How long since nothing's gone wrong

[Vectramatic]

Just having a bit of fun here.

My Vectra B has gone 1 whole month without anything going wrong....and yes, I AM driving it!

Anyone else pleased with their car's behaviour lately?

[IfSRi]

Nothing gone wrong since 04.

Or is this only about Vectra's? lol.

[Vectramatic]

Nothing gone wrong since 04.

Or is this only about Vectra's? lol.

Ha ha, no it's any car really (but expecting a flood of responses from Vectra owners:ihih:)

Six years is a great run (or is the 04 as in the month - :swg:April)

Anyone top 6 years??

[rodsfromday]

Astra SXi - 17 months ago when i bought it, replaced alternator and new battery!

[poita]

18 mths ago, before it was painted.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[IfSRi]

Should have said new in '04.

A globe does not really count.

[hazrd]

ill take the record kids..

one calibra... driven daily.. 16 months with NOTHING gone wrong :cornut:

[2002_XC]

My barina, purchased it in 02, except for the light coming on that went off with the service, the fuel pump went 6 months ago, and the clutch needs replacing. it has done 210k, and havent had a single issue with it

i think i win... whats my prize?

[IfSRi]

I had to wash mine maybe 6 times and polish it a couple times.

oh and empty the ashtray occasionally.

[ChrisMaz]

My barina, purchased it in 02, except for the light coming on that went off with the service, the fuel pump went 6 months ago, and the clutch needs replacing. it has done 210k, and havent had a single issue with it

i think i win... whats my prize?

Your certainly not getting a new clutch as a prize.

[adam_92]

in the last 5/6 years iv had a corsa b 2 corsa c's and a vectra c and havnt had one single problem and i absalutely THRASHED the sh1t out of the last corsa c i had and it didnt flutter once (only problems that i caused, left lights on and blew fuses etc)

[ChrisMaz]

Start thrashing the vectra and see what problems you end up with :D

[2002_XC]

Start thrashing the vectra and see what problems you end up with :D

no, im too scared

[adam_92]

i drive the veccy pretty hard and havnt had any problems with it yet. but in saying that im always changing the oil and filters etc simply because i can and get the oil free and the filter costs like $5

[ChrisMaz]

Good move. Nah not much really goes wrong with the C's from a thrashing. Just the usual water pump, filter and clutch.... :(

[adam_92]

i dont even have the worry of the clutch haha and water pump and belts arent due for another 20k but il probably do them in 10-15k to be safe

[ChrisMaz]

yeah i ended up doing mine rought 25k early. Damn autos...

[Vectramatic]

no, im too scared

:clapsmiley: very funny.

[PrincessPeachey]

well, to be honest - my car hasn't been completely right in the whole time that i've had it! i bought it in nov last year.. :(

[adam_92]

your car has had all the problems that i should have had for how hard i thrashed the corsa lol

[PrincessPeachey]

i was about to blame it on my cars being opels, but my suzuki based barina had a fair few problems too (ie, you couldn't take off in first a lot of the time). the corsa b was the worst.. the sri i feel like i'm actually getting somewhere but it still confuses me :(

[adam_92]

iv noticed a common connection... they are all barinas... lol

[PrincessPeachey]

haha well my next car will more than likely be an astra h so that will hopefully break the cycle.

(plus, i really don't like the TK barina. if i got another barina it would be a facelifted xc)

[adam_92]

nah i dont like the tk either. u already know my plans for my next car haha

[Shay]

ok, does it count if you know of things that need to be fixed but youre just ignoring them, in that case mine has been smooth since the gearbox swap...

[gmonkey]

Lol yep nothings gone wrong in myn for the year I've owned... Except that fueling issue I'm ignoring :p

[IfSRi]

Are our cars that bad eh?

[Wraith]

Nothing gone wrong since 04.

+1 :)

But having been modded and not driven over a 2-3 year period and only covered just over 21,000km since new, it dosn't really count for a 6 or 7 year old car...


Are our cars that bad eh?

Calibras would be the worst of the bunch with unreliability issues...

Luckily given lots of TLC mine's still going strong without a single issue since '02...it's now a little overdue for its 2nd major, so I'd better get onto it :p

[Vectramatic]

ok, does it count if you know of things that need to be fixed but youre just ignoring them, in that case mine has been smooth since the gearbox swap...

HMMM. Maybe I needed to be more specific

Bulbs/oil changes/engine light on/car accidents/explosions/riots/acts of God (or your preferred belief system)/fell off truck/stolen doesn't count.

Good from new/good from when purchased/planning to fix it/good since last major repair/rebuild probably counts. Driving a Vectra B for more than a week or two, without some sort of negative event, definitely counts.

