Vauxhall Vectra's Are.....

[Jimmy]

.... absolutely cr4p. Just hired a new 2.2 thing for a few days and I have to say it was horrible. Brand new car with a couple of hundred miles on the clock but the clunks and bangs from the front as it took up drive was unbelievable. Almost stalled it every time I pulled away in first it seemed to be running that badly.

Final straw came at the petrol station. Filled it up with juice then couldn't get the nozzle out of the car. I'll just repeat that "I couldn't get the nozzle out of the car". Here's me in a packed forecourt yanking on the petrol nozzle to try and free it from the Vectra's grasp.

Was mildly amusing as I've got both hands on the nozzle (no smart comments please Geoff) and both feet up on the bodywork trying to free the bl00dy thing. Passers by must have thought I was on something. Eventually realised the spring type non return 'flap' in the fuel filler had become caught against the lugs on the nozzle. Borrowed a screwdriver and finally managed to free it up..

You have been warned. When you fill it up don't stick your nozzle too far into the hole....

[MonkeyHanger]

Originally posted by Jimmy in this post

.

Was mildly amusing as I've got both hands on the nozzle (no smart comments please Geoff)

You have been warned. When you fill it up don't stick your nozzle too far into the hole....

No, and i mean absoloutely no comment

[Fabpreza]

I've driven a 1.8 and while its better than the old one, I have to say that some of the dashboard plastics, finish and trim materials make the Skoda look even more Audi like.

I've always thought that the girlfriend's Mondeo was trying its best to 'do the quality look' a bit too much in places but the Vectra is very poor. Also, talk about blatant orange "we've designed them to do an easy facelift in 2 years" rear light clusters !

Steve Cropley in Autocar often mentions how crap the rear suspension settings are as well (it moves up and down too much on the motorway).

[FabiaTDi]

I quite like Vectras actually.....

[MonkeyHanger]

Originally posted by FabiaTDi in this post

I quite like Vectras actually.....

Don't worry, you'll grow out of it

[FabiaTDi]

...sorry, forgot to insert a sarcastic smiley!

[Alex]

i hate vectras they are so poorly built it is untrue my mates S reg one creaks and rattles like anything however my octy on a T still feels good and tight

[devonutopia]

:wave: - No squeaks coming from my car now... Only downside is the engine knocking seems louder... (not really) - But it does sound remarkably quiet now - the only rattles seem to come from the various door pockets where I leave all my cr4p.

[flyingscot]

Well the police don't like them too either. The Fort William Force up here got a new one. They drove it around a bit as you do but had left their clipboard on the dashboard. They encoutered a bend and the clipboard lodged in the gap between the steering wheel and the steering column meaning they crashed and badly damaged it 12 hours after taking delivery! They full story is below. Guess they didn't like the Vectra:p

A NEW police car was wrecked when a policewoman's clipboard got jammed in the steering wheel and the motor crashed into a tree.

Northern Constabulary had taken delivery of the

[robmawer]

And how the f*** do you turn off those sodding indicators?

Rob.

[MonkeyHanger]

Originally posted by robmawer in this post

And how the f*** do you turn off those sodding indicators?

Rob.

Since when did a Vectra driver use indicators ? :confused:

[rich1068]

I take it this is a reference to the www.sniffpetrol.com article? If it isn't go and have a look. (In 'archives' by now I would think.)

[rich1068]

I've just clicked on my own link. That site deserves some sort of award.

[robmawer]

Well, it was more from when I drove a Vectra, and having followed other people who are driving Vectras but are obviously not Vectra drivers (if you see what I mean)...well, they try and indicate and just look like they're planning on weaving...

Rob.

[LadyLoki]

My Mum's got one as a loan car (she gets a free one each year as the lease company like sucking up to my Dad)

She likes it but does say it's a tad cheap and nasty trim wise- also that the nozzle jams sometimes when she fills up with petrol!!

