Opel - Insignia : why are they so cheap?

godwin

I see quite a few of these for sale, reasonably priced for car that are 6-8 years old, why are they so cheap, are they ****e?

NIMAN

Opels don't seem to hold their values well.

godwin

NIMAN wrote: »

Opels don't seem to hold their values well.

That aside, how are they mechanically? reliable?

NIMAN

We have only ever owned one, a Corsa many moons ago. Didn't give us any bother.

But I don't think they have a great reputation, but then again most brands will have haters and people who think they are rubbish.

Opel are big sellers, so maybe there is just more of them for sale, and that keeps prices down?

waraf

godwin wrote: »

That aside, how are they mechanically? reliable?

they're quite well known for having gearbox problems

punisher5112

Many imports and huge mileage is normal.

They were mainly reps vehicles in a lot of cases and to be honest aren't great.

pcardin

gearbox, dual-mass, and oil starving issue which by the time get detected has caused significant damage to engine. At least that is what internet says. don't know how much truth is there but if you look around on Autotrader or DD a lot of Insigninas (diesel) are sold as for parts or repair.

CiniO

How are petrol models?
Are they suffering same problems?

Sparkles2012

They have a new Insignia coming out in June which is probably why prices have dropped recently too as well as having problems recently with some of the diesel models.

The petrol Insignia dosent seem to give much trouble they are hard to come by and then they are in the higher tax band I think its €720.00 to tax them.

Bandana boy

The Insignia is one of three options for reps in our company
Every rep who got one has sworn never again.
Complaints range from hard work to just looks cheap and tacky inside.

bazz26

Insignias are plentiful in supply due to Opel offering decent fleet discounts, also a glut of them coming in from the UK driving down prices and early models which are now 7 or 8 years old, were not very reliable.

JoeA3

It's nothing new. Insignias/Vectras/Astras have always suffered fairly severe depreciation compared to their rivals and it's only getting worse in recent years as Opel's relevance here dwindles.

Opel used to be a pretty big player here (remember when they sponsored the Soccer team!) but these days they seem to be among the also rans with nothing much you could call desirable across their range. The likes of Hyundai have blown them away with better products/packaging, etc.

Toyotafanboi

Reliability is average at best, their visual design is dating at a rate of knots and their interior is well behind other "German" competitors.

Arthur Daley

The Insignia was a little bit desirable though to be fair to them no? Good looking car with a half decent interior for the price. I mean compared to all the other mid range boxes Opel/ Vauxhall put out since the early 80s.

Pawwed Rig

Have a 2010 Insignia and it does the job for me. Huge boot and plenty of space in the back (2 kids so necessity).
Good grunt in the engine (2 ltr diesel).
Can't say it is the best car I ever had (I miss my audi TT) but far from the worst.

JoeA3

Arthur Daley wrote: »

The Insignia was a little bit desirable though to be fair to them no? Good looking car with a half decent interior for the price. I mean compared to all the other mid range boxes Opel/ Vauxhall put out since the early 80s.

Yeah it was quite good looking but I don't think its aged well. Bit frumpy looking now imo. I saw one of the new models (facelift) at the weekend and its no looker I'm afraid. Looked quite awkward.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I've driven Insignias since they came out and have never had a single issue with them.
Spec is excellent for the money.

The new one is out, test drove one on Monday. An 8 year old is a couple of restylings back but my 2010 model was an excellent car.

rushfan

I'm on my second Insignia, only issue was a problem with the boot lock mechanism on the first one. Sorted out under warranty. Good solid reliable car.

scooby77

Colleague has 11 reg diesel, bought it 2 years with over 90k miles. Touching 120 k miles now. No issues except one rear coil spring spotted in NCT. Full service history though. He doesn't love it, but thinks good family car- and was cheap to buy, and cheap to run. ..so far.

Royale with Cheese

Not that I'd trust a word he said, but I went to view a car off the naas road recently and the dealer while making small talk said there are a large amount of clocked ones going around at the moment. More than other makes. I was viewing a completely different car so it was nothing to do with the sale.

kirving

I think they tend to save a bit of cash on the interior. Not at the quality levels of the Germans, and the Koreans are now at the same level if not better.

Little things annoy me though. My sister's Corsa for example doesn't have a double-click window button to bring it up or down the full way. Instead, it has an internal timer so that you can use the auto function if you hold it for more than a second (but less than two seconds in which case it thinks you want to roll it half way down).

