Tiff Needell was the spitting image of my old neighbour on my street, Colin Aspden! 😉 The Vectra here has been untaxed since August 2007 and has not been MOT’d since January 2008, and the last logbook was issued on 10 August 2005 for your knowledge! 👏
My uncle was going to buy a 2.0 cd, but in the end bought a pre reg 4 door 97 GLS 2.5 spec'ed with rear electric windows, cruise AC and weirdly a manual roof. He took it to 200,000 with only an alternator, oil cooler, and some other minor electrical things. I was going to buy it from him in 2001 when I was 20, but unfortunately it was ruined by some inappropriate jacking when the (steel!) wheels were stolen in Luton.
I have a 99 facelift vectra with a sport pack and it is comfortable my brother has a 98 pre facelift and it feels like I'm sitting on cement. Even a cavalier was more confortable than the pre facelift vectra.
Well, it wasn't. The passenger airbag was optional. It became standard across the range with the facelift in 1999. If I recall correctly, the facelift also added side airbags as standard as well.
Well he's more objective than Clarkson was! But it wasn't an especially gruelling or thorough test. Tiff normally thrashes the crap out of every car he tests 😆
@@jackwarren3080 I don't know.. he did test the car to it's limits when he drove the facelift version for '99. And anyway, just because thats not how they get driven most of the time doesn't mean it isn't good to know exactly how well (or not) they cope to really being chucked around.
Tiff really scraped the bottom of the barrel to find something interesting to say about that car. The conclusion was basically the same: Box on wheels with no interesting characteristics.
I owned one from when they first launched it about 96 onwards, it was nice, but an absolute money pit, and i've heard story's about post model vectra's that have been similar, bring back the cavalier anyday, much simpler and less trouble. Vauxhall tried to go upmarket with the vectra, but upmarket they couldn't quite get right.
@@monk3yboy69 As much as I typically hate Vauxhall/Opel, the last Omega wasn't that bad. And the old Lotus Carlton/Omega was legendary. But on the Lotus they "took a Vauxhall, and threw most of it away." And of course the Vauxhall Monaro and VRX8 were awesome but those were Holdens, not Vauxhalls (weren't even sold as Opels).
The problem with Shitpels/Vauxholes is that they will never be “upmarket”, and the French, Italians and Japanese as well as VW have always built better mass-market cars than them for the same amount of money. Good thing they were bought out by PSA.
I had a cavalier and liked the look of this those wing mirrors were great why they are never used again not sure they always look out of place on most cars and too small or too big.
Sales rep Needell....lets' see .... "So Tim, where are you going now?" "I've got hot prospects at Brands Hatch, then I'm going up to Silverstone and then back to Thruxton for a quick call in" "And you think you'll sell Cat Food at those places?"
I liked my Vectra B ..I paid a local vx dealer cash to the lads in the bodyshop to GSI up an Arctic edition ..was reliable and towed our caravan OK to be fair...I am teaching my wife to drive in a similar era Astra G belonging to my mum at present ..I do like late 90s early 00s Vx better than todays PSA rubbish
The pre facelift Vectra always felt as if someone had tasked the designers with creating a better rival to the Sierra, and then forgot to let them know when the Mondeo was released. The updated model was much better, but the Ford was always more accomplished. Still very likable though.
Yeah, whether Tubular Bells or referencing The Exorcist, it was an odd choice of background music I thought. Kind of gave the video an ethereal, supernatural feel, neither adjective applying to the Vectra.
@@RoadCone411 I think that was the joke. It's a pretty dull car for pretty dull people. Nothing wrong with one as a company car, but not something you'd spend your own money on.
A friends dad had one new. He had a cavalier before that. I remember him saying he wished he kept the cav.. or words to that effect. I was about 10 at the time. I remember the cav well, it was a 2.0 GLS in Silver. The envy of the street. People may question why anyone would be envious of a cavalier, but the neighbours had such cars as an ancient baby poo brown vauxhall viva, and another had an old black escort estate.
@@mikeh2006 Kids today would question but anyone who was around in the 80s or 90s will recall what a different environment it was. New cars weren't something every Tom Dick and Harry could expect to have on their driveways every 3 years for just a few hundred quid a month. You had to work hard and save up for a new car, and it was a special moment when you got it, not just a run of the mill event like it is today!
