Description
I have owned this car from new since first registration on 01. 05. 98.
It’s in extremely good condition and has never been involved in any kind of accident, so all body panels are undamaged and original, as is the excellent paintwork and interior. There are no rips, tears or obvious wear to the upholstery, and the footwells and boot have always been protected by OEM mats and a boot liner. The roof lining is just showing signs of sagging above the offside passenger seat but nothing serious.
The near-side sill has a small (3-4 cm) area of bubbling at the end, by the rear wheel arch, where it’s starting to corrode, but there is no other area on the car for concern.
Mechanically, the car has no known issues, apart from the air-conditioning which is non functioning.
The Vectra has a full service history, and has only ever been serviced by two agencies. The first was Northern Motors, a Vauxhall franchise in Harrow from whom I bought the car new. They looked after the car until they ceased trading in 2016, losing my service book in the process. Thereafter, and to date, a local independent garage has done an exemplary job in maintaining the car.
Despite no longer having a Service Book, I have full records of all work carried out on the car from new, together with tax discs, and bought sundry parts, eg tyres, battery etc.
In the past 4 years, including servicing and MoTs, I have spent nearly £4000 on the car. Replacements parts include:-
1. Brake Discs and Pads. Front and Rear. 2019/ 20
2. Timing Belt and Water Pump. 2021
3. Brake Pipes. Front to Rear. 2021
4. Radiator. (No receipt for this). 2021
5. Centre Wheel Caps. 2022
6. Centre Exhaust. 2022
7. Ignition Coil Pack, Leads and Spark Plugs. 2023
The last service was on 28. 03. 23
MoT to 27. 03. 24 (no advisories)
The dash LCD display for the clock, outside temperature and radio is defective. The LCDS don’t all work. Weirdly they show more information when the outside air temperature is very cold than when it’s hot. Doesn’t stop the radio or clock working though, nor the OAT. They just need to be ‘interpreted’.
The radio aerial works but is starting to look tired.
There are a few OEM parts as well, inc., 2 Keys, Instruction Manuals (Car and Radio), Fuses, Bonnet Badge, Mats, Wheel Centres, Windscreen trim, Vectra Tyre Valve Caps, and an original advertising brochure. I still really love this car and if I had somewhere to store it, I probably wouldn’t be selling it, even if the ULEZ does hit my London Borough soon.
The car appealed to me because it was a relatively basic car, not too expensive, but with a big engine. Something of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Rare in 1968, and even more so today. Vauxhall produced the Vectra V6 ‘Arctic’ as a limited edition and it ticked all the boxes for me. No unnecessary ‘gizmos’, but good acceleration for the time (0-60mph in 8secs) and oodles of torque for overtaking on motorways.
That still applies today. It’s comfortable too, and being a hatchback, swallows large items with ease.
The engine is sound, doesn’t exhibit any smoke, and is quiet. The body doesn’t creak or rattle, but there is some ‘tramp’ over rougher roads, and some wind noise is apparent at motorway speeds, (possibly as a result of three windscreen replacements over the years) but otherwise the car is a lovely long distance cruiser (Cornwall last year with no problems). The manual gearbox is smooth but doesn’t like to be hurried when changing gear. 3rd gear is very like having an automatic around town because of the torque!
It’s my belief that Jeremy Clarkson’s scathing opinion of the Vectra when it first came out (and those motoring journalists who jumped on the same bandwagon) contributed significantly to the lack of enthusiasm it held for ordinary drivers. But that wasn’t the case for fleet buyers. It sold in thousands. Besides which, the V6 wasn’t the model which JC originally drove, so that model is hugely underestimated even today.
There are only around 7 Vectra V6 Arctics (excluding SORN) currently showing on the ‘How Many Left’ website, so I would imagine they won’t be available for too much longer.
I hope the photos give a good impression of the car. I’ve tried to be as honest as possible about the condition but will answer any questions left outstanding.
One last thing just remembered; a recent glitch concerning the central locking. It works alright remotely from both keys, but the driver’s door remote operation is intermittent and the door frequently has to be locked or unlocked by turning the key in the driver’s door lock. Doing this automatically locks or unlocks the other doors, and the boot and petrol cap. Probably an easy fix for someone good with auto electrics, but I didn’t want to risk the door card getting damaged when I was about to sell the car
I hope whoever decides to buy this car will enjoy and care for it as much as I have.
