1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra

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Mon 17 Dec 2012 16:29
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - Honey Bear

I bought my June '07 1.8 petrol vectra estate in May 2008 with 16k on the clock. It's now at 137,000 miles and runs as sweetly as ever. It's true that clutch is juddery when cold, but you learn to compensate. It is superb on long runs, fast and frugal as well as swallowing my children, labrador and all associated clobber. It's regularly serviced (gets an oil change at 10,000) but other that that is not 'cherished'. I think it still looks great and am always pleased to be seen in it. Money is very tight right now and I feel like I am running on faith, not having the spare to change it. Historically I have done high mileages (e.g. 180k in a Montego, 145k in a Maestro), so there seems no particular logical reason for it to die under me. Has anyone else got high mileages out of this model and what problems did you find it throw up as the miles mounted?

I have replaced front coil springs, the exhaust, the ingintion pack, and the a/c condenser, but nothing for quite a while. It's very good on tyres. It is now doing a much reduced mileage (now that I've confiscated it from my wife). Interestingly I had an old shape '01 Vectra before this. Got about 95k out of it before the change - it wasn't half the car, although good enough fr me to stick with Vetcra. I'm really pleased I did.

Edited by Avant on 18/12/2012 at 22:40

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Mon 17 Dec 2012 16:43
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vetcra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - RT

The MY2000 Astra 1.8 I had was an earlier version of your engine - at 98,000 it was running sweeter than new - due in part to use of 0W-40 Mobil 1 every 6,000 miles - the only thing that went wrong in it's 7 years was the alarm back-up battery which failed every 2 years regularly - but still on it's original springs, dampers, exhaust, coil pack etc despite 15,000 miles of towing a caravan the same weight as the car - we only changed it because we needed 4wd.

Because the Vectra-C estate, like yours, was built with a 4" stretch in the wheelbase compared to it's saloon/hatchback siblings you might miss the space if you go for something more modern.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it !

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Mon 17 Dec 2012 16:45
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vetcra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - jamie745

Glad you like it n' all but in what universe does a Vectra Estate look great?

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Mon 17 Dec 2012 16:54
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vetcra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - gordonbennet

In highly polished gloss black with two solemn countenanced top hatted chaps up front it looks the part..:-)

Seriously though as post above, it it ain't broke just look after it as you have been doing and run it, very little to compare with them for size versus price, that massive wheelbase gave them stability.

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Tue 18 Dec 2012 10:20
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vetcra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - Honey Bear

OK take your point about the car for the last journey. Colour makes a big difference and ours is an attractive silver/blue/grey - not sure what the proper name is. I think the way the windows are styled goes quite a long way to disguise the bulk. It's as big as an old Volvo 740 but really doesn't look it.

Obvioulsy it's worth nothing as trade in or private sale so I guess it makes sense to hold onto it until I'm a bit more liquid.

Cheers

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Mon 17 Dec 2012 16:55
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vetcra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - RT

Glad you like it n' all but in what universe does a Vectra Estate look great?

It's an estate car - function takes precedence over looks - for many buyers.

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Tue 18 Dec 2012 10:26
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vetcra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - Honey Bear

Yes OK it's no Angelina Jolie of the car world, but beauty is in the eye etc. It is so practical and unpretentious and other drivers don't hate you. I guess some of it now a question of familiarity - do enough family holidays and days out and you start to associate it with good times.

Cheers

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Tue 18 Dec 2012 16:34
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vetcra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - jamie745

Got a little (big) something for Michelle Rodriguez myself but I think other drivers just don't see the Vectra, let alone hate its occupants.

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Tue 18 Dec 2012 10:15
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vetcra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - Honey Bear

Thanks for the encouraging words. Interestingly, my replacements (the things you mention) have only really been since we turned the magic 100k miles. I do think despite what mechanics tell you these days, more regular oil changes are worthwhile and obviously driving style and the nature of the roads you are on make a difference. We lived for many years in rural north Cumbria and the constant mud, snow, rain, salt and potholes really did hammer the life out of most cars (except strangely the old Montego which seemed to thrive on it!)

Cheers

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Tue 18 Dec 2012 10:53
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vetcra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - Sam49

Good stuff - I like the Vectra estate's look too - a proper, chunky classic estate. And good, relaxing and quiet cruisers.Then again I'm an estate car nerd and think they generally look better than other versions - Jaguar XF anyone?? (ducks head below parapet!)

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Tue 18 Dec 2012 22:39
1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vetcra Life - Lifespan of 1.8 petrol Vauxhall Vectra - Avant

Quite right, Sam - that also applies to the Skoda Octavia and Superb, particularly the Superb estate, which manages the inevitable compromise between style and practicality better than most.

The other way of doing it is to offer both, like Volvo with the V70 (practical but not terribly stylish) and the V60 (less practical and slightly more stylish).

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