Good evening all,
Does anyone have a Petrol Auto version of the above that could shed some light on whether it would be a sensible buy or not. I am attracted to the 2.0 lt. T
Cheers, MD
Last edited by: MD on Sun 22 Jun 14 at 22:15
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I don't but will also be interested. I suspect these are "cheap for a reason" cars but the net is full of horror stories which may be exaggerated or just indicative that they sell a lot and many more are fine.
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Well Clarkson rates them and he HATES Vauxhall. My Local garage where the Master van is currently residing rates them too. The owner knows of several high milers without any problems whatsoever. Savage depreciation though.
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Insignias often make the UK monthly top 10 best sellers list (unlike any other family mid-sized hatch) so they sell gazillions and the horror stories are a tiny percentage.
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>> I don't but will also be interested. I suspect these are "cheap for a reason"
>> cars but the net is full of horror stories which may be exaggerated or just
>> indicative that they sell a lot and many more are fine.
At a guess, the reason they are cheap is that the fleet discounts are insane, the number of registrations is quite high as a consequence, and the demand for them at anywhere list price is far lower than the numbers churned out.
The marginal cost of making a car is quite low compared to the list price. If they can shift enough, GM may well prefer to do that at a much lower unit price achieved.
The ways and means that manufacturers use to get cars registered are many and devious. Pumping them into fleets, short term hire, 'management' cars, tacit acceptance of 'fleet' and 'demonstrator' registrations (and attendant discounts) by dealers who sell as pre-reg, or whatever.
At the end of the day, they will sell what they make, and they are making a lot judging by the number I see on the road and on forecourts.
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The insignia is a big old lump. I've driven loads of 1.8 NA's and they are pretty dire plus lucky to make 30MPG on a run. That unit is just not up to the job, however, a recent return into Stansted provided me with a 163 diesel facelift model. Wow, really nice car, and I was totally taken aback by how a different drive train could make it feel so much more complete. If you were a rep motorway munching it really was all the car you would need and 50+ MPG
I would imagine the 2.0T to be a nice drive, if not a bit thirsty
The pricing reflects Vauxhalls consistent pumping of them into the hire market - I have to use Europcar, and if I pick that group then 4 times out of 5 it will be an insignia. With the exception of FF I have never come across anyone who has bought one new with their own cash.
From memory Europcar's VX's are all registrations with DS or DY at the beginning. No idea where that is, but they are all registered together in volume.
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>> From memory Europcar's VX's are all registrations with DS or DY at the beginning. No
>> idea where that is, but they are all registered together in volume.
If you see how Europcar treat their fleet, let alone the hirers you'd avoid them like the plague!
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>> If you see how Europcar treat their fleet, let alone the hirers you'd avoid them
>> like the plague!
>>
No idea how they treat their fleet, but most are gone by the first service, so other than screenwash and the odd oil / tyre check and I cant really see what they could get wrong.
I'm forced to use them by company policy and find them OK. I've climbed the ranks of their loyalty scheme so often get something a bit better than booked. They did try it on with a fuel charge once - car was full and they collected from my home and then tried to charge me for 8 litres of fuel. Apparently under our contract I'm liable for the fuel back to the station. Its about 15 miles, so I asked them to justify it.
Customer services told me they had asked for the receipt, but the station couldn't provided it so credited it back.
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...I was totally taken aback by how a different drive train could make it feel so much more complete.
Years ago (2006, I think) I had a similar experience with Citroën C5s. The local dealer had a promotion on the 1.8 petrol and gave me one to try. Underwhelming is putting it mildly - simply not enough engine for the car and no wonder they had to try to sell them on price.
Then I persuaded him to let me try a 2.0D on the same route. Seriously impressed; this felt like the engine the car had been designed for, quiet, relaxed but with oomph in reserve. Priced high for a Citroën, though, and I couldn't persuade myself it was a long-term replacement for the S60.
There's a pattern here, isn't there? Small-engined big cars are priced low for a reason.
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I've said on here before, had a low spec 1.8 as a hire car and didn't like it at all. A while later I got a 160PS SRi Nav and it felt so much nicer. Quite a nice drive to be honest. A few things about it I didn't like but I could easily live with one. Some of the problems for me are no doubt sorted now they revised the dashboard.
... but I didn't like it enough to get one later this year.... Even though I'd save a fair bit.
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Of all of the large non-premium (horrible phrase I know) cars I think the Insignia is the best looking, closely followed by the Citroen C5. In fact as a hatch I prefer the Insignia, as an estate the C5. With the right (read large enough...) engine I'd have one of them over a Ford/VW/Toyota/Mazda any day for piling up and down the motorway.
No idea if this is a good price, but I like the colour ;-)
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201406175078395
Or for a bit more
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403072322208
Last edited by: PeterS on Mon 23 Jun 14 at 21:44
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Love the C5 in that red, Peter.