[The Skud]

Vectra drivers just look like they are weaving around, those indicators go on easily, right lane, then left to move back in and complete the overtaking? then right to turn it of then left to turn it off then right to turn it of then left to turn it off then right to turn it of then left to turn it off then right to turn it of then left to turn it off then crash the damned thing into a line of waiting traffic that stopped whilst trying desperately to turn it them off. This is also a good scoat deterrant, I know from experience, I used to drive a New Vectra company car, then only two months into my 3 year sentence, some lowlife took a shine to my shiny black sporty vectra ( oops! too many briskodian celibratory fosters) and smashed through the back door of our house with a brick, stole the keys whilst we were in, took it for a spin, indicated right then left then right........ well I think that you can guess the rest, the car was found 2 ft shorter!.... the final chapter to this story is that he got caught and got 4 years HA!..........I now have a cosseted Vrs ( the real one) and its my own.... I did have to change my job to get out of the Vectra sentence though:D :D

[ncarring]

Do I take it there's something funny about Vectra indicators? Like you can't turn em off manually but have to wait for them to self-cancel or something?

Confused of Swindon

[the_ape]

I destroyed one, I work for a company that doesnt like you to use personal cars for business use, fine by me, I regularaly get rentals, and had the 2.2sri a couple of months ago. Was going down a country lane on the way home (not speeding particularly 40ish), approached a bend (blind hedge) as I got part way round there was suddenly a car approaching me on my side of the road, I took avoiding action and got onto the grass, the back end started to slide, front end had very little grip (or feel, biggest problem in the car) and basically it ended up in a ditch, however driving an MR2 for a fair few years teaches you to treat a car with a little respect and ask it to help you out of trouble so I tried to use the power (which it had a bit off) to pull me out of the slide, that just ended up with me hitting the ditch extraordinarily hard and destroying the car. Morral of this story, DONT TRUST THE CARS SAFETY FEATURES, not one of them worked, not airbags nothing! the bloody fuel pump was still priming for goodness sakes.

[robmawer]

Originally posted by ncarring in this post

Do I take it there's something funny about Vectra indicators? Like you can't turn em off manually but have to wait for them to self-cancel or something?

They don't "click" as such...if you tap them, it gives you three "winks", if you do more than a tap it's a continuous winking. So you go to change lane, tap it to the right - of course, being use to a normal car, you hold it for too long, and it starts flashing continuously.

So you knock it in the other direction to cancel it...so it starts flashing - again, if you've held it for too long, it stays flashing.

And repeat ad infinitum up the M6...

Rob.

[The Skud]

Rob,

the vectra is the only thing that flashes more than the lights on the endless miles of cones on the m6!

[flyingscot]

Originally posted by robmawer in this post

They don't "click" as such...if you tap them, it gives you three "winks", if you do more than a tap it's a continuous winking. So you go to change lane, tap it to the right - of course, being use to a normal car, you hold it for too long, and it starts flashing continuously.

So you knock it in the other direction to cancel it...so it starts flashing - again, if you've held it for too long, it stays flashing.

And repeat ad infinitum up the M6...

Rob.

Sounds like a good idea, but it should have been done with a click system rather than electronically. You could have had one click up for 3 flashes, and another up for a continuous flash, similar to putting wipers to intermittent, fast etc. I also believe that the Vectra had indicators that get loader the higher the speed. I had to laugh when somebody suggested they should just make a quiet car at high speed instead! One plus point to Vauxhall is that they have stopped those nnoying TV ad's for the Vectra, with the lawyer.

[robmawer]

Vauxhall really don't know how to make good adverts.

The Vectra..."look closely...it's a totally new kind of car"...if it's that different, WTF do I need to look closely, it should be obvious?

Meriva..."w@nk [email protected] do do doo", etc.

VX220..."oooh, a low priced, sporty little roadster that is based on the Lotus Elise...let's have Griff Rhys-Jones in his Y-fronts advertising it..."

Rob.

[tavia4x4]

Saw the Meriva advert again last night, they've changed the background music!!

[robmawer]

Yes, and they also explain what that woman's doing in the back with the children...

Rob.

[Dutch4x4]

Although hating the look of the new Vectra - cumbersome lines and too many shiny bits trying to add "class" to an average machine -- can I admit to actually liking the fully pumped-up GTS version?

OK, shoot me!