Opel Insignia - good or bad ?

NeVeR

I'm thinking of buying this.

http://www.billgriffinmotors.ie/viewanad.php?ad_id=1434059&r=

It's a 131 Insignia Estate.

Is this good value and a good option.

I need an estate and always liked this car. I don't know much about cars. I have a 06 Honda Accord at the min.. but want something less on petrol / road tax.

They have arranged the finance for this so I don't have cash to go buying private etc.

chicorytip

Dreadful cars. Noisy engines, poor driving position, stupid electronic parking brake and general poor build quality. I can't understand why they are so popular.

166man

They're actually quite good cars.

Stylish(imo), good range of engines - Diesel engine is a little tough from cold but once warmed up its grand. Standard seats aren't the best though, look for the SRI spec seats. They're economical and generally reliable.

There's a reason they are the choice of fleets all over Europe

foxatron

Have you bought it OP? Its not on the site anymore anyway. We have some of the new models in work. No issues with them and a nice car to drive.
I actually just bought an older Elite model. Owner never had any issues. I guess like all cars most of the time youll only ever hear the horror stories!

wadk

166man wrote: »

They're actually quite good cars.

Stylish(imo), good range of engines - Diesel engine is a little tough from cold but once warmed up its grand. Standard seats aren't the best though, look for the SRI spec seats. They're economical and generally reliable.

There's a reason they are the choice of fleets all over Europe

Sri are very nice indeed
Op I rented a 13 insignia ecoflex and it was a dream to drive
2.2 diesel plenty of torque and found it very reliable
It's a German
Wier leben autos

DaDerv

I bought a 141, Vauxhall, Limited Edition version in December. 2lt 140bhp. It was a private sale but it was still covered in the two year Opel warranty.

I noticed a noise on cold starts in the morning but not every morning. There was also a Service ESP warning on the display every so often. I booked it in and had its first service done in the local Opel garage and they were a disaster to deal with and expensive. As all main dealers are.

They changed the brake pads, which accounted for the ESP warning and did a normal service. €313 in total which included the 10% discount using the myOpel service bonus. They then changed the fan belt and tensioner which was done under warranty which accounted for the noise at cold start. After they changed this I had another service warning. I visited the same garage 4 times before they dealt with this issue which turned out to be a faulty Crank Shaft Sensor. Since then I have had no issue.

The car itself is beautiful to drive. Comfortable, powerful and economical. As all these issues happened within the first 2 months of getting the car I was obviously very disheartened by it all. Constant visits to the garage and the cost of the service. But the main issue was the Opel garage itself. I couldn't believe the terrible service. In the end I had to get my father to call in and give the tough cop treatment. Slightly embarrassing. As it is though, and touch wood that it stays this way, I am extremely happy with it. It really is a lovely car. And the issues I had were relatively minor. Just took much longer than expected to rectify.

grogi

chicorytip wrote: »

Dreadful cars. Noisy engines, poor driving position, stupid electronic parking brake and general poor build quality. I can't understand why they are so popular.

I don't agree with the poor quality. Insignias are considered to be reliable cars. During first years of production there were issues, but they were ironed out.

What I don't like about Insignia is that it is a show-off car. It looks appealing, agreed. Loads of chromed elements. Those wheels look nice too.

But those massive wheels (225/55/R17 for instance) are completely unnecessary, similar cars come with smaller wheels. The tires cost more... The car is very heavy as well, like AR 159 is. Those two ruin the dynamics and efficiency: Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 140PS does 0-100 in 9.5s, Insignia CDTi 140PS needs 10.5s...

What's more, it is not very spacious inside, despite being big on the outside. While heavy, you don't know where that mass is - because sound insulation is not that great either.

JohnBoy26

Personally I think they are dreadful cars. They aren't that well built and suffer from their fair share of problems.

166man

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Personally I think they are dreadful cars. They aren't that well built and suffer from their fair share of problems.

What is the problem with the build quality? I know you spout this phrase for just about any car that isn't an ancient Corolla but what is wrong with them?

I suppose they're the only car that suffer from issues in that class as well.

I have no doubt you won't respond to this as you normally shy away from giving any real advice based on knowledge or experience, maybe we might all get lucky this time.

wadk

166man wrote: »

What is the problem with the build quality? I know you spout this phrase for just about any car that isn't an ancient Corolla but what is wrong with them?

