Southern reg Vauxhalls

bs2014 · 01-02-2014 7:49pm #1

Am I just pedantic or am I the only one here would never buy an imported vauxhall, the badge alongside the southern plate just looks **** and stands out like a mile! Without a doubt, the vauxhalls are better specced and have a tastier engines ect, with SRI spec easily sourced. Somehow, people seem to drive them oblivious to the badge. I've nothing against imports as per say, would drive any brand import except vauxhall. My father is the same, when we bought our astra, we had to wait months on an nearly new "opel" to come available, with a lower spec and engine as opposed to an immediate available vauxhall!

MuppetCheck · 01-02-2014 7:53pm

They can be had very cheaply in the UK. It wouldn't really bother me to be honest, you can always swap the badge and be done with it if it did bother you. The back of AN astra means you'll have to buy a new boot lid switch alright but others are a straight swap.

Specs are actually slightly higher on the Irish ones compared to the UK equivalent. There are one or two models extra there though and they do special editions too which rarely happens here.

Anan1 · 01-02-2014 7:54pm

As with driving a car in a colour I don't particularly like, it all comes down to price.

Leonard Hofstadter · 02-02-2014 12:55am

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Specs are actually slightly higher on the Irish ones compared to the UK equivalent. There are one or two models extra there though and they do special editions too which rarely happens here.

Thing is if you were to look for one on the second hand market, the spec would be much better in Britain. They'll buy 1.6, 1.4 and 1.6 turbo petrols or 2.0 CDTI diesels in SRi or Elite spec. The Irish will buy whatever spec is the lowest, with the boggo NA 1.4 petrol, or, since diesel is all the rage these days, the 1.3 CDTi with its miserable 95 bhp. An Irish spec SRi may be better than a British spec one, but you won't find many on the emerald isle whereas there's no shortage of them in the UK, not least because Vauxhalls are considerably more popular there than Opels are in Ireland.

bs2014 · 02-02-2014 12:57am

You summed up the Vauxhall/Opel product mix essentially in a nutshell!

Supergurrier · 02-02-2014 1:00am

Oh the black and tan shame of aircon and cruise control !

Cee-Jay-Cee · 02-02-2014 1:06am

As soon as I see an Opel, I think, old man in poverty spec car. It's a horrible brand and made worse by the irish insistency on buying the lowest powered engine with the most basic spec so that they can save a few hundred euros and without consideration for the huge depreciation the cars will have taken when it comes to sell. I wouldn't touch an Opel to save my life, they truly are one if the dullest cars with an equally dull name, on the market.

MuppetCheck · 02-02-2014 2:00am

captainspeed wrote: »

Thing is if you were to look for one on the second hand market, the spec would be much better in Britain. They'll buy 1.6, 1.4 and 1.6 turbo petrols or 2.0 CDTI diesels in SRi or Elite spec. The Irish will buy whatever spec is the lowest, with the boggo NA 1.4 petrol, or, since diesel is all the rage these days, the 1.3 CDTi with its miserable 95 bhp. An Irish spec SRi may be better than a British spec one, but you won't find many on the emerald isle whereas there's no shortage of them in the UK, not least because Vauxhalls are considerably more popular there than Opels are in Ireland.

Of course they will be - it's a much larger market. From using UK forums a lot the SRI and Elite spec models are in the minority and there are a surprising amount of basic N/A petrol too. The specs aren't as high as you'd think - seems bluetooth, xenons and shiny wheels are the big ones with the odd nav. Par for the course on all makes.

What winds me up about specs here is they charge for bluebook. They do in the UK too but it should be standard.

corsav6 · 02-02-2014 2:06am

We have 2 vauxhalls, prefer the spec and the badge is far nicer.
OP, are you saying you and your dad actually waited to spend more money on a lower spec Opel just to avoid the Vauxhall badge?

MuppetCheck · 02-02-2014 2:09am

corsav6 wrote: »

We have 2 vauxhalls, prefer the spec and the badge is far nicer.
OP, are you saying you and your dad actually waited to spend more money on a lower spec Opel just to avoid the Vauxhall badge?

I don't know why you'd do that. Big discounts on one should be expected.

HJL · 02-02-2014 2:10am

bs2014 wrote: »

Am I just pedantic

Yes.

Vauxhall viva la vida.

Cogsy88 · 02-02-2014 2:13am

Stay away from both opel and vauxhall. There rubbish.

lomb · 02-02-2014 10:55am

Was opel always seen as dirt though? Back in the eighties they had the Ascona, Monza, Senator etc. They were fairly sought after cars. I think at one point was Opel the biggest seller in Ireland?

ThisRegard · 02-02-2014 11:21am

I never understand why threads like this continuously come up. People wouldn't drive a car because of a bit of plastic but would happily drive the same car with a different bit of plastic?

jacksie66 · 02-02-2014 11:24am

This post has been deleted.