Huge cost saving over millions of cars as the little buttons are more complicated than you'd think. Probably more reliable too, but I really can't forgive basic functions like this not being perfectly thought out, crisp and executed well.

liam7831

I have one as a company car bought new since 2014, 140k on it now hasnt given any trouble in fairness except the bluetooth can be a bit gammy sometimes. Due a new one in a few months

TigerTim

I was interested in buying one a few months ago. I spoke to two mechanics I know who work in different garages. One said the Insignia was the "greatest ball of sh!te that was ever made". The other said it was a fabulous car, his garage had sold a good few & no issues. Make of that what you will. I didn't buy an Insignia after all.

T.

TheShow

beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think its a nice looking motor, although the estate has a big arse. was seriously looking at them recently but mileage is sky high on any decent ones, better option in the UK, in terms of spec and value, but all that hassle that involved too. Had a look at the new model out in Airside yesterday and I do think its nice looking. I'd imagine one of the reasons for attractive pricing is sheer volume of them on the market. What put me off ultimately was while the price seems attractive now, resale value when you go to change it in a few years will most likely be pretty poor.
e.g. i picked up an 09 focus in 2015 for 8k and getting 5.5 on a trade in for it now, which is pretty good i reckon considering i've put 30k miles on the clock.

No car is faultless. Just make sure you go in with your eyes open.

road_high

Bandana boy wrote: »

The Insignia is one of three options for reps in our company
Every rep who got one has sworn never again.
Complaints range from hard work to just looks cheap and tacky inside.

My last company car was one and it was one of the best cars I ever had...it wasn't bog standard spec though and was very reliable.

road_high

rushfan wrote: »

I'm on my second Insignia, only issue was a problem with the boot lock mechanism on the first one. Sorted out under warranty. Good solid reliable car.

Same thing happened mine. Was only fault in over 3 years. Once serviced to the letter I reckon they're spot on

The high horse brigade

My old fella has a 132 one, horrible, poverty spec with a tacky interior and it sounds like a tractor

road_high

They're desperate in the poverty spec alright with plastic wheel trims and grey colour.
Think the 13 facelift dropped that real basic spec and also improved the styling a fair bit outside and inside

The high horse brigade

road_high wrote: »

They're desperate in the poverty spec alright with plastic wheel trims and grey colour.
Think the 13 facelift dropped that real basic spec and also improved the styling a fair bit outside and inside

I was amazed at some of the omissions in a 132. No parking sensors, no reversing camera, no keyless start, no sat nav or any screen for that matter. Maybe it's the older pre facelift model.

road_high

The high horse brigade wrote: »

I was amazed at some of the omissions in a 132. No parking sensors, no reversing camera, no keyless start, no sat nav or any screen for that matter. Maybe it's the older pre facelift model.

Sounds like the S or SC model. Had the SRI Ltd Edition and it was a very good spec compared to its peers like the Passat.
The facelift has a much improved dash with less fussy buttons and displays. Cleaner and fresher outside as well

bazz26

The top spec Elite model has some decent equipment in it and can be bought for small money these days if you go back the years. Pre late 2014 2.0 diesel engines were a bit rough being reworked versions of the old Fiat 1.9 multi-jet engines from the mid 2000s. M32 gearboxes gave their fair share of problems in these cars too.

road_high

bazz26 wrote: »

The top spec Elite model has some decent equipment in it and can be bought for small money these days if you go back the years. Pre late 2014 2.0 diesel engines were a bit rough being reworked versions of the old Fiat 1.9 multi-jet engines from the mid 2000s. M32 gearboxes gave their fair share of problems in these cars too.

The 160 brake is a bit of a wolf in sheeps clothing and worth looking out for for the extra punch. Bit gruff down the range alright

Avatar MIA

+1 on the looks, always thought a nice looking car. New model looks pretty as well.

Don't get the ad pushing the On Star thing. If that's what you plug to sell a car, it's not a good sign.

NIMAN

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Don't get the ad pushing the On Star thing. If that's what you plug to sell a car, it's not a good sign.

Probably hoping to attract the Facebook/device/smartphone obsessed buyers.

grogi

CiniO wrote: »

How are petrol models?
Are they suffering same problems?

Anything with decent performance will come with M32 gearbox as well. Since 2011, when the used oil was changed, they seem to be a bit better though...

Stallingrad

Cracking value in the UK of you can live with Vauxhall badges.

Pawwed Rig

Stallingrad wrote: »

Cracking value in the UK of you can live with Vauxhall badges.