How's that for clarity

[Ice]

Calibras would be the worst of the bunch with unreliability issues...



sure are......was in St Kilda last night with the boys and what do you know......a calibra had just broken down.....haha


I havent had any issues now in over 25K since the turbo shit itself from new.

[Wraith]

sure are......was in St Kilda last night with the boys and what do you know......a calibra had just broken down.....haha


I havent had any issues now in over 25K since the turbo shit itself from new.

LOL seen that soooo many times since the Calibra was first sold here in Aust. unfortunately...

Knew a guy who bought a brand new Cali T only to shit itself after just 10,000km of driving, as in total trans melt down, which was/is a common prob with those...

Even the normal 16V and V6 Calis these days I see so many of which are constantly in service garages :(

[Ice]

LOL seen that soooo many times since the Calibra was first sold here in Aust. unfortunately...

Knew a guy who bought a brand new Cali T only to shit itself after just 10,000km of driving, as in total trans melt down, which was/is a common prob with those...

Even the normal 16V and V6 Calis these days I see so many of which are constantly in service garages :(

Its such a shame because its such a Chic car ! You hear of very few which dont have any problems.....yours among them. Its like my Volvo C70 I used to have.....at high school I wanted one (like a Cali) and it was what Volvo built to try and change its box image and then after having one I realized it was such a lemon. It has so many endearing factors like the Stock sound system which was amazing for its time and even now is of the highest quality, the look and feel of the interior was soooo sooo comfortable, the power on tap was also really surprising and even the look was something different. But the engine problems it had like the cali were frustrating, the heater core died frequently, the fly by wire lasted 30K at best (99-04 model) sensors died here and there and all over the place and replacement parts were ridiculously expensive. The suspension while tuned by walkinshaw was rated a D effort by all the pro's and had to be replaced just as frequently.....I know I bought it and spent $900 straight away fixing the suspension.....thankgod i didnt have to replace the Bilsteins in it....Jeesh !

[lithium]

well, to be honest - my car hasn't been completely right in the whole time that i've had it! i bought it in nov last year.. :(

what's wrong with it mate?
i've experienced the majority of the common problems with these cars - so i could possibly give some advice :arf:

[lithium]

these threads invariably turning into a pissing contest between Opel owners who have driven 600000km with only a blown light globe and owners that have a $1000 problem every 5000km. mostly it appears the ones that really like Opel are the ones driving a 2.2 Astra - it definitely seems to be the choice pick of the engines available here.

don't threads like this indicate that we really need to sticky something up for each model of car - as suggested a few months ago?

http://www.opelaus.com/forums/showthread.php?26848-Definitive-common-problems-threads

i think it'll really help some owners here.

with the experience i've had with my car, i honestly think there's nothing catastrophically wrong with Opel engine internals. the Barina ticked over 180000 recently and it doesn't smoke, the top end of the engine is nice and quiet even at cold start, and it only uses 250ml of oil between 7500km oil changes. it's just all the sensors, computers, emissions control gizmos and accessories attached to the engine that fail. repairing most of these are within the reach of DIYers as long as they can diagnose the problem - enter stage right the common problems thread!

UK parts sourcing + DIY = saving money ftw = many more happy Opel owners

[nigelh]

I really don't understand why the Cali has such a bad name. They really are not bad if you look after them (like any car) most of ones that you see broken down haven't been maintained properly and the owner deserves to be sitting by the side of the road. :)
The transfer box was a problem but once fixed it will never give Any problems ( fixed properly). I got over 200k out of my turbo before the seals needed to be changed and the engine is still going strong.
The only other thing that needed to be replaced was the cooling fan but that was only because of the heat caused by track days ect.
Sorry for the rant but had to stand up for the calibra. :)

[Wraith]

these threads invariably turning into a pissing contest between Opel owners who have driven 600000km with only a blown light globe and owners that have a $1000 problem every 5000km. mostly it appears the ones that really like Opel are the ones driving a 2.2 Astra - it definitely seems to be the choice pick of the engines available here.

don't threads like this indicate that we really need to sticky something up for each model of car - as suggested a few months ago?

http://www.opelaus.com/forums/showthread.php?26848-Definitive-common-problems-threads

i think it'll really help some owners here.

with the experience i've had with my car, i honestly think there's nothing catastrophically wrong with Opel engine internals. the Barina ticked over 180000 recently and it doesn't smoke, the top end of the engine is nice and quiet even at cold start, and it only uses 250ml of oil between 7500km oil changes. it's just all the sensors, computers, emissions control gizmos and accessories attached to the engine that fail. repairing most of these are within the reach of DIYers as long as they can diagnose the problem - enter stage right the common problems thread!