@@soundseeker63 yep, and when they were new cars, they weren't BMWs, Audis and Mercs. They were Vauxhalls, Fords, Peugeots etc. Anyone with a job can rent a new BMW or Audi for a few hundred a month, but back then you needed to be well off.
I had a spin in a 1.7 diesel version of these once on country roads and that was enough to know just how terrible it really was. One if the worst cars I have ever been in and pure laziness from Vauxhall/Opel in just revamping the Cavalier and trying to call it a new car.
Clarkson hated that one too from what I recall! 😆 Also I personally think the B was nicer looking than the C. Actually quite nice as an estate in SRi trim.
I preferred the 'B' model. It fixed the twitchy oversteer/understeer wiggle found on the 'A' model without compromising driver appeal. The 'C' model played it too safe, it was quite dull.
Tiff Needell was the spitting image of my old neighbour on my street, Colin Aspden! 😉
The Vectra here has been untaxed since August 2007 and has not been MOT’d since January 2008, and the last logbook was issued on 10 August 2005 for your knowledge! 👏
I always liked the styling of the Vectra B model. And apart from suspension parts made of jam, they were pretty reliable.
He's always been a good presenter and review in he's own way. Always friendly truthfully and pplite
Is he still presenting now?
@@bfapple yes
My uncle was going to buy a 2.0 cd, but in the end bought a pre reg 4 door 97 GLS 2.5 spec'ed with rear electric windows, cruise AC and weirdly a manual roof. He took it to 200,000 with only an alternator, oil cooler, and some other minor electrical things. I was going to buy it from him in 2001 when I was 20, but unfortunately it was ruined by some inappropriate jacking when the (steel!) wheels were stolen in Luton.
Such a well thought out video and camera work
Root finder. We have Grindr for that these days.
Root means sex in Australia and new Zealand, so a,root finder would be super handy! Here in nz and Oz
@@timfagan816 well it means cock in the UK.
@@timfagan816 that was Karl’s point
@@jashugg bloody good on ya then Karl. Fucking oath!
@@jashugg 👍
I have a 99 facelift vectra with a sport pack and it is comfortable my brother has a 98 pre facelift and it feels like I'm sitting on cement. Even a cavalier was more confortable than the pre facelift vectra.
I can’t quite believe that he suggested a passenger airbag as standard was a drawback
Well, it wasn't. The passenger airbag was optional. It became standard across the range with the facelift in 1999. If I recall correctly, the facelift also added side airbags as standard as well.
He needed that space since he traveled alone most of the time.
Well he's more objective than Clarkson was! But it wasn't an especially gruelling or thorough test. Tiff normally thrashes the crap out of every car he tests 😆
No point as that was a typically bad handling Vauxhall badged car
@@jackwarren3080 I don't know.. he did test the car to it's limits when he drove the facelift version for '99. And anyway, just because thats not how they get driven most of the time doesn't mean it isn't good to know exactly how well (or not) they cope to really being chucked around.
Tiff really scraped the bottom of the barrel to find something interesting to say about that car. The conclusion was basically the same: Box on wheels with no interesting characteristics.
I know right!? What the hell happened? I was hoping for smoking tyres and opposite lock. Not a very Tiff video! 🤣
@@soundseeker63it might have had the handling improved by then, judging by how Lotus improved the drivability of the Corsa in 1997.
My friend had one of these. The most uncomfortable car I've ever sat in. Seats felt like they were made of stone.
I agree it got better with the facelift model
😂
Typical Opel
1:59. 'Will the Vectra appeal to any of my colleagues?' Where's Clarkson when we need him?
I owned one from when they first launched it about 96 onwards, it was nice, but an absolute money pit, and i've heard story's about post model vectra's that have been similar, bring back the cavalier anyday, much simpler and less trouble. Vauxhall tried to go upmarket with the vectra, but upmarket they couldn't quite get right.
Vauxhall and upmarket in the same sentence….
That would be a laugh
@@monk3yboy69 As much as I typically hate Vauxhall/Opel, the last Omega wasn't that bad. And the old Lotus Carlton/Omega was legendary. But on the Lotus they "took a Vauxhall, and threw most of it away." And of course the Vauxhall Monaro and VRX8 were awesome but those were Holdens, not Vauxhalls (weren't even sold as Opels).
The problem with Shitpels/Vauxholes is that they will never be “upmarket”, and the French, Italians and Japanese as well as VW have always built better mass-market cars than them for the same amount of money.