Quazzie · 02-02-2014 11:24am

Buy a Vauxhall, then go on e-bay and spend about €50 on Opel badges and an Opel grill and you get a better specced "Opel" for smaller money.

Simples

Leonard Hofstadter · 02-02-2014 1:07pm

lomb wrote: »

Was opel always seen as dirt though? Back in the eighties they had the Ascona, Monza, Senator etc. They were fairly sought after cars. I think at one point was Opel the biggest seller in Ireland?

Opel in Ireland has a much better reputation than Vauxhall does in the UK, remember all those motoring articles (especially in Top Gear) about how bad 90s Vauxhalls were? Especially the original Vectra (or second generation Vectra for Opel buyers).

Thing is, Vauxhall has a far higher share of the market in Britain than it does in Ireland, so reputation only counts for so much, Vauxhall is number 2 in Britain, Opel is far lower down the sales charts in Ireland...

corsav6 · 02-02-2014 1:15pm

Cogsy88 wrote: »

Stay away from both opel and vauxhall. There rubbish.

What would you recommend then?

Cienciano · 02-02-2014 1:19pm

Why op? What's the problem with them?

Doylers · 02-02-2014 1:50pm

I bought an 05 astra there in November, €2600 and I'll tell you one thing by far better condition then the crap you see for sale down here. Not one scratch, interior spotless, air con, cruise control and a full service history.

Cee-Jay-Cee · 02-02-2014 1:54pm

Doylers wrote: »

I bought an 05 astra there in November, €2600 and I'll tell you one thing by far better condition then the crap you see for sale down here. Not one scratch, interior spotless, air con, cruise control and a full service history.

While I agree that vauxhalls are generally better spec'd cars, a pre-owned car is only as good as the last owner kept it. There are plenty of very well kept Opels in Ireland.

keithclancy · 02-02-2014 2:01pm

Its a bit weird since its an American owned German company.

Cleveland Hot Pocket · 02-02-2014 2:27pm

keithclancy wrote: »

Its a bit weird since its an American owned German company.

+1,Seeing as they are both GM cars designed on the same platform, a little badge and some better spec wouldn't be a reason not to buy a vauxhall.

JohnBoy26 · 02-02-2014 2:41pm

captainspeed wrote: »

Opel in Ireland has a much better reputation than Vauxhall does in the UK, remember all those motoring articles (especially in Top Gear) about how bad 90s Vauxhalls were? Especially the original Vectra (or second generation Vectra for Opel buyers).

Thing is, Vauxhall has a far higher share of the market in Britain than it does in Ireland, so reputation only counts for so much, Vauxhall is number 2 in Britain, Opel is far lower down the sales charts in Ireland...

Yes Vauxhall faired very badly in the top gear satisfaction surveys back in the day, which wasn't surprising really when you think of the muck cars they were churning out at the time.

Toyota and Honda were at the most satisfying to own in the UK at the time.

ba_barabus · 02-02-2014 3:27pm

I've owned two Opels and broke neither. I've only had similar success with Toyota. While they're bland and built to be a form of transport I've never found them to be a bad car.

bs2014 · 02-02-2014 3:46pm

My parents have had 5 opels and drove opel this past 16 years, never given a days trouble any of them, the thing is, I somewhat like them, but I want to like vauxhalls, but despite sri spec ect, the badge just irritates me!

MuppetCheck · 02-02-2014 3:52pm

To be honest I wouldn't take SRI as being a high spec car. It's alright but there's nothing at all fantastic about the standard equipment. You could have a lower spec car with a few options and it would be a nicer car.

On autotrader in the UK I'd look for the engine I want and ignore the spec as they tend to go for options which is rare here as people usually change the colour and that's it.

You could also go the irmshcher route and deranged to feck

Stallingrad · 02-02-2014 5:00pm

bs2014 wrote: »

My parents have had 5 opels and drove opel this past 16 years, never given a days trouble any of them, the thing is, I somewhat like them, but I want to like vauxhalls, but despite sri spec ect, the badge just irritates me!

No one has driven any car/cars for 16 years without a days trouble!

MuppetCheck · 02-02-2014 5:06pm

Stallingrad wrote: »

No one has driven any car/cars for 16 years without a days trouble!

Could well be the warranty idea - people don't seem to count it as trouble when it doesn't cost them:D

ThisRegard · 02-02-2014 6:37pm

MuppetCheck wrote: »

To be honest I wouldn't take SRI as being a high spec car. It's alright but there's nothing at all fantastic about the standard equipment. You could have a lower spec car with a few options and it would be a nicer car.

The SRi has different suspension and seats amongst other things, it's not all about the equipment.

MuppetCheck · 02-02-2014 6:45pm

ThisRegard wrote: »

The SRi has different suspension and seats amongst other things, it's not all about the equipment.

The seats can be had on most models too if you look about. Get one with leather and it has the multi adjustable ones which are sport seats. I agree on the suspension difference as it transforms the handling.

Southern reg Vauxhalls

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