Thinking about buying a vectra

buglawton

I drove Cavaliers and the old model Vectra for years. Vectra is a whole lot more complex than the similar shapped old Cavelier and the repiars, although reasonable rare, were expensive. Annoying is the rubber cam belt which has ot be changed every 30,000 or so, quite a task as everything is inaccessible. Also prone to causing engine problems when all the belt gear becomes loose. The smart money is on chain cams. I'd go for a Skoda Superb or Ortavia and petrol not diesel.

Oh and, Vecra not as bad to drive as they say but prefers motorways/A-roads to streets & B-roads.

Strider590

^^ Not sure which model or engine type of Vectra you drove.... Sounds like a B series?

I think the OP has gone off to look for a Mundano anyway.... Having worked closely with development teams for the Ford group (Electrical/Electronics) I wish him the very best of luck

Rolandtheroadie

^^^My b series 2.0 was faultless. Sold it with 65k on the clock (1999) for 1100. Only wanted 1k so gave the guy £100 back since he was young and had young kids. Similar cars were £1800 at the time.
In a drag race, the 2.0 vauxhall may have won (1/4 mile) but top speed? It went to the 2.0 130bhp tdci mondaneo.

cyclonebri1

Not all drivers need a car that handles like a whippet, to be honest many wouldn't notice if the wheels were square

The Vectra shouldn't be dismissed, it may not be an Arabian stallion but it's far from a donkey.:money:

Lum

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

The Vectra shouldn't be dismissed, it may not be an Arabian stallion but it's far from a donkey.:money:

I agree with this statement but only if you interpret it like this:

High quality

---

Low quality
Arabian Stallion

---

Donkey

---

Vectra


The accelerator pedal lag due to the drive by wire system was the real killer for me. The thought of the throttle remaining open half a second after you've released the pedal is quite frankly terrifying if you think about it. No where near as bad as the recent Toyota fiasco, but still something I'd rather not have.


Edit: Also the chronically uncomfortable seats. Yes I have pre-existing back issues but the current range of Vauxhall seats are significantly worse than any other car I've driven since injuring my back in 2004. Not what you want on a mile muncher like the Vectra.

Strider590

Lum wrote: »

The accelerator pedal lag due to the drive by wire system was the real killer for me. The thought of the throttle remaining open half a second after you've released the pedal is quite frankly terrifying if you think about it. No where near as bad as the recent Toyota fiasco, but still something I'd rather not have.

I still think that's something to do with the restrictors fitted to rental cars. The only noted cases of throttle lag have been on the quickly discontinued 2.0 and 2.2 diesels.

It does however what most (if not all) cars do and holds the RPM up for a split second just above idle speed, this is done to make gear changes much smoother and reduces wear for drivers who aren't capable of RPM/engine speed matching.
This "feature" is programmed into the ECU, "fly by wire" is not the cause.... The engines ECU is capable of reacting more quickly than any cable driven throttle. Even at the CPU clock speeds of 15 years ago, the systems can recognise and react to an input more than 20 thousand times per second.
Or within 0.05 milliseconds (ms), with human reaction time being a mere 100ms.

buglawton

130,000 miles and 13 years of a Vecta (which I bought at 60,000 and for £2300, service record showed only brakes/cambelt replaced at this point).

Fault catalogue: Cambelt tensioning mechanism came loose. Alternator failed once. Washer pump needed cleaning out. Aircon failed and was not worth repairing. Some dash bulbs needed replacing. 1 lambda sensor replaced. Exhaust system replaced once. Handbrake cable replaced. A little bit of sill rust at the end. No MOT failures apart from bulbs.

That's it, no other non-maintenance repairs needed. A local mechanic did the above mentioned repairs quickly and correctly.

Not a bad car and a great motorway cruiser and holdall, can hardly say poor quality, but since that time more cost-effective options have become available.

cyclonebri1

Lum wrote: »

I agree with this statement but only if you interpret it like this:

High quality

---

Low quality
Arabian Stallion

---

Donkey

---

Vectra


The accelerator pedal lag due to the drive by wire system was the real killer for me. The thought of the throttle remaining open half a second after you've released the pedal is quite frankly terrifying if you think about it. No where near as bad as the recent Toyota fiasco, but still something I'd rather not have.


Edit: Also the chronically uncomfortable seats. Yes I have pre-existing back issues but the current range of Vauxhall seats are significantly worse than any other car I've driven since injuring my back in 2004. Not what you want on a mile muncher like the Vectra.

Every recent car I've driven, including the one I own has been/is fly by wire. They are all the same. Just slightly "slower" to respond than the old carburetored cars. If the throttle lagged open it was a mechanical pedal return fault, not the electronics

buglawton

Modern cars are set up for economy: When you press the accelerator pedal, the carburettor and timing is adjusted 'instantly' to match the new demand. Such on-the-fly retuning did not happen in old cable-driven cars. Cable = sharper response but worse economy.

colino

Carburretor? Them, were the days!