having just sold a very low mileage ST220 (an offer i couldnt refuse) im looking to maybe buy a 3.2 Gsi Vectra under 50k and a manual

i like the fact it looks fairly standard for some reason

anyone had any experiences with one of these?

 

I like the look of them, the Police round my way have what seems like a fleet of them, which can often mean its a very good car.

 

should be able to pick one up for next to nothing beings its a gas guzzling vauxhall. Should imagine they are alot of car for the money

 

Bloody fantastic car - Better than the ST220 IMO, but much,much cheaper..

I had an 04 example a good while ago with just 40K miles with TV's etc, and sold it for just over 6K so earlier examples must be cheap as chips now.

It felt much quicker than the figures would suggest. Loads of torque, very comfortable, but a sporti enough to handle Ish. Interior was solid and a nice place to be, Gearchange was nice and short and the clutch wasn't heavy.

Only critism of the car is it was a wide/big car. But was a cracking all round car.

You could easiliy do silly speeds with it and not realise it.

 

My wife had a 52 plate GSi - ex demo loaded with ALL the extras. Drank like a fish; you're lucky to see 25mpg ever, but a very solid and quick car, except it's so damn quiet you don't realise it!

VERY good to travel long distances in... eats up the miles - cavernous boot, comfortable seating, she had the Irmscher steering wheel which made the car even easier to drive (perfect hand position).

Sold it just before it needed a shed load of expensive bits repaired (both rear boxes (it is twin tail) and cam belt both at the same time

Really enjoyed that car - the only problem is the 210 bhp through the front wheels alone

 

always been tempted by one of these, liked the previous gen. too.........

 

i would worry about the £450 it would be to tax - year on year

you wouldn't be able to give it away, and you'd have to pay £450 for the privilege of keeping it

quite possibly you'd end up having a really fast and refined drive to he breakers yard

 

when will it start costing £450 to tax please


.

 

245, no 450 - April 2010

UK Road Tax Prices | Vehicle Car Tax Rates | Car Tax Calculator | Vehicle Excise Duty - Parker's

 

thx Hank i stand corrected (have to say i'm amazed)

although are these figures pre or post the Gov re-think and also the Parkers website seem a bit contradictory in that the emissions are listed as

235-243 CO2

which according to Road Tax: What's changing? - Parker's

would put it into band L -- at £405

but I still think my basic argument stands buying a large engined ford/vauxhall/fiat/citroen etc i.e. non premium marque could turn out to be a real liability

 

23rd March 2006 is the magic date, anything registered before then will be a max of £245

So you need to find the turbo'd V8 that does 6mpg as long as it was regged before then.

I expect there will be a premium on the 06s that just make it.

 

fvck --- I bought a year 2000 (subaru and landcruiser) last year to escape the previous "magic" date of March 2001

still think its a brave move though

 

However, Alistair Darling announced a toned down version of the proposed new road tax bands in the pre-Budget report, where owners of high-emission older cars would see a £60 increase in Road Tax staggered over two years.

It means owners of cars with CO2 emissions of 226g/km or higher that paid £210 this year, would see their road tax bill rise to £215 for 2009/10 and then to £245 for 2010/11.

Cars with CO2 emissions of 100g/km or lower will remain Road Tax-free, while those cars between 101g/km and 120g/km will be liable for modest rates of road tax.

Exemption for older cars (those registered between March 1 2001 and March 23 2006) will run until 2011, but there is a question mark over what happens after this date. Some owners (or potential owners) could find themselves in the same position as they are now - having to pay a substantial increase in Road Tax - in 24 months time.



It still might come, depends on which ***** are running the treasury by then.

 

3.2 Gsi it is then

 

I think in this case, a fairly sensible one tho.

Pick an 03 3.2 GSi for 4k.
Pay 215 this year, 245 next year.

2011, some tosser decides your tax is 500/year so renders the value as zero, you pay 500 in 2012 and 2013 and then scrap it - you've had 4 years of 3 litre V6 motoring (in what everyone has said is an ok car) for 4k depreciation and less than 1500 tax.

That's £1365 / year depreciation AND tax, tough to beat.

 

seen one today on the road it looks like any other Vectra which is why i like it so much

 

as i said a very refined drive to the breakers

but yes Hank -- I agree with your maths, and maybe my argument (and my problem) comes from the fact that I hate changing cars, I still have my 1964 Mini Cooper S which i bought in 1986 and I had a MK2 Golf GTI 16v for 8 years

a bet they are a great car -- apart from this "sword of damocles" hanging over the whole VED thingy

 

Yep, I hear what you're saying but even with zero value, nothing to stop you running it for as long as you can, paying the higher tax and suffering no depreciation.

Different if you're paying 15k for an M3 no one will pay 5k for in 4 years but 4k to buy now makes an impressive argument.

 

For reference - here's what an Irmsher'd one looks like:

 

That looks ok but I think generally, anything aftermarket on a Vectra or Mondeo just looks like you are trying too had and have missed the point by ten thousand miles, and that you are clueless, me and J4ckos mate used to know a guy who adorned his various Fords, starting with a Beige Cortina in the late eighties that had every piece of tat attached to it imaginable.

I have a Saab 9-3 Aero which is based on the same platform but shortened, mine is hard and handles quite well but they arent much fun, a Mondeo is a better bet, I have driven Vectra and they are ok but very very dull, cant imagine a V6 makes up for it, mine is a remapped 2.0 turbo with 250/288 (was 210/210), it cant imagine the V6 is actually all that fast with 210/220 ? plus you cant do anything about it like I did with the remap which took it from almost ok to quite quick.