Vauxhall Vectra

Lemon_Tree

firstly i appologise if i'm not suposed to ask this question, but i couldn't see the board rules on this section.
We're looking at a buying a car and i've never bought from a private dealer before.
the car we're looking at is a Vauxhall Vectra Club 1.8 registered May 2000. It has only done 58k miles, 5 door, electric windows, air con, central locking, cd player. it's had a new clutch and a new cam belt. The person is asking £1100 for it, is this realistic/reasonable?
I've tried looking online but i'm more confused than ever.
thanks for your help

LandyAndy

The 1.8 Club is just about the most basic spec car you could buy.

I did a quick search on autotrader and I would say that you should be able to get a better equipped car for that sort of money although your car is not horribly overpriced.

At this sort of price level you are only talking £100 or so either way so if this car looks good then try and get it for below £1k and you should have a decent motor

MX5huggy

Do you have any evidence that this a true mileage (old MOTs being the best) most Vectras are rep mobiles and would cover 60k in 2 years! not 9. At 58k the steering wheel and gear knob should not be at all shiny and the peddles should not be worn. And it should not have needed a new clutch really.

Not quite sure what you mean by private dealer, there are private sales and trade sales

Enfieldian

I got a 2.2 SRi on a 2002/51 Plate in April for £1390 with 66k on the clock....

So yes, there are better models to be had.

moleymoo

If it's any help at all we paid £1650 for a 2.2 Vectra 150SRI on a 51 plate - however as others have said they were produced as a rep mobile - we were lucky ours had been used as a family car and only had 50k on the clock as the hubs of the family was a commuter.

You def need to check the condition of the steering wheel and gear stick as the previous poster mentioned - we were specifically looking for a vectra and looked at one that was supposed to have 40k on the clock but the leather look trim on the gear stick had literally come away and it was nearly bald - so 40k yeah right!!!!! Also worth checking whether its a cam belt or timing chain - if a belt, I'd rather buy one where it had been changed to be completely honest, and although I might really know eff all about cars when it somes to vectra's can someone correct me but after a certain point were they all on chains or is that above a certain engine capacity?

All in all though, I love my vectra, it goes like a complete dream and has so much life left in it it's unreal - if it;s a good deal I'm definitely saying go for it, just watch the fuel consumption depending on what you're used to

MM xx

Rallydriver

At that age, condition becomes the biggest factor on price, rather than equipment, colour etc. So there probably won't be much difference in price between different spec models.

I suppose at least with the basic model in the range there is less to go wrong as it ages.

Enfieldian

The 2.2 had a recall due to the oil jet that lubricated the cam chain, it was prone to blocking and the chain would snap taking most of the engine with it.

Late models 2000 onwards had the new jet fitted on the production line. If you research online you will find out how to check.

As above, they can be very decent cars.

harveybobbles

The 1.8 has a belt. They don't last long! Also check to see if the aircon works. If not then it's usually the pipes that run across the front of the radiator and they are about £80.

Ignore all the comments about a shiney steering wheel and gear knob meaning high mileage - its quite the opposite!

A low mileage car that's been mauled about everywhere will be more worn then one which has just been sat on the motorway.

Lemon_Tree

thanks for this, i know the seller, and it has full service and mot history, that's the only reason we have considered buying from a private person rather than a garage. It was always the families second car just used for a couple of miles each way to work, so i'm pretty confident that the mileage is genuine.
Your comments have been really helpful, i'm very grateful for them.

Inactive

Lemon_Tree wrote: »

thanks for this, i know the seller, and it has full service and mot history, that's the only reason we have considered buying from a private person rather than a garage. It was always the families second car just used for a couple of miles each way to work, so i'm pretty confident that the mileage is genuine.
Your comments have been really helpful, i'm very grateful for them.

Get it bought then, it is a very fair deal.;)

Lemon_Tree

Thank you're we're going to check it out this weekend.