I suppose they're the only car that suffer from issues in that class as well.

I have no doubt you won't respond to this as you normally shy away from giving any real advice based on knowledge or experience, maybe we might all get lucky this time.

Thanks😉

JohnBoy26

Gearboxes give lots of problems on them, especially with bearing failure. Electrics can be iffy too on them. In general they suffer from lots of niggles. They just have that typical(average at best)Vauxhall/Opel build quality.

Something like a Passat/Mondeo/avensis would be a much better bet imo.

166man

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Gearboxes give lots of problems on them, especially with bearing failure. Electrics can be iffy too on them. In general they suffer from lots of niggles. They just have that typical(average at best)Vauxhall/Opel build quality.

Something like a Passat/Mondeo/avensis would be a much better bet imo.

Gearbox was an issue on the older ones. Twas the M32 gearbox same one used in the 159. It's funny dads one has near 200k on it an no gearbox trouble at all.

Iffy electrics probably refer to the electric handbrake which was an issue on Passats and Avensis's of that same era.

What other niggles do they have? I am interested to learn here

Atlantic Dawn

There's been reports of them going ablaze too...
http://www.rte.ie/tv/theconsumershow/opel.html
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057210810
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2HYpJngVRMnrvzrWDNx7vp0/vauxhall-insignia

Indricotherium

166man wrote: »

What is the problem with the build quality? I know you spout this phrase for just about any car that isn't an ancient Corolla but what is wrong with them?

I suppose they're the only car that suffer from issues in that class as well.

I have no doubt you won't respond to this as you normally shy away from giving any real advice based on knowledge or experience, maybe we might all get lucky this time.

Is the bursting into flames thing sorted?

Damien360

chicorytip wrote: »

Dreadful cars. Noisy engines, poor driving position, stupid electronic parking brake and general poor build quality. I can't understand why they are so popular.

Very different to what I saw.

Had one for about 3 years. Mid spec. 2011 to 2014. Stuck just shy of 180,000km (from memory) on it and not a single problem. Company had a fleet of about 20 of them and not a single issue. Build quality was good, nice to drive, boot is a bit small, but I will give you parking brake is annoying. The base spec is awful inside them. Overpriced on lease for comparable mondeo, superb at the time.

wadk

Indricotherium wrote: »

Is the bursting into flames thing sorted?

Hardly one example can be blamed on the model
ZAFIRA yeah
Carsireland rates it 4 to 5 for reliability
You hardly strummed up a point there
Like EVERY CAR out there,all have problems,unless there's a Boeing engine in it,its a piece of **** you may as well say!

ba_barabus

166man wrote: »

Gearbox was an issue on the older ones. Twas the M32 gearbox same one used in the 159. It's funny dads one has near 200k on it an no gearbox trouble at all.

Careful mine was rebuilt at 205k kms :pac:

I know 2009/10 Insignias gave issues but the later ones are pretty solid AFAIK.

I don't know if I'd have one but they're a good car.

166man

ba_barabus wrote: »

Careful mine was rebuilt at 205k kms :pac:

I know 2009/10 Insignias gave issues but the later ones are pretty solid AFAIK.

I don't know if I'd have one but they're a good car.

Any day now I'm sure I'll get that phone call asking if I broke it

You did well on your car btw, glad to hear it's sorted for you.

The newer ones are a lovely looking car and popular on the road for a reason.

ShadowHearth

ba_barabus wrote: »

Careful mine was rebuilt at 205k kms :pac:

I know 2009/10 Insignias gave issues but the later ones are pretty solid AFAIK.

I don't know if I'd have one but they're a good car.

Agree with this.

My friend used to work in Opel dealership as mechanic when new insignias hit the market. He woukd have a lot of them back for all sort of stuff. From his own experience who would not have recommended them and astras were generally a lot better reliability wise.
Keep in mind those were all early models, so I would say they would have ironed out all issues by 131 plate.
There are a lot of early ones for small price for a reason.

Cordell

I have a 2010 Insignia since 2013. I've had a few problems, all well known ones:
- burst intercooler rubber hose, 50E for the part, fitted it myself
- cracked EGR cooler, 180E (part and labor) to replace it at main dealer
- buzzing boost control valve, no actual problem but the noise, fixed for 40E
- burned dashboard clocks LEDs, fixed it myself for a couple of euros, this will cost a lot if you go to the dealer, as they will replace rather than fix it.