That's where we got ours. 2010 with still only 50,000 miles on the clock. Exchange rate at the moment is very favourable too

RobAMerc

As with most GM products these are generally poor copies of cars that are properly engineered by the likes of Ford bmw etc. GM generally sell cars cheap in large numbers to people who don't know the difference or care like fleets. Second hand, where people tend to be buying for themselves, they struggle as people are a little more discerning. If all you want is something to get you from a to b with as little hassle as possible they may be alright, but they don't seem to be able to do that particularly well either, with reliability issues.
PSA taking them over has potential to fix the first issue perhaps. Don't know about the second.

Stallingrad

1 year old Insignia with the highly regarded 1.6 Whisper diesel for €17500. Hard to beat that kind of value.

https://www.motorpoint.co.uk/vehicleadvert/vauxhal/insignia%20diesel%20sports%20tourer/726861

You could pay €10,000 extra for the same car here!

JonnyM

Have a 2012 Sri import with approx 130kms on it. Have no mechanical issues with it only small prob was boot switch went which I replaced myself very easy and water accumulating in doors so just pulled gromets out!

Great size boot which is needed as I have 2 kids and a dog he gets put in boot as it's hatchback so can take off the boot cover.

Great poke too in engine and very happy with it to date.

mojesius

I've an 3 door astra that I need to sell due to baby on the way and am thinking about at a 4/5 yr old insignia for space. Good to hear a few here recommend them as a family car.

ThisRegard

The high horse brigade wrote: »

My old fella has a 132 one, horrible, poverty spec with a tacky interior and it sounds like a tractor

That's the problem though. The poverty spec, inside and out, looks so much worse than a reasonably spec'd one. We had a poverty spec company car for a while and inside and outside weren't great (trim and small wheels look terrible on one). That got switched for an SRi and it's like a completely different car, aesthetically and to drive.

Stallingrad

^ +1. Have you sat in a boggo Passat? Grim.

Base cars only exist to get you into the showroom, where you buy the mid range model.

ThisRegard

Stallingrad wrote: »

^ +1. Have you sat in a boggo Passat? Grim.

Base cars only exist to get you into the showroom, where you buy the mid range model.

Yip! When shopping around it was down to a Passat or Insignia, sat in all sorts from the cheapo to the full cream leather. Friend has a mid range one, they're still not great interiors.

Brian?

Stallingrad wrote: »

^ +1. Have you sat in a boggo Passat? Grim.

Base cars only exist to get you into the showroom, where you buy the mid range model.

A base model Passat is horrendous. But there are plenty on the road. Awful things. Same with any VW, the Golf Bluemotion is probably the worst.

Brian?

Brian? wrote: »

A base model Passat is horrendous. But there are plenty on the road. Awful things. Same with any VW, the Golf Bluemotion is probably the worst.

Aren't Highlines etc available with the Bluemotion pack/badging? I thought the bluemotion is more a designation of claimed efficiency rather than a spec level?

Toyotafanboi

Yeah, bluemotion is a range of engines. A trendline is a basic model Passat.

JohnBoy26

RobAMerc wrote: »

As with most GM products these are generally poor copies of cars that are properly engineered by the likes of Ford bmw etc. GM generally sell cars cheap in large numbers to people who don't know the difference or care like fleets. Second hand, where people tend to be buying for themselves, they struggle as people are a little more discerning. If all you want is something to get you from a to b with as little hassle as possible they may be alright, but they don't seem to be able to do that particularly well either, with reliability issues.
PSA taking them over has potential to fix the first issue perhaps. Don't know about the second.

Im no fan of opel but lol :pac:

Brian?

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Yeah, bluemotion is a range of engines. A trendline is a basic model Passat.

Didn't know that. Don't really follow the spec levels on cars, never have.

A mate of mine had a Golf as a company car, back windows weren't even electric. Horrible inside.

I buy 9-10 year old petrol cars and make them last. I don't even look at Passats anymore. Always disappointing on features.

Cordell

For some reason Opel has a bad rep, but it's in now way in a lower league that Ford and the likes. Bad engineering? Yeah, lol, the infamous Opel 320d N47 engine, or the oil thirsty Opel Passat 2.0 TDI engine, or those failing injectors in the diesel Opel Mondeos. Really.

beauf

Brian? wrote: »

Didn't know that. Don't really follow the spec levels on cars, never have.

A mate of mine had a Golf as a company car, back windows weren't even electric. Horrible inside.

I buy 9-10 year old petrol cars and make them last. I don't even look at Passats anymore. Always disappointing on features.

Less to fix.