Good thing they were bought out by PSA.
I had a cavalier and liked the look of this those wing mirrors were great why they are never used again not sure they always look out of place on most cars and too small or too big.
Sales rep Needell....lets' see .... "So Tim, where are you going now?" "I've got hot prospects at Brands Hatch, then I'm going up to Silverstone and then back to Thruxton for a quick call in" "And you think you'll sell Cat Food at those places?"
"No but I'll sell all the used fleet car tires we can provide. Apparently they're building walls with them."
The seats were like hard slabs and you couldn't find a decent driving position.
Remember road trips in one. Awful as the Astra.
@@jackwarren3080 They were very uncomfortable, yes! 🚗
Had a test drive and wheel’s didn’t seem connected to the steering wheel - bought a Peugeot 406 instead
406 also had bad steering feel 😅 but had soft suspension and seats, also a soft gearbox 😬
I wanted a 406 but ended up with the Accord.
Much better choice it turned to be.
“..I’d rather have the option without the passenger airbag..”
Ha
The music at the end tells you all you need to know.
I liked my Vectra B ..I paid a local vx dealer cash to the lads in the bodyshop to GSI up an Arctic edition ..was reliable and towed our caravan OK to be fair...I am teaching my wife to drive in a similar era Astra G belonging to my mum at present ..I do like late 90s early 00s Vx better than todays PSA rubbish
I wonder if this was made after they got so many complaints about the Clarkson review..
No traffic master Tiff? Mine had that function
why did they review it twice?
This review was from the Motorshow '95 special. The review where Clarkson compared it to a potato was in the main Top Gear show.
@@admotorvideos2984 oh, I thought GM made them do it again because they were angry with Clarkson's review lol
The pre facelift Vectra always felt as if someone had tasked the designers with creating a better rival to the Sierra, and then forgot to let them know when the Mondeo was released. The updated model was much better, but the Ford was always more accomplished. Still very likable though.
2:22 is that a 240?
The Exorcist music?
No, tubular bells....
Yes and no. It's called "tubular bells" from Mike Oldfield. It was used in the exorcist.
Yeah, whether Tubular Bells or referencing The Exorcist, it was an odd choice of background music I thought. Kind of gave the video an ethereal, supernatural feel, neither adjective applying to the Vectra.
@@RoadCone411 I think that was the joke. It's a pretty dull car for pretty dull people. Nothing wrong with one as a company car, but not something you'd spend your own money on.
Map of Britain gone are those days
"I do around 40,000 miles a year, which means, I must spend around $1000 replacing the cambelt a year"
99p pancakes???
Wasn't actually as good as the car it replaced.
A friends dad had one new. He had a cavalier before that. I remember him saying he wished he kept the cav.. or words to that effect.
I was about 10 at the time. I remember the cav well, it was a 2.0 GLS in Silver. The envy of the street.
People may question why anyone would be envious of a cavalier, but the neighbours had such cars as an ancient baby poo brown vauxhall viva, and another had an old black escort estate.
@@mikeh2006 Kids today would question but anyone who was around in the 80s or 90s will recall what a different environment it was.
New cars weren't something every Tom Dick and Harry could expect to have on their driveways every 3 years for just a few hundred quid a month.
You had to work hard and save up for a new car, and it was a special moment when you got it, not just a run of the mill event like it is today!
@@soundseeker63 yep, and when they were new cars, they weren't BMWs, Audis and Mercs. They were Vauxhalls, Fords, Peugeots etc. Anyone with a job can rent a new BMW or Audi for a few hundred a month, but back then you needed to be well off.
I had a spin in a 1.7 diesel version of these once on country roads and that was enough to know just how terrible it really was. One if the worst cars I have ever been in and pure laziness from Vauxhall/Opel in just revamping the Cavalier and trying to call it a new car.
These had good styling but only for the saloon, this hatchback was atrocious.
Lol
So in other words it was rubbish
Crap car the idle control valve was a pain
Shit car, the Vectra C's much better.
Tell me about it, this generation of the Vectra had intense criticism for more than seven years! 🤔
Clarkson hated that one too from what I recall! 😆
Also I personally think the B was nicer looking than the C. Actually quite nice as an estate in SRi trim.
I preferred the 'B' model. It fixed the twitchy oversteer/understeer wiggle found on the 'A' model without compromising driver appeal. The 'C' model played it too safe, it was quite dull.