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There aren't enough metallic red cars anymore, especially large ones, in my opinion! BMWs calypso red from the late eighties / early nineties is possibly my favourite car colour of all time...
images.gtcarlot.com/pictures/45195192.jpg
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Arguably better looking than a Mondeo, arguably not as good to drive as a Mondeo.. Not a bad car at all, but maybe not one you would form any kind of emotional bond with.
According to our reps, ( some have Insignias, some have Passats, some have Mondeos ) the Fords are the best, followed by the VWs and the Vauxhalls take third place in their estimation. Those are all diesels though so can't help you on a view of the petrol ones.
For what it's worth, the Vauxhalls and the Fords seem to be less troublesome than the VWs but their issues have been mainly as a result of DSG problems.
To get the bottom of their preferences, it seems the "keener" drivers among them find the Insignia a bit stodgy even in 160bhp diesel format, handling is a bit lifeless apparently. On the plus side they are reputedly very comfortable.
Electronic handbrakes though...
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I wonder how much of their ranking is down to brand perception.
All those years of clarkson knocking the insignia has led people to dismiss the brand IMO
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But he didn't knock the Insignia did he? He gave the Cavalier and Vectra a hard time.
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>> But he didn't knock the Insignia did he? He gave the Cavalier and Vectra a
>> hard time.
>>
Sorry, you're right - I think he knocked most VX's, but actually said the Insignia was OK, but by that point VX were not keen on him driving their products for fear of what he might say
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I thought that'd be the case RDH, but having driven them all as hire cars I think I'd struggle to form an emotional bond with any of them, though the slightly idiosyncratic approach of Citroen might just make the grade! And they're just not the sort of car I'd get excited about as a 'keen' driver, so comfort and looks (perhaps somewhat shallowly) would be the key criteria. And then something small, light and RWD for fun ;-)
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>> Years ago (2006, I think) I had a similar experience with Citroën C5s. The local
>> dealer had a promotion on the 1.8 petrol and gave me one to try. Underwhelming
>> is putting it mildly - simply not enough engine for the car and no wonder
>> they had to try to sell them on price.
>>
You mean we will not have your appraisal of a 1.0 ecoboost Mondeo to look forward too? :-(
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Dunno - it might work. It has a little more torque than the Citroën 1.8 - and a lot more weight to carry. Even so, see my comment in Mike's hybrids thread about flawed cars; I'd be interested to try one and see.
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I see they've just given that little engine a power bump. 140PS and 180Nm running 2.6bar in a new Fiesta giving 0-100kph in 9 secs and 201kph top speed.
Last edited by: gmac on Tue 24 Jun 14 at 12:08
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>>You mean we will not have your appraisal of a 1.0 ecoboost Mondeo to look forward too? :-(
Chance would be a fine thing...
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>> Does anyone have a Petrol Auto version of the above that could shed some light
>> on whether it would be a sensible buy or not.
>>
It depends what you mean by a "sensible buy". It might be a "sensible buy" financially, but you might not enjoy driving it. I had one as a hire car last November, pre-facelift diesel of some sort, and it was OK but didn't float my boat. Most of my driving was across country, and the whole suspension just felt wooden and the whole car felt uninvolving. It wasn't that it was uncomfortable, just disconnected somehow - a bit like the only Passat I've been a passenger in. I also got bored with changing gear after about 30 minutes after the novelty wore off (my daily drive is an auto).
Your best bet is to start by driving one to see if it suits you.
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I'm not sure if this helps you much but I did borrow a 1.8l auto vectra for a week and around town it was gutless. I had to use sports mode and a heavy foot just to get it to pull out fairly quickly from road junctions.
However, cruising at 70mph was brilliant. On the flat I could hold the revs at 1700rpm. Not bad at all.
The handling wasn't brilliant but then the last shape vectra wasn't a town blasting car
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>> I'm not sure if this helps you much but I did borrow a 1.8l auto vectra for a week and around town it was gutless. I had to use sports mode
Was that a Vectra-B? Not many Vec-C models have the sport button. Also the autobox in the Vec-C is much more controllable being a tiptronic type box.
Back to the Insignia. I'm not sure if the 2.0 turbo engine is the same one that was fitted to the Vec-C and Signum. If it is then it's got a good reputation among the people over on www.vectra-c.com. Very similar to my 2.2 engine (without the turbo though) and a much more reliable cam chain set up - so much so that they now use the same cam chain assembly for the 2.2 because of tensioner problems.
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sorry yes Vactra B.
Not bad overall but did drink fuel around town. very relaxed on the motorway though
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Vauxhall Insignia - 09 2.0 Vauxhall Insignia - Crankcase