UK parts sourcing + DIY = saving money ftw = many more happy Opel owners

True that...if you are very particularand look after whatever type from new (and also have some good luck go your way) you shouldn't have much if any probs with any of them...

But mostly here, people have bought 2nd, 3rd or even 5th hand vehicles with who knows what history behind them...more chance of things going 'belly up'...

As for TS Astras with the 2.2 engine, it has to be the most common Opel type on the forum here :p


I really don't understand why the Cali has such a bad name. They really are not bad if you look after them (like any car) most of ones that you see broken down haven't been maintained properly and the owner deserves to be sitting by the side of the road. :)
The transfer box was a problem but once fixed it will never give Any problems ( fixed properly). I got over 200k out of my turbo before the seals needed to be changed and the engine is still going strong.
The only other thing that needed to be replaced was the cooling fan but that was only because of the heat caused by track days ect.
Sorry for the rant but had to stand up for the calibra. :)

The Cali unfortunately has a well deserved bad wrap (mechanically speaking) because it has alot of serious mechanical flaws right from the word go...

Amongst the most common problems:

16V's suffered from a high production batch of bad porous heads...

Turbo 16V's suffered from being fitted with one of the worst and weakest AWD transverse boxes around - hence the many failures even whilst fairly new...

V6's suffered from over heating and blowing out heater cores quite often...

But meh, I still love the type and am loving owning one for the better type of a decade now...

Even wanted to buy one new at the time, but was way too expensive, even back then...

And still one of the best looking cars on the road, so we can forgive it for all the short comings :cornut:

[PrincessPeachey]

what's wrong with it mate?
i've experienced the majority of the common problems with these cars - so i could possibly give some advice :arf:

well, started off with fixing up most of the suspension, had to replace both rear hub and stub axle, need to replace the shocks (there's a massive chunk missing out of one of the rears), apparently the bushes are on their way out too.

have replaced the knock sensor and the clutch switch but still the same errors come up. sometimes has problems starting etc (not the throttle body gumming up, although having said that it's probably due for another clean), threw up a crankshaft sensor error so i've got one of those ready to go in, but the code has mysteriously disappeared.. and i haven't cleared it either.. very odd.

so nothing reeeeally major except its been running rich for the whole time i've had it and i dont want to have to replace the cat. oh and the fuel economy is TERRIBLE.

and it will be due for a timing belt/water pump replacement + service soon.

[Vectramatic]

well, started off with fixing up most of the suspension, had to replace both rear hub and stub axle, need to replace the shocks (there's a massive chunk missing out of one of the rears), apparently the bushes are on their way out too.

have replaced the knock sensor and the clutch switch but still the same errors come up. sometimes has problems starting etc (not the throttle body gumming up, although having said that it's probably due for another clean), threw up a crankshaft sensor error so i've got one of those ready to go in, but the code has mysteriously disappeared.. and i haven't cleared it either.. very odd.

so nothing reeeeally major except its been running rich for the whole time i've had it and i dont want to have to replace the cat. oh and the fuel economy is TERRIBLE.

and it will be due for a timing belt/water pump replacement + service soon.

Sounds like you have a task ahead of you PP. Hope you can get it sorted, at least you're in the right place for good advice.

[Shay]

Blake, the veccys arent too bad, you just got a bad one.

In all seriousness, i have had no problems at all other than wear and tear. All my major issues have been a direct result of me and my driving, not the car itself.
And ive never had a single warning or EML light either in my 3 yrs of ownership.

[Vectramatic]

Blake, the veccys arent too bad, you just got a bad one.

In all seriousness, i have had no problems at all other than wear and tear. All my major issues have been a direct result of me and my driving, not the car itself.
And ive never had a single warning or EML light either in my 3 yrs of ownership.
Yes Shay, I know you're right.
I take pot shots at poor old Vecra, just a bit of fun. I do love mine, and really have expected too much in trying to make it perfect. A lot of the money I spent was on things that weren't critical, and wouldn't have caused a breakdown.
I do think that the prospective Vectra owner should plan to spend money on getting things like the timing belt and water pump done, straight away. Spend up on the first service, getting the basics right, before adding mods and performance gear, because it sure adds up quick.
The good thing about the Vectra's of the late 90's early 00's is that they are relatively cheap to buy, and the mileage is often at or below 100k. Pay up and get the critical things fixed, change the oil every 5000k, and there's no reason why you shouldn't have years of trouble-free motoring.

[ChrisMaz]

Had a pretty good run lately.

Until the gear knob popped off yesterday... Ruined my perfect shift!

[IfSRi]

Do they have 15,000k service intervals?

[Vectramatic]

Do they have 15,000k service intervals?

Vectra's ? C22 is 10,000 service intervals. Too long between oil changes in my opinion. 5k is ideal.