Vectra C bangers?

[Junkman]

There’s a lot of interesting stuff I’ll agree but I’m talking disposable family transport here. Pay nothing and run it till it fails big time then scrap it. Say 12 months motoring for a couple of hundred quid.

 

I tried that many times and it always ends the same way. They never failed big time, but I kept fixing little things until I had spent as much as an interesting car would have cost me, all the while I was perceived by the rest of the World as being a grade A loser, mostly because I am.

 

 

Can't go wrong with that I suppose!

 

Famous last words.

 

 

Not saying there aren’t, but what are the hundreds of other cars for 500 quid that are more interesting

 

Because I was looking for exactly that on the autotrader the other day and the choice was dismal, albeit I had narrowed it down to quite a close radius from home.

 

You have to travel for good cars. Meanwhile more often than not abroad, because most chod available here is beaten up old junk, festooned with "age related" defects and a maintenance backlog as long as the A1, because the English stopped giving a shit about their cars, except whose badge it wears, a long time ago. This is further enhanced* by a lot of entrepreneurial* individuals with a pronounced entitlement complex, importing bottom of the barrel shitheaps and offering them for sale at Sotheby's prices.

 

 

Entirely besides, not a single interesting car was released after 1986 and all Vauxhalls are shit by default.

[Sir Snipes]

[Split_Pin]

This ⬆ or that ⬇

[Rusty_Rocket]

Sierraman is right though.  For £500 quid you're buying something that will do everything you need, with minimum fuss.  You're not buying style.  You're not buying something that anyone will look at twice- you're buying a form of transport that will propel you and your family across the country, in comfort.  You can leave it anywhere, not worry about scratches and dents, hell, don't even wash it!  The heater will get hot, the wipers will work and it'll start on a freezing January morning.

 

They are on par reliability wise with anything else I reckon.

One big plus point is that they seldom rust.  Also, parts are very cheap and available anywhere.

 

Treat it like a washing machine.  Use it 'till it dies, then get most of your money back over the bridge and get another.

Yes, it will suck the life out of you!  But IMO you don't want/ need excitement on the commute to work, personally I just want to sit it a warm, comfy seat and get to my destination on time.  I have fun (pre 1986) cars for driving enjoyment  

[davehedgehog31]

What about Jim Bells Avensis on these pages? Surely fits the bill of dependable transport on a budget perfectly.

[chaseracer]

Those 3.2 were unbeatable in a straight line.

 

Somewhat allergic to corners, though.

[Junkman]

Sierraman is right though.  For £500 quid you're buying something that will do everything you need, with minimum fuss.  You're not buying style.  You're not buying something that anyone will look at twice- you're buying a form of transport that will propel you and your family across the country, in comfort.  You can leave it anywhere, not worry about scratches and dents, hell, don't even wash it!  The heater will get hot, the wipers will work and it'll start on a freezing January morning.

 

They are on par reliability wise with anything else I reckon.

One big plus point is that they seldom rust.  Also, parts are very cheap and available anywhere.

 

Treat it like a washing machine.  Use it 'till it dies, then get most of your money back over the bridge and get another.

Yes, it will suck the life out of you!  But IMO you don't want/ need excitement on the commute to work, personally I just want to sit it a warm, comfy seat and get to my destination on time.  I have fun (pre 1986) cars for driving enjoyment

 

Except for the money bit, you just described pretty much every single car in the country.

Oh, and the getting to a destination in time bit, which is impossible thanks to a woefully inadequate infrastructure paired with the bulk of tossers just not driving the fuck on.

[sierraman]

This ⬆ or that ⬇

With added...

https://goo.gl/images/Ppyxms

[Split_Pin]

With added...

https://goo.gl/images/Ppyxms

Its my 75.

[sierraman]

Not a great fan of the X type, they rot like an old fruit and the diesels are a heck of a lot of trouble. They’re a bit naff inside as well.

 

The Vectra is disposable, in a sense the fact you won’t get attached to it is a bonus, you won’t get dragged into lengthy expensive jobs like clutches or knackered engines. Frees up your time to spend on something interesting as a hobby.

[M'coli]

This ⬆ or that ⬇

This.

It fulfils my "fish'n'chips" dashboard criteria, whereby your passenger can dump a takeaway on the dashboard as they belt themselves in and you drive off carefully because there was no parking outside the chippy. Simple, really.

[sierraman]

Its my 75.

So it is! Apologies!

[richardthestag]

I work for vauxhall, best engine in vectra c is 3.0v6 diesel. Avoid 2.2 petrol they are poor. I've got a thicker chain on my Raleigh burner bmx than what they got. We used to get them in at 20k with the chains snapped

 

Lord! and the Triumph v8 gets a bad rep because of this crap

[rantingYoof]

If you are properly moist for torque-steer then the remaining engine to consider is the 2.8 V6 turbo...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201810061245056

 

That one is likely out of MOT now, although I cannot check because of the skillfully* unphotographed numberplates.

