Got one and love it.

**whitey2** · 2nd May 2010, 13:18

Hi guys, I joined a wee while ago whilst researching my next car. I was driving a Mazda RX8 and was looking for something cheaper to run and more practical whilst still looking quite smart. After a lot of looking I stumbled across the Vectra SRI which was a car I had previously not considered (wanted something a bit more flash if I'm honest) but couldn't ignore the value for money they represent. Once I started looking I was sold on the idea as I was not going to be able to get close to a vectra for the money anywhere else, the closest being Mondeo or the French, neither of which appealed to me. Whilst doing my searching I started to build a 'want list' which mainly included built in nav and the exterior pack with 18's (19's were to thin on rubber, too expensive to re shoe and too VXR wannabe for me)
Whilst originally sold on a 150 diesel I stumbled across the 1.8 VVT and was surprised to see its official figures on MPG were only 10 less across the board away from the oil burner whilst being a good 2 grand cheaper for the newer model's. A bit more research appeared to reveal that the VVT had less problems than the diesel so it started to look like I was going to go for the petrol, especially whilst I don’t do a massive amount of mileage (10-12k a year). Whilst still trying to sell my RX8 I found what looked like a real bargain, 1.8 VVT SRI XP NAV registered 31/12/07 with 30k on the clock in black for 7k

. Whilst I always vowed never to own a black car again I convinced myself it would be worth it and that they do look good in black when shiny. I tried to convince the dealer to take mine in PX but he couldn't offer what I wanted so I reduced the price by a couple of hundred quid and sold it the next day

. So I was straight on the phone to the dealer and a viewing was arranged for the same day. Saw it, loved it, bought it so now the proud owner of this lovely car and have been for the last 2 days.
It feels solid and well made and I cant believe how efficient this little engine is on such a big car (got 55mpg on the way home from dealership and averaging 45 mpg on my 15 mile drive to work

, I was getting 20mpg max from my RX8. The nav makes the inside look soooooooooo much nicer than with the 80's style orange led screen and find it really easy to use with great features. Sorry to have gone on but I really do love this car and am far more impressed with it than I thought I might be. I'll be back to ask more questions in the near future but I think this is enough from me for now so will leave by saying hello and goodbye !