Marks 2007 Vauxhall Vectra SRi 1.8 VVTi in Metro Blue Diary

[MarkRorrison]

I bought my Vectra Sri in May 2014 I got it from Bradford. It had 73K on the clock and only two previous owners. I checked out the MOT history and it had only ever failed for worn tyres so it had clearly never been subjected to a hard life.

When I first saw it - it spoke to me lol I knew it was a good car despite that it had a few dents here and there and two bid ones on the drivers side near the fuel flap - it looked liked some tried to refuel it and dropped the fuel dispenser against the car causing two large dents but the paint was broken.

It drove well on the test drive but felt a little under powered despite having a Vectra B 2.2 - it felt a little reluctant to gain pace. On the way back to the dealer the EML lit up most people would run a mile and when the guy who came on the test drive said to its colleague "I thought you sorted that light" any one else would have jumped in their car and left but still I felt a connection to this car.

I was assured the EML would be remedied and I paid a deposit.

Picked it up at the weekend drove beautifully drove out of Bradford to Ikea at Leeds convoying my girlfriend never got to Ikea before the EML lit up. Car felt down on power but I got home.

Rang the dealer explaining the car wasn't right despite their "efforts" to put it right.

Took the car back to Bradford and got the train home.

I wasn't overly worried as I really liked the car and felt they would sort it.

They told me their mechanic will check the timing over and ensure the problem is permanently remedied.

Went back on the Saturday picked it up car drove great no warning lights went home.

Went out in the car the next day with the family down to Stafford - Air con felt like a regas would be beneficial but it was coolish.

Got stuck on the M6 in a traffic jam on the way back. After a while the EML light lit up - heart sank.

Did the pedal test and found out the cause of the EML was the intake VVTi cam solenoid was faulty.

At this point thanks to the good people on here I thought I will sort this myself - the dealer had replaced a Cam Shaft Position sensor when I returned it to them the faulty one in a box in the glove box.

I bought a Cam Phaser Solenoid off the Bay fitted it myself had my mechanic delete all codes. Started the engine drove off and a smile was on my face the car shifted down the street and the EML never returned.

[MarkRorrison]

First pic when I bought her

vec1.jpg

[MarkRorrison]

So after just a few visits to this site the realisation set in that this would be an easy car to mod and not too expensive either. So I decided to change the front fog surrounds from the matt black ones that were appropriate for the SRi to the Signum chrome surround ones which brighten the front bumper and echo the look of the headlights with the circular chrome accents. They only lasted a few days when a visit to the Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield I parked up whilst a guy with his girlfriend and child parked about 30 feet away in a Vectra SRi in they grey/blue colour they did them in (cant remember the name) I noticed the driver looked over and when I looked back looked away didn't think much of it that was til I got home, where we used to live there was a car park I parked in next to our house I always looked back at my car when I walk away from it and noticed two gaping holes in the front bumper where my chrome surrounds had previously sat. I bought them new of the Bay for £68 and had to buy another set - never been to Meadowhall since. Still love the Signum surrounds to this day.

[MarkRorrison]

Next I heard that a CD70 was probably the easiest mod to do to a Vectra C and many had done it before - so I purchased a CD70 with colour screen and RGB cable and the widescreen centre vents. Sadly there was a crack to the CID surround adjacent to one of the vents. I bought a set of four vents of the Bay with no broken slats and they were mint from a 09MY car. Fitted a Fakra antenna in the space where a dashboard speaker would have been fitted on better models. The CD70 came with the factory sat nav aerial but was nervous about loosening the roof lining. Some days it can take several minutes for the system to pick up a GPS signal. But on the whole it works great never owned a car with integral sat nav looks good pity the maps look like my 4 year old son drew them but I like it and it works. I read that the standard aerial isn't good enough for the CD70 radio but it appears to work ok.