Lastly, and most importantly, I don't know what your family's car history has been, but if you've never had anything to do with Vectras (or Calibras) before remember this; KEEP MONEY ASIDE FOR MAINTENANCE. As nice a car as they are when running well, the Vectra can be a real bitch on things breaking. Typically something is going wrong, has gone wrong, or has just been fixed after going wrong. Most of the money I've spent on my car has been to maintain it.
Common things to watch for are;
- Watch that the Idle Control Valve does not clog (this will cause your car to idle roughly and stall)
- Change the timing chain sooner rather then later. Most people change at 80,000km intervals, although I'd probably recommend 70 as you don't want to have to rebuild your head (it'll almost cost more then the car's worth)
- Watch the engine and gearbox mounts around 175,000km. This is when they needed to be replaced on mine
- Watch for oil leaks from under the rocker cover (the top cover of the engine that encloses the black Ecotec cover). The rocker cover is of poor design, and can leak easily. If it happens I reccomend buying a new gasket off ebay, then heading down to a local garage (not a holden dealer) and gettting them to fit it with a silicone sealant).
- Watch for groans from the steering. The rack is naturally heavy, even with power steering. However, groans indicate that the CV joints are on the way out or that the rack is bent or something similar