Afternoon all,

My beloved (yes, really) Daewoo Nexia expired in a truly righteous manner last night, smoke everywhere, oil pouring out, boiled coolant etc, etc.
Luckily, this happened outside a pub, so it wasn’t all bad, but the damage is terminal and I need a new car.

Colleague’s husband has an ultra high milage diesel Omega for sale at a very good price. The car has been fully serviced regularly and very well looked after, but before I splash out £350.00 on one of Vauxhall’s finest, I’d like to check out the suitability as a bike carrier.

I know the back seat folds and the boot is huge, but can the car accomodate 2 bikes with the wheels off, or am I looking at a separate tow bar mounted bike rack?

Any other issues I should be aware of?
Engine is the chain cam diesel 2.2, car has done 250,000 miles (yep, you read that right) but has a sheaf of service receipts that would choke a donkey and I’ve spoken to the servicing garage who reckon it’s in remarkably good nick with no major problems.

The tyres are decent, it’s taxed and tested ’till June and if I can get insured at a reasonable price I’m tempted.

Anyone have any experience of Omegas?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT; alternatively, if anyone has a decent cheapish car for sale in the Manchester area, please drop me a line – email in profile. Ta!

getting the bikes in to the boot might be the tricky thing, I’ve no knowledge of the omega myself but that’s what I’d worry about. Why not take 2 along to the test drive?

overall, they’re meant to be good cars. Little thirsty (even the diesel will struggle to get much more than 30mpg by all accounts), but nice chassis.

Brother in law has a T-reg one. It has been to the moon and back and the only way to kill it is by nuking it from orbit.

His is an estate and you can fit a fully assembled wardrobe in it. I know because I have.

For £350 it has to be worth a punt.

Why is he selling it?

Hora, he’s just bought two smaller cars as his wife has just passed her test, but found the Omega too big for her and they no longer need such a big car as the kids have now left home.

Was speaking to her this morning and she mentioned that he was sticking the Omega on ebay at the weekend as it was surplus to requirements.

My local garage are also keeping an eye out for something suitable, but I’m not holding my breath.

Get it- its from a known-source. Most cars of this ilk/age will have been sold due to big bills somewhere brewing.

IF it goes wrong- you’d claw back £100 from scrap/remains of tax disc refund anyway.

it’s taxed and tested ’till June

£350 is not a lot for nearly 7ths motoring.
Good service record or not, a car of that mileage is a risk.
However any fault that requires a mechanic on an Omega is pretty much doing to write it off, don’t be too fussy about it and run it until it dies.

Always liked the Omega, mate had one, comfy and handled well, and like all Vauxhall’s was far faster than it was meant to be.

Cheers for the advice folks.

I’m going for it, if I can get a decent quote.
Amazingly, this will be the ‘poshest’ car I’ve ever owned – I’m quite looking forward to it. 😀

I feel bad about the Daewoo – it’s been a brilliant car, completely reliable (until the Etna impression last night) and I’d grown very fond of it. Still, it’s in a better place now (outside the Masons Arms at the mo’) and it’s not in pain anymore.

Had two, a 20L 16v and a 2.5V6, I would have suggested to steer clear as the major issues were all engine electrical – sensors (crank the main culprit) and ignition packs leads etc – and expensive but being the diesel I guess they may not be the same concern.

The only other issue I had with both was front wheel bearings, not expensive or hard to do although I had to purchase a very high value torque wrench. Other than that I can’t recall any other stoppers.

Lovely cars, very comfy and full of toys – favourite was the electric rear window blind on the CDX. But I would imagine they are starting to show their age now.

It’ll run forever, but just be aware that anything mileage-realted (shock absorbers, bearings etc) will be a lot more pricey than the Daewoo, simply because it’s a much bigger, heavier car.

I’ve got 2 bikes in the boot of one, though I think I had to take saddles as well at wheels off. Fold the rear seats and you’ve only got to take the front wheels off.

For £350 you really cannot go wrong, however.