Hello From Hungary... Soon, Maybe Goodbye to my Vectra.

[Kill_Rill]

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Hello Everyone,

Let me introduce myself. About me: you can call me Rill. I am an American guy living in Hungary, been here since 2014, so 9 years.


TLDR: I just bought a 2007 Vectra 3.0 V6 CDTI. I had the car for less than 4 weeks and this car is awesome and beautiful, but it is apparently full of problems, and it is about to make all of my hairs grey and trigger male pattern balding.

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THEFULL STORY:

Recently,I bought a used 2007 Opel Vectra C 3.0 V6 CDTI Diesel. Possibly in the Exclusivtrim, but I am not certain of the trim; I have no idea. I do know that the carcomes with plenty amenities, like AFL xenon, leather heated seats, CID with satnav and Bluetooth phone connectivity. I bought it on 2023.11.17, so I have onlyhad the car in my hands for the last 3 weeks.

Iliked the Vectra when I bought it, it drove LIKE A DREAM, I loved it when Idrove it home. It purrs and it is such a lovely drive, and out of all the cars,I have driven in my life, I like it the most.

However,chances are I will have to return this car because I am being told by a fewmechanics that this car is a lemon, and it is not worth the cost of the repairs.Since I bought the car, it has been a bit of **** show since I got it. I lovethe car, and I would love to keep it, but chances are, that I might return it.

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Warning light out the wazoo!

Tobe fair, I am a complete newbie when it comes to auto mechanic repair stuff. Tome, the car seems perfectly normal, it drives normal, it has a huge amount ofpower when I put my foot down, it does not make any weird noises, it doesn’tblow smoke out of the exhaust, and it doesn't stink or smell weird. The carseems so perfectly normal on the surface. If you asked me, I would tell you thecar is fine.

But(big but) since I bought the car, I took it to a few mechanics (4 to be exact)and I have collected a long list of issues. Details below. Additionally, I alsoasked for the opinion of 2 mechanics over the phone, one is a hold high schoolfriend, and the other was the mechanic of my good colleague, and they bothadvised me to return the car. All in all, it seems like every mechanic I havespoken to thinks the cars has more problems than what the car is worth, and itsounds like the car is possibly a bottomless money pit.


Belowis a summary of the faults found by some of the mechanics:

Ifyou see (…?...) it means that I cannot read the handwriting of the mechanic onthe paperwork that they gave me. But here I transcribed all of the detailsabout the car that I possibly could.


Examination #1
Kwik Fit FreeTechnical Examination 2023.11.23 Thursday

Listof Faults

1. Replace Front Axle Bushings
2. Replace Rear Axle Bushings
3. Replace Front Axle Shock Absorber
4. Fix transmission oil leak
5. Change Motor Oil !!!NOTE: I have since changed the oil at a brand service
6. Replace brake fluid
7. Change Pollen Filter
8. Replace Front Wiper Blade

Auto MechanicsComments

“Serviceis required, see ‘InSP’” !!!NOTE: I took it to brand service, since theychanged the oil InSP is gone.

“Renovationof the rear drivetrain axle is required (All the suspension arm bushings aretorn).”

Therear [motor mount(?)] is broken

Oilleak : (…?...), (…?...) Front-Rear, (…?...), (…?...)

"Leftand Right side rear suspension arm bushing are torn"

"FrontRight-side shock absorber (…?...)"

ExhaustPipe "Strongly corroded"

Brakefluid quality "Dirty (…?...)"

!!!NOTE:On the 26th I discovered the coolant reservoir was well below the 'cold' mark,it seems almost completely empty. Somehow, I just noticed this, and themechanics that checked the car days earlier didn't notice this. Weird. Eitherway, I refilled the tank. And I have to add some coolant like every 2-3 days orso, just a little bit to get it up to the 'cold' line.

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Examination #2
Kwik Fit FreeTechnical Examination (At a Different Branch Location) 2023.11.28 Tuesday

Listof Faults

1. Replace Rear Axle Bushings
2. Replace Front Axle Shock Absorber
3. Fix leak
4. Change Motor Oil !!!NOTE: I have since changed the oil at a brand service
5. Replace brake fluid

AutoMechanics Comments

"Righthalf axle outer rubber CV Boot"

"Coolantleak"

"Reardrivetrain rear steering knuckle"

"Bushingsworn"

"Leftand Right side rear suspension arm bushing are torn"

"Rightrear brake grabbing/binding"

"Rearfloor panels heavily corroded" (Rust)

Theguy showed me his BOSCH computer and showed me that the car had a huge numberof trouble codes, 22 to be exact.

Numberof Diagnostic Trouble Codes Found:

DriveRelated

TRANSMISSIONCONTROLLER
Automatic gearbox x1


SUSPENSION ANDSTEERING CONTROLLER
Steering x3
Suspension controlx1


ABS
Brake Control Unitx2


TIRE MONITOR SYSTEMTPMS
Tire pressuremonitor system x3

Non-driverelated (x12)


CENTRAL LOCKELECTRONICS
Rear central lockelectronics x5
Central lockelectronics x1


COMFORT
Steering ColumnSwitches Group x2
Front Passenger sidedoor control unit x2


PARKING AID
Parking distancemonitor x1


POWER SEATS
Seat control unit x1

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20231125_123140_Rust on Right Side Rear.jpg

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Examination #3
Opel Brand ServiceExamination 2023.12.04

Paraphrasing,because the guy would not write this stuff down, I asked, but he said hecouldn't write this down, but he said: Swirl flaps in the intake system arestuck open. It can’t be fixed at this brand service because the car too old andthe parts are not readily available. Try to find an expert who can fix it.




