USED Vauxhall Vectra Hatchback (02 - 09)

My car

Having owned a couple of Vectra SRis in the past in the old shape, I already knew about the outstanding reliability, but always leased them owing to their undeserved depreciation.

To emphasise this, the car on an 04 plate with 6100 miles on it, cost me less than £12k. So it pays to buy them at six to nine months old, and let someone absorb the initial whack.

Build quality is distinctly German, in fact when you get in for the first time, it feels more like you are in an Audi than a Vauxhall, without the huge price tag to match.

Performance is deadly. This is my first diesel, and it's not a lot slower on acceleration than my previous car - an Omega V6. You definitely need to be careful, as it will eat up your licence otherwise!

It remains quiet at high speeds (80-95mph), and the ride feels very firm, with sharp, responsive steering, and effortless acceleration.

Two niggles: Vauxhall have let themselves down badly on this by not including basic stuff that was on its predecessor.

Economy wise, if you drive it hard, you'll get about 30mpg, which is no better than the Omega, but if you don't boot it too often, you can easily squeeze 43-45mpg out of it.

My car

Overall I am very impressed with this car, as the last Vauxhall diesel I drove (a 98 Astra) was an absolute monster. The engine is very responsive and smooth offering a very respectable 175bhp. (I understand that a 45bhp upgrade will be available shortly.)

Considering that it is a family car, I'm extremely pleased with the handling and brakes; however I did test-drive the Elite and felt the car needed the SRi set up. I would like to see a classier dash (metal instead of silver plastic would be a good start) and a more modern layout wouldn't go amiss.

The sat-nav also lets the side down as it won't allow postcodes, so it is time consuming to input a full address.

I would buy this car again, but would like to see the engine upgrade as a factory option.

My car

It's a good car!

My car

The main thing here is the insurance group. All 1.9 CDTi models are group 11, apart from the 1.9 CDTi Club.

Even the 150bhp engines are insurance group 11. So, if you're going to get a Vectra 1.9, go for the 150bhp - after all you're going to be paying the same as the 120bhp models.

Apart from that, the car's great!