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I've had the Vectra petrol - it's done 99275 miles and so far hasn't given a spot of bother. It ain't exciting, but it's been more reliable than my Japanese cars. Maybe I've just been lucky, but it still drives like new, gives me 45mpg on a run, and has towed me out of mud where many 4x4s just dug themselves in.

If you want to go for the diesel remember there are two 1.9 diesels, the 120 and the 150. The 120 is far more reliable as it doesn't suffer problems to the same degree as the 150. Having said that personally I've always kept things simple and lightweight and stuck to petrol. I don't like small capacity highly tuned diesels.

thanks again for all the advice.i suppose you can get good and bad examples of most makes of cars or like you said "just been lucky".i think the vectras look like a real bargain at the mo' but i came across this mondeo while looking at something else (isnt that allways the case?).

ive driven some modern diesels kicking out up to 195 bhp and the way they push you down the road with all that torque is amazing but in the past ive had issues with diesels so im just gonna stick with what i know and within my low budget.

cheers everyone.

If you are still looking it's worth having a read through some of the posts on VVOC website (Vauxhall Vectra Owners Club - there are two VVOC sites, the other is the Vauxhall Viva Owners Club)  (I think you may have to join to read the posts).

There are several threads on there re. the 1.9 diesels - lots of happy owners and a few who will tell you the woes of when things go wrong. Generally owners love them, but if they go wrong it tends to get expensive very quickly. The later facelift ones are much improved.

Vectras are a bargain because they have been replaced by the much better Insignia, the Vectra C was always an ugly car, and there is popular myth that they are unreliable. There is some truth in that because they sold in huge numbers to fleet users who stuck to the 20k service intervals which was a sale gimmick. Get a privately owned one that has been serviced at least every 10k and they last for ever. I change my oil & filter every 5k, and service it every 10k. It's been faultless.

Thanks Dave + Maria,im sure that whatever car you own it must be looked after and serviced regularly if youre to give it a fair chance of doing its job day after day.

years ago i had a ford escort 1.6 zetec petrol,i worked at a ford garage at the time so maintenance wasnt a problem and its oil was changed every 3000 miles just because i could.i think that was the key to it doing over 140,000 miles with no engine trouble whatsoever until i sold it on.