Omega Owners Forum
Newbie Area => Newbie Welcome Area => Topic started by: Mr Lucky on 31 January 2018, 23:29:11
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I'm looking tentatively at purchasing an Omega but its been a long time since I have owned a large Vauxhall so I thought research was in order. My last was a very nice 12V Carlton GSi way back in 1996. Digi dash and an ex-fire chief's woks car apparently. How I wish