Vauxhall Vectra C (2002 - 2008) - 2003 Vectra Replacement

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Fri 12 Sep 2008 15:02
2003 Vectra Replacement - RS10
I'm still in shock of facing the prospect of a bill of nearly £700 for the service, MOT, wheel bearing, rear coils and brake pads of my 53 Plate 2.2 DTi Vectra. Though having done 88k miles since new I 've never had any major bills on it till now! I think it is time to move on and replace it.

New job starting so will be not needing to rely on car so much, though will use it for motorway driving on weekends and evenings on some occasiouns.

Any ideas what would be a good economical car, diesel and with more economical service costs! Needs to fairly family sized etc. Or should I just run my Vectra to the ground? Mondeo? Octavia? A4? A6? not sure what the service and parts prices are like for running costs etc. so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Fri 12 Sep 2008 15:28
2003 Vectra Replacement - Statistical outlier
If you buy a new, equivalent sized car, then the bill you've just received would be about 6 weeks repayments on a PCP. Probably only a month on a loan.

Any new car you bought would lose 4k instantly and carry on depreciating. S/H would be less expensive, but still likely to be a lot more than your current car would cost you.

At 88k, and presuming you still like it, I can't see why on earth you would change it. Unless you fancy a change of course, in which case go for it!
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Fri 12 Sep 2008 16:50
2003 Vectra Replacement - TheOilBurner
Once you subtract the service and brakes (no point counting wear and tear, it's much the same for anything), then what's the real bill going to be? Not that much really, especially if you held on to the Vectra for another year or two.

However, you sound like you just fancy a change, so maybe the Octavia would be up your street? Big, economical and quite fuss free to run.
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Fri 12 Sep 2008 16:57
2003 Vectra Replacement - jase1
Regardless of whether you get these items fixed you'll still be paying for them.

So why not keep the car?
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Fri 12 Sep 2008 16:58
2003 Vectra Replacement - Pugugly
I'd be tempted to keep it if it is trouble free in other areas.
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Fri 12 Sep 2008 22:33
2003 Vectra Replacement - RS10
Thanks for all your input - I guess your right really, having got over the shock I think a rational view is correct. All cars will go through this kind of wear and tear. It's not been a bad motor at all since I've had it, brilliant on motorways and good on fuel.

The new job will mean though that the car will be left in the garage as I can cycle/walk it to work, so maybe a revisit in a year or so may be in order. No point changing it for the sake I guess. Keep changing the oil regularly and I reckon this ecotec engine can go well into the 100k's.
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Sat 13 Sep 2008 12:28
2003 Vectra Replacement - prm72
I part ex'd my 03 reg 2.0 dti vectra 5 months ago with 126,000 on the clock, i'd done 90,000 and the car had been almost fault free, the engine never let me down and wasn't using any oil when i sold it.
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