I need to replace my old Octavia sharpish and have seen a 02 Vectra 1.8i locally that looks very tidy and has FSH. Looks like an older gent has had it.

If I view it what should I be looking out for?

Ta!

Dont bother I know plenty who have had them and they all had problems both petrol and diesel

For balance, ours was boringly reliable and understressed.

I had a 54 plate 2.0 CDTi for 6 years.

I quite liked it, but it developed an electrical issue on the ignition/injection system and expired aged 10 with about 90k on the clock.

It was also a bugger for breaking front springs.

However, if it runs OK without any warning lights and is dirt cheap then I’d give it a go because it was a good cruiser with big comfy seats and bags of space on the boot.

From my experience I’d see if you can start it from cold to check that the glow plugs are working and then give it a run. Get the revs nice and high in a low gear and boot it on a motorway slip road to see how it pulls. If there is a problem around the turbo or fuel system it will go into limp mode. Also, if the heating fan only works on one speed or it squeals then you are looking at a big bill or some ball ache.

As rick said, right up to dropping a valve at 162k, much older than the one you’re looking at, though.

If I view it what should I be looking out for?

You’re going to suddenly find yourself getting a lot of attention from the ladies, driving such a desirable motor. Are you sure you can handle that?

If so, maybe speak to the garage that’s done the servicing for peace of mind? Drive it round, start from cold like Harry says and if it all feels good and the price is right then go for it.

Thanks Harry – it’s a petrol though. I thought there may be less to go wrong with an older petrol model!

My heart is veering to a 52 plate Subaru Legacy saloon though – 2.5ltr, again with FSH. But the wife isn’t keen!!!

…thinking about it. If it runs then the thing that I would worry about the most is the tires, as 4 replacements would cost as much as the car.

Think pretty much Vaxuhall I’ve ever been more than 12 months old has the engine management light on

If it’s a 1.8L, avoid, unless you enjoy the idea of sitting for long periods of time on a church pew. Quite possibly the most uncomfortable place I’ve had to sit for more than five minutes at a time. Used to drive one that was a company car, a ‘W’ reg I think, while my boss decided what he was going to replace his SAAB Turbo with.
Honestly, I was wriggling around trying to find a comfortable spot before I’d even left the industrial estate, with a couple of hours in the car to look forward to.
I could see why Clarkson was so scathing about them.

Whereas my brother had the 2 litre petrol Vectra for years on a V plate, towed a huge caravan all over the place.
He loved it, he certainly got good value from the Vectra.

How much does the chap want for it?

Also should be more economical than the Subaru. But I can fully understand why you want the the 2.5l beast!
Test drive them both, ignore the wife and get what you want!!!!

I’m currently looking for a car around a grand to 1500 quid. I test drove a Vectra and was impressed how smooth it was to drive.

The seats are not a nice place to be, and I’ve heard bad things about reliability so I’ve been put off.

Interestingly, the fan only working on one speed fault that’s fairly common on Vectras may simply be a knacked resistor behind the glove compartment

Interestingly, the fan only working on one speed fault that’s fairly common on Vectras may simply be a knacked resistor behind the glove compartment

It is, caused by a seizing fan. Replacing the resistor will only do for a short term fix (maybe even minutes) and replacing the fan involves taking a good chunk of other gubbins out.

a ‘W’ reg

will be a Vectra B. A 52 will be a Vectra C. Different car.

My heart is veering to a 52 plate Subaru Legacy saloon though – 2.5ltr, again with FSH. But the wife isn’t keen!!!

If you’re talking bangernomics then really think about cars with commonly available parts and commonly known faults.

No car is fault-less but a known-fault is cheaper to fix than repeatedly failing to diagnose a rare fault (the Molgrips syndrome). I’ve got an old astra van, not without its common bugbears but they’ve been about for 15 years every fault is well known by mechanics and cheap aftermarket fixes and refurbishmnets for parts that would otherwise be a write-off are available. So you can have a failure of the whole engine management system (a la Molgrips and his Passat) and rather than a bill of £100s or £1000s for diagnostics, mis-diagnoses and parts, and then wrong parts and then the right parts…. instead its a google of a few old astra forums, £150 and a stamp to send the whole system off in the post, get a refurbished one back then next day and fit it yourself in 15 mins.

For all the positives of subarus a big negative is non-availabiltity of parts – common service items are fine, but if anything else gets broken it can be a problem. My sister-in-laws Legacy got broken in to and the ignition barrel and surrounds fubarred in an attempt to steel it. There were no subaru ignition barrels (of the right spec) or any of the steering column parts in the country and wait of months for anything to turn up, if it ever would. The wait rather than the cost made it uneconomical to repair so she had to scrap it.

The Vectra had gone before I had chance to see it (it did look a bargain). Subaru is out now – head is ruling heart.

The budget has been raised though by a phonecall to bank of mother-in-law!

Now looking at early ’08 Focus C-Max 1.8 petrol zetec.

I know this is predictable, but…

You should look at Mondeos.