So yeah, quite some niggles, but not too bad for a 6 yrs 180K old car. And nothing serious.
Build quality is decent, interior may be a bit tacky but not dull. And not exactly a german car.

NeVeR

sorry for not following up.

I didn't buy it.. i went down to buy it and he'd sold it that morning.

I had my own car in a repair garage a few days ago and was talking to the 2 mechanic's.. i didn't know them.. never met them before and was telling him I was thinking of getting the Insignia and they advised me not to... these lads where late 40's early 50's .. and had nothing to gain / lose from giving this advice.

They said they where terrible cars etc.. quoted the bursting into flames thing..

I asked what they would suggest and they said the estate version ( i need an estate) of my car ( honda accord ) or the Hyundai i40.. I was looking at the i40 as well..

So i'm not sure now.. I know all cars will have good and bad reviews..

rafatoni

NeVeR wrote: »

sorry for not following up.

I didn't buy it.. i went down to buy it and he'd sold it that morning.

I had my own car in a repair garage a few days ago and was talking to the 2 mechanic's.. i didn't know them.. never met them before and was telling him I was thinking of getting the Insignia and they advised me not to... these lads where late 40's early 50's .. and had nothing to gain / lose from giving this advice.

They said they where terrible cars etc.. quoted the bursting into flames thing..

I asked what they would suggest and they said the estate version ( i need an estate) of my car ( honda accord ) or the Hyundai i40.. I was looking at the i40 as well..

So i'm not sure now.. I know all cars will have good and bad reviews..

It was the zafira that burst into flames, totally diff car. you think a mechanic would have known that

Indricotherium

rafatoni wrote: »

It was the zafira that burst into flames, totally diff car. you think a mechanic would have known that

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2HYpJngVRMnrvzrWDNx7vp0/vauxhall-insignia

There are any number of media reports about insignias bursting into flames and an acknowledged issue with the power steering causing it.

Maybe the mechanic knows his stuff?

H.E. Pennypacker

There's a list of good and bad points here:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/vauxhall/insignia-2008/?section=good

George Dalton

The fire thing is blown out of proportion. Pretty much all cars have the modified pipes fitted at this stage anyway.

Incidentally the power steering setup changed to electric from 2012 onwards (stop start was fitted at the same time and road tax dropped to €200 from €280) so not an issue at all on newer cars.

ThisRegard

Don't understand why people have issues with the electronic brake either, you don't even need to manually release it when taking off as it releases automatically, although not too many people realise that I reckon.

And as George says, the burning car thing is over blown, how many burning Insignias or Zafiras do you see on the roads, particularly when you take their popularity into account?

PukkaStukka

My brother had two insignias as company cars, an 09 and 12 respectively that were worked quite hard for their keep. Both were reliable but he reckoned the newer one was a much improved car over the earlier. The dual mass flywheel was getting noisy on the older one too but both had no gearbox issues per sé.

George Dalton

ThisRegard wrote: »

Don't understand why people have issues with the electronic brake either, you don't even need to manually release it when taking off as it releases automatically, although not too many people realise that I reckon.

I agree. I would also add that the Insignia EPB setup works well, has an intuitive and user friendly setup and a good auto release. It is also reliable. Contrast that with (for example) the Avensis setup which is neither user friendly, intuitive or reliable.

Rob Thomas

Wife got a 131 Insignia last October, upgraded from a Golf. I would never have considered an Insignia before that but its a better car than I expected.

Exceptionally economical, the build quality is not top line but fair enough for the class and it feels a strong safe car to travel in. Steering is light and the control switches are fine.

Negatives are a terribly notchy gearbox, the centre display is ridiculously fussy with a driver display from the 1950's, (sorted on 2014 model to be fair) the seating position feels uncomfortable after long journeys and the boot lid drenches you when you open it after rain.

But they are 3-4k cheaper than a passat for a reason. Miles ahead of a similar Mondeo (not the new model mind) and altogether better equipped than an Avensis.

They are what they are. We'll hold it for two years and move it on and I'm happy with that. As I said, its better than I expected.