Examination #4
Fix & Go GarageExamination 2023.12.06

Comments:

INTHE CASE OF INSPECTION, WE CANNOT CHECK THE CONDITION OF THE TIMING BELT!

1. Several error messages are displayed on the dashboard (among others: check engine, ESP, active chassis error, steering servo)
2. Oil pan unprofessionally patched
3. Diesel and soot leaks are visible at 6 fuel atomizer tips
4. Engine oil leaking at several points on the engine
5. All 4 intelligent shock absorbers are leaking oil and the shock absorber bodies are heavily corroded
6. The 4 spiral springs suspension coils are broken
7. The rear seals of the 2 front swingarms are broken
8. The fastening of the CV Boot of the right front half-axle is not correct
9. Rust starting at the 2 rear lifting points
10. The 2 rear long-length wishbones are broken
11. The 6 bushings of the rear wishbones are broken
12. There is a coolant leak on the left side of the engine at the gearbox fitting
13. The lower intake pipe of the air filter housing is missing

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Andthe cherry on top of all this, is that this latest mechanic broke my foldingside wing mirrors while doing his examination. Now the driver's side mirror iscompletely messed up and does not fold properly, and if I press the button tofold the mirrors the motor inside the mirror does not move or spin at all. Itwas not like that when I sent the car there to him, the mirrors were able tofold every time I pushed the button inside the car hold the button on the keyfor 1 second.

TLDR:I just bought a 2007 Vectra 3.0 V6 CDTI. I had the car for less than 4 weeks and this car is awesome and beautiful, but it is apparently full of problems, and it is about to make all of myhairs grey and trigger male pattern balding.

[Kill_Rill]

Z30DT Isuzu DMAX Engine looking a little sooty. I tried to give it a wipe.

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Before and after.

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Either way, I checked with an OBD Scanner and I and have been getting an issue seeming related to the IAT.

P1110 [0x1110]
IAT Sensor (D/C)Open/Short
Engine High IntakeAir Temperature Condition

So, I cleaned the MAF IAT and MAP

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Cleaning the sensors made ZERO difference, the trouble code is still present, and the check engine light is still present.

[northpole]

MAF is probably dead... leave it disconnected see if the car runs better.. if it does replace the MAF.

[HugoF]

Welcome here anyway!

[Kill_Rill]

MAF is probably dead... leave it disconnected see if the car runs better.. if it does replace the MAF.

I will give it try.

But, in any case the Opel Brand service said I got error code P1110-62 and that means "swirl flap stuck open (cylinder bank 1)"

There are saying that I need to replace the intake manifold.

[northpole]

oww yes if you got p1110-62 it deffo is the intake flap that is causing the problem... now it could be as simple as a clean up of the intake and it works again...to be more specific, look in the z30dt section. I'm quite sure I've seen someone open it and fixed the problem by opening the circuitboard encasing to find oil in it, a clean up with an electrical cleaner later and all was good, but if that fails you'll have to replace it.

[horaa]

Hi, your monkey, sorry, mechanic saying that vectra is a lemon is full of sh!t. It needs a bit of love that's for sure but all cars requires love at some age. That rust is fixable but that brake line for sure needs a closer inspection and maybe having a segment replaced since it's a but crunchy. The shock absorbers can be replaced with refurbished ones from poland(that's what i did, send the old ones and you get refurbished ones for 100 something euros). Everything else is fixable if there's a proper mechanic. Don't worry about the mirror, jiggle it a bit untill it clicks back into place and forget about folding them in the future.
When i bought the signum i had a whole bunch of problems due to no having any maintenance at all untill i bought it. There are still some gremlins left but it doesn't require immediate attention. Just to start with a few, vacuum pump gasket leaking and it was replaced then it started leaking aswell so i had to put some silicone on it to stop leaking, one front bearing, discs and pads, full suspension all around(shock absorbers and springs...), timing kit, clutch twice because the first monkey installed wrong the gearbox seal so it leaked, one window crane, one driveshaft boot clamp, coolant leak on the T segment of LPG, rear engine mount, i would say enough but some cars aren't lemons but they do require some money to have them driveable

[Kill_Rill]

Update for Vectra-C folks: Hi all, I decided to keep the car.

I will hire a mechanic and try to fix the A). intake manifold swirl flap issue (P1110-62) which causes the EML check engine light, B). The steering angle sensor "invalid data from the SAS" (U2143-71) [which is triggering the ESP light as well as the power steering wheel light], I also have a CDC warning light on the dash caused by this "steering angle sensor error signal" (C0460-71) and Electro-hydraulic power steering issue "Can-bus CIM message performance" (U2139-71), and lastly, C). I will replace the springs and fix as much as I can with the suspension system because they definitely need replacement, the car jiggles and wobbles when driving over poor cracked up roads, and it clunks and knock over potholes, so the springs and shock absorbers are very old and tired and can use a replacement. Once I fix these 3 points, (swirl flaps, steering, suspensions), I will do a new MOT for the added piece of mind.

I am committing to joining the Vectra-C fan club.

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[northpole]

good man!

[Kill_Rill]

This is a picture of how low the rear end is. Hopefully, when I switch the springs, I will no longer be scrapping against the ground when I go over speed bumps. (And just about every other bump or ramp.)

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Front height for comparison

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The rear, both sides.