyone knows what it is and how it's supposed to drive.  I loved my old Fiesta.  It won't depreciate as badly.  It'll be bad but it will be nowhere near as bad as the Corsa.

 

Vauxhall, there's the problem.  They just don't have the image to pull off the kind of pricing and depreciation they're trying to.  More's the shame because I think they're fundamentally decent cars, just not decent enough.  For a Corsa to cost more than a Fiesta in bASe is just bonkers.

[Jerzy Woking]

I was talking to a local scrap recycler today - one that does not break vehicles but scraps the lot - extremely Eco - friendly,  immaculate yard and machinery. I saw a few 08 and 09 plate cars there, looking undamaged, waiting to be processed. He told me that earlier in the month they had a 14 plate Insignia in to be fragged-worthless because like most Insignia's they have had, the engine was borked. This one had the added bonus of a shagged auto gearbox too. 

 

But not just Vauxhall's that are shit, according to him. Many models from many marques are beyond economic repair at 8 years old with less than 60,000 miles on them. 

[lesapandre]

New Fiesta is just shy of £14K in bASe.  In silly spec, I can get it up to £23,915.  Five-door, 'Vignale' model with fancypants extras.

 

It's a Fiesta.  Everyone knows what it is and how it's supposed to drive.  I loved my old Fiesta.  It won't depreciate as badly.  It'll be bad but it will be nowhere near as bad as the Corsa.

 

Vauxhall, there's the problem.  They just don't have the image to pull off the kind of pricing and depreciation they're trying to.  More's the shame because I think they're fundamentally decent cars, just not decent enough.  For a Corsa to cost more than a Fiesta in bASe is just bonkers.

But like Rover in the end - decent enough and even some great cars. But just not good enough.

[rantingYoof]

New Fiesta is just shy of £14K in bASe.  In silly spec, I can get it up to £23,915.  Five-door, 'Vignale' model with fancypants extras.

 

I played that game already.

 

 

Vauxhalls used to be quite good at offering extras as standard that you had to pay for on most other marques at the time.

[solid61]

I for one will be gutted if the vauxhall name dies,having been bought up near luton it seemed every other car was a vauxhall,my grandad worked there and was on duty when it got bombed in ww2,my dad worked there for many years and only joined vauxhall because it paid better money than aircraft fitting in the 1950s,i started my working life at a vauxhall/bedford main dealer in 1978.When we were kids at school everybodys parents seemed to work there or have something to do with it and they nearly all drove vivas or victors.I have owned loads of them in my driving carrer including a 1957 f type victor, 3 year old royale saloon and a 2 door mk2 cav 1300 auto and plenty of ventoras,crestas whilst enjoying the 3.3 litre 6 cylinder engine.Shame its all downhill but the recent models seem a bit lackluster and the badge has no cred anymore,the residual values are poor ( nothing new ) so i suppose the writing is on the wall.

[bub2006]

I've just noticed you can buy a viva and an Adam rocks. Both have black bumpers and wheel arch spats. Like some odd mini SUV

[AnthonyG]

Viva rocks - what a great name

[Junkman]

I was talking to a local scrap recycler today - one that does not break vehicles but scraps the lot - extremely Eco - friendly,  immaculate yard and machinery. I saw a few 08 and 09 plate cars there, looking undamaged, waiting to be processed. He told me that earlier in the month they had a 14 plate Insignia in to be fragged-worthless because like most Insignia's they have had, the engine was borked. This one had the added bonus of a shagged auto gearbox too. 

 

But not just Vauxhall's that are shit, according to him. Many models from many marques are beyond economic repair at 8 years old with less than 60,000 miles on them. 

 

Modern cars being shit shocker!

[wuvvum]

something is fundamentally wrong with humankind.

You sound surprised.

[Jerzy Woking]

Modern cars being shit shocker!

 

 

Strange as it may seem, I was quite taken aback at this. Never occurred to me that such late cars are scrap and not because of accident damage. I'd expect this of modern washing machines, but they don't cost £15,000

[Jerzy Woking]

I like Saabs - basically Vauxhall's underneath, but just feel much different, even that little bit special. Didn't stop them going out of business though. 

[Bag'O'Spanners]

Anything pre Vectra B is good in my book for a trundle, Astra GTEs and Cav GSIs were cracking cars for the money at the time. Vauxhall/Opel have just another brand that hasn't kept up a brand image, this seems to be the only way to shift volume nowadays, or cheap (it seems when you sign up) PCP deals, long warranties and less consumable quality of Korean brands eating into their market.

 

Christ, if you were in the market for a new car, would 5 or 7 years and 100,000 mile warranty sway you from buying a 'home' brand? Especially when you factor in the perceived reliability of Vauxhalls and uncertainty of their future. 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Anything pre Vectra B is good in my book for a trundle, Astra GTEs and Cav GSIs were cracking cars for the money at the time. Vauxhall/Opel have just another brand that hasn't kept up a brand image, this seems to be the only way to shift volume nowadays, or cheap (it seems when you sign up) PCP deals, long warranties and less consumable quality of Korean brands eating into their market.

 

Christ, if you were in the market for a new car, would 5 or 7 years and 100,000 mile warranty sway you from buying a 'home' brand? Especially when you factor in the perceived reliability of Vauxhalls and uncertainty of their future. 

 

Having sat in my brother's 12-plate, 1.2 Hyundai i20 I can see no compelling reason to buy the equivalent from Vauxhall.  It's a cracking little car.