hi all, im after a second car to save the fab and the mileage and im wanting something fast and good fun to drive, £4k is prob the max

been looking at this

USED VAUXHALL VECTRA 2.5 V6 GSi, Leeds, West Yorkshire

thoughts/opinions much appreciated!

Well, it's a Vectra so it wont be fun, it will sound nice but boy it'll be thirsty!

A 2.5 v6 vectra to keep miles off a diesel fabia I wish I owned your local petrol station!

A 2.5 v6 vectra to keep miles off a diesel fabia I wish I owned your local petrol station!

haha yeah it sounds stupid doesnt it, the fabs my work car you see and do 100-150 miles a day and wanted something fast and fun for the weekend coz i let my brother borrow the fab on a weekend aswell so im carless and a weekend without a car to me is like having no legs

My old next door neighbour had one of these, and he liked it.

Only negative comment I remember hearing from him is that it costs and arm and a leg to service because of how then engine is mounted (or something like that). He said that to get at anything you have to practically take the whole thing apart.

Hope this is of some help, it looks like a nice example for age etc. 12 months warranty is good.

this would be a better bet,and you know it has been well looked after too

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/skoda-cars-sale-others/audi-a4-avant-b5-se-2-6-v6-150-bhp-immaculate-condition/93146/

Also look at the Omega MV6 if your after a gas guzzler.. can be had very cheaply, and its proper wheel drive too

The vectra isn't all that quick , is very thirsty , and needs expensive cambelt changes every 40k.

I'd avoid!

week end toy, Id look at the older mx-5. The 1.8 is version is the best of the bunch.

Will sip fuel, drift around roudybouts and will last alot longer than the VAuxhall

ibiza cupra?

The vectra V6 has the cambelt against the bulkhead, so its essentially an engine out job to change the cambelt. At 72k it'll be due one in 8k, so I'd avoid tbh.

I'm with Colin. If you want a V6 Vauxhall the Omega makes good sense. £2k gets a peach. Nextdoor neigbour has one with 110k on the clock, he never spends a penny on maintenance, and its faultlessly reliable.

... i let my brother borrow the fab on a weekend aswell so im carless and a weekend without a car to me is like having no legs

Let your brother buy the Vectra, or am I missing something here?

Let your brother buy the Vectra, or am I missing something here?

im a taxi driver and the fab is all plated up as a taxi and thats what he uses it for, tbh in terms of practicality from the comments left it seems too much hassle for a second car, if i could afford it id get another vrs

and my only problem about the ibiza cupras is its hard to find one in good nick and that hasnt been ragged

sorry guys im gonna ruffle some feathers here, cos you are all sooo wrong!!

firstly its gonna need a cambelt and water pump asap. so bargin away or get them to do it. its NOT a engine out job, i know plenty of home mechanics who have done it at home with basic tools and a cam locking tool. but saying its not for the faint hearted, but it is possible. a garage will quote about 300 to have it done iirc.

its a vectra so it wont be fun?? have you ever driven the gsi version of the vectra??? it drives superbly, the gsi has better suspension and the facelift version has thicker anti roll bars too. the noise is brilliant too! the v6 engine has been played about by a company called MSD and that means its pushing nearly 200 bhp with loads of torque. on the motorway this is a king. 150mph on a private track is easily possible

also the seats are from recaro and are quite poss the best seats i have ever sat in!

MPG? depends how you drive but i can better my 1.8 and 2.0 vectras in a v6. 30 plus mpg shouldnt be a issue.

in short go have a test drive and if you buy it get yourself on the masses of forums for the vectra, any problems you have will have been covered many a time before. oh and with regular maintanance these engines will go on for over 200,000 miles i know plenty over 150k still going strong!!

in terms of practicality from the comments left it seems too much hassle for a second car

yeah but did you expect anything different? this is a skoda forum after all

haven't driven the vectra, but I've driven the omega (tom mentioned I think) with the same V6 (200 ish bhp) and it was a great car, it was an auto, but still bloody fast, and very well equipped...... I liked it, I'd choose an omega over the vectra..... more for your money

For a weekend car, I'd be looking at MR2 turbo, MX5, 328i, Alfa, 944 turbo, 928. You'd also get a tidy classic shape Scooby/Evo/Skyline in that budget too Omega is nice, but still quite a heavy (and big and thirsty!) car and it lacks the razor sharp controls of sporty cars. Set your budget to 4k and have a browse through the Piston Heads classifieds - lots to chose from

Chris

Erm did I just read that right - your Fabia is a Taxi?

I cant believe your council would allow that, it's surely got to be the most in-appropriate car ever to be used as a cab - no boot space- no passenger space, the two most important factors in running a cab, plus I wouldn't want to have to sit in one for 10 hours + every day.

Erm did I just read that right - your Fabia is a Taxi?

I cant believe your council would allow that, it's surely got to be the most in-appropriate car ever to be used as a cab - no boot space- no passenger space, the two most important factors in running a cab, plus I wouldn't want to have to sit in one for 10 hours + every day.

Plenty of councils don't check to see if the vehicles are "appropriate".

As long as they are in the correct colour (if applicable) and insured then that's ok.

There's two taxi fabias by me

they check that its 5 door and has seat belts, there isnt many about but its been brilliant, only ever had a problem with bootspace once, and thats coz i was getting a buggy bigger than my fab in! and the firm i work for are all regulare customers and they all love it. and the comfort issue is i used to use a octavia and it gave me really bad back problems, like sitting on wooden chairs but the vrs seats are realy comfy

The V*ctr@ stilll holds the badge as second worst car I've ever driven (with the C0r$@ as worst). The Omega's quite nice though, with a minor reservation over tyre roar.

with the C0r$@ as worst

Never driven a Vauxhall that handled well.

3 worst cars I've ever driven

3rd Vauxhall Tigra (owned by swmbo)

2nd Dad's old Corsa 1.5 derv

1st Daihatsu Terios

Back on topic, Dad's pal had a 2.5 Vectra of that era. He liked it well enough but got rid of it quite quickly because it cost a fortune to run.

Never driven a Vauxhall that handled well.

The new Corsa's quite chuckable (IMHO)...was only a 1.4 SXi I had, so not "sporty" but it still inspired confidence on country roads at speed...

Rob.

The V*ctr@ stilll holds the badge as second worst car I've ever driven (with the C0r$@ as worst). The Omega's quite nice though, with a minor reservation over tyre roar.

bet it wasnt the facelifted gsi version though

The new Corsa's quite chuckable (IMHO)...was only a 1.4 SXi I had, so not "sporty" but it still inspired confidence on country roads at speed...

Had a couple of Corsas from the mid-nineties and there was nothing really wrong with their handling or the car at all. Couldn't get comfy in the shape that replaced that so never ended up driving it

Chris