I am thinking of changing my car to an insignia CDTI estate and am wondering if anyone tows with this car. There are two options the normal or 160 Sri any advice????
Yes I owned a CDTI sports tourer for 18 months . Good points - good economy , plenty of power on the 160 hp model . I had the SE model I suggest the suspension was better for towing the SRI model has very firm suspension, might prove a bit bumpy when towing. The biggest bad point was its traction on wet grass was terrible . Even with the traction control enabled it wouldn't go over grass I had to be rescued on several occasions . Not a problem if you use club sites and hard standing pitches but a big problem if you use CL's and rally sites . I swapped it for a vauxhall antara which hasn't got stuck yet , but the insignia was a nicer car to drive with lower running costs . I averaged 40 mpg solo and 32-35 mpg when towing 1500kg caravan . The estate area wasn't as large as it's rivals and I was always half expecting the power tailgate to fail . But it covered 60,000 miles in 3 years without any drama . I do miss it , build quality was of a good standard ( built in Germany ) biggest drawback vauxhall customer service has a poor reputation . I recommend you read the forum on insignia enthusiast it may help you make your mind up .
This is quite interesting as we have an insignia tourer (estate version) and it tows our bailey ranger 500/5 really well. I've never really towed that much before but when hooked up I can understand when people say 'you wont notice the caravan on the back' as obviously you know it's there but the car tows really well. We have the 130 bhp version and the fuel consumption is not that good - on the motorway it gets just under 30 mpg, on b roads it drops down to 25mpg. What's also interesting is that one of my caravanning friends who originally had an insignia and has now got a mondeo found the insignia better for towing. Going back to towing with the insignia we've found that 6th gear is too high so it stays in 5th even on motorways. But as I've said it tows great, enough so that my wife feels more than capable of towing the caravan and quite often drives the whole way back from the sites we've stayed on.
Hi
I had a 2.00 elite sat nav till earlier this year great car when i finished with it. It had 94000 miles in it my only issue after 54000 miles was the turbo pipe burst and i took it to a dealer near me in luton who said they had fixed it but hadnept but i took it to motorbodies in luton exellent servoce from them they even cleaned the car. This year i have been upgraded to a bmw 316 d but it wouldnt pull the skin off a sausage so at the moment i sm trying to downgrade to a insignia tourer satnav elite.
Kevin
------------- camping low monte in Spain March 2016
Just jogged my memory had 1 problem with the turbo boost solenoid it made a resonating sound at 1500 revs , part cost £70 and was reportedly a pretty common fault . Regarding towing in 6th it was possible on the flat but I hardly saw any improvement in economy so tended to use 5th with cruise control set at 60 mph. Tyre wear on front tyres was high 18000 miles max and £300 for a pair of midrange Avon tyres . If it offered good traction on damp grass I'd still have it today !
Sounds like the traction on wet grass hasn't improved form the vectra that I have which is terrible in this regard. What about the 4x4 insignia tourer - does that do any better on wet grass/mud?
Hi I have got Insignia SE Sports Tourer with the 160 BHP ecoflex engine - Good reliable car so far, apart from a minor niggle with software on the ECU which was sorted quickly.
I would recommend the car - but if you get one I would not get the ecoflex as in my opinion the gearing is too high, and 6th gear is totally redundant
Worth buying a used one,but new? Massive depreciation just look at the price of new ones .Only good point is good discounts available and a lifetime (100,000mile) warranty for first owner.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!