 

Here's the next cheapest*...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201809120432133

 

Of course, the post-56 tax OUCHIE makes the entire car worthless, despite what these people think.

 

For what it's worth, SnrYoof's Signum 3.0CDTi did many tens of thousands of miles without putting a foot wrong, with its only FTP being, unsurprisingly, a snapped spring which it did all by itself on the drive while parked up.

[richardthestag]

 the fact you won’t get attached to it is a bonus, you won’t get dragged into lengthy expensive jobs like clutches or knackered engines. Frees up your time to spend on something interesting as a hobby.

 

hammer hits nail on head.

 

Bangernomics at it's best. 

 

spend only petrol money on it and sell to "entrepreneurial* individuals with a pronounced entitlement complex"  (© Junkman) moments before it fails to proceed

[Sir Snipes]

Carina E > 75 > Vectra C > Gonorrhea > X-Type

[Cavcraft]

aren;t some of the 120s   'turned down' 150s due to supply issues with the 120  engine ( as there's actually quite a bit of difference  between the proper 120  and the 150 engines )

 

Haven't heard that but could be true. Iirc, the 120 is an 8V and the 150 is a 16. 

 

Oh, the 1.8 has VVTi, and also a strange rattle on start up which sounds like oil starvation. I think there's some sort of variator thing which need to be cleaned, or changed or something. But who cares? If you've got a Vectra, you don't need to prove anything to anyone. You're cool. Everyone knows your cool.

[sierraman]

My brother in laws corsa does that on start up. But it did go for something like 5 years without an oil change. I swapped it a few years ago for him when it was the consistency of tar. Should be ready again in a few years for another.

[beko1987]

Haven't heard that but could be true. Iirc, the 120 is an 8V and the 150 is a 16.

 

Oh, the 1.8 has VVTi, and also a strange rattle on start up which sounds like oil starvation. I think there's some sort of variator thing which need to be cleaned, or changed or something. But who cares? If you've got a Vectra, you don't need to prove anything to anyone. You're cool. Everyone knows your cool.

Amy's 1.8 has a very similar sounding rattle! Goes after 5 or so seconds so I just pretend it's not there...

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Nothing says flat roof pub more than an old Veccy. 

 

Old secondhand cars are worth FUCK ALL. So, you can buy something that was really nice when new as opposed to something that was pretty fucking unpleasant as a hire car in 2003..................for no extra cost!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

 

 

 

That's disgusting. Even worse - by some considerable margin - than this:

 

[sierraman]

Nothing says flat roof pub more than an old Veccy.

 

Old secondhand cars are worth FUCK ALL. So, you can buy something that was really nice when new as opposed to something that was pretty fucking unpleasant as a hire car in 2003..................for no extra cost!

Find me a worthwhile BMW for £500.

[SierraMikeHotel]

Nothing says flat roof pub more than an old Veccy.

 

Old secondhand cars are worth FUCK ALL. So, you can buy something that was really nice when new as opposed to something that was pretty fucking unpleasant as a hire car in 2003..................for no extra cost!

That pretty much sums up why I bought the C-Class, and why I've mostly had older but higher-end cars! Of course I could have had an Astra or Focus instead but why would I do that?

[chompy_snake]

Find me a worthwhile BMW for £500.

:D

Never going to happen unless you like very costly repair bills

[sierraman]

Ironically I drink in a flat roofed pub and there’s usually a W124 sat outside.

[Bren]

This forum is about cars that are wank.

 

Therefore purchase of a £500 vectra should be positively encouraged.

[SierraMikeHotel]

This forum is about cars that are wank.

 

Therefore purchase of a £500 vectra should be positively encouraged.

I've been holding back from saying this, but those pictures have reminded me of how utterly dreary they were.

 

As you say, grade-A shite (and I don't disagree with Sierraman's attitude to disposable motoring, I've done it in the past).

[sierraman]

Yeah they are very dreary. If they were a day they’d be a Wednesday afternoon in February.

 

Therein lies its greatness, if you can get one for pennies and be completely careless with it, it’s cheap motoring. Plus it will be no bother if you back it into the bollards outside the flat roof pub.

[sierraman]

Natural habitat of the Vectra.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Re the mythical 2003 Vectra vs the 2003 Beemer... hmmm, I'm not sure there's much image difference nowadays, sorry Rev.

 

I see the same tax dodging, weed smoking losers driving both.  Bald tyres, cracked windscreens, broken mirrors, both marques are the same to me now.

My problem with the BMW is that it's apparently 'aspirational' (which obviously means sweet f-a nowadays) and this seems to appeal to the majority of the underclasses.

 

What decides it for me, is evidence of someone that actually gives a damn about keeping the car presentable and above all, legal.  If I see a nice 53-plate 3 series, with polished paint and known brand tyres, I have respect.  Likewise, a tidy Vectra, with the headlamp cataracts removed, an intact exhaust and a clean interior- great.  I'd happily help either driver change a tyre in the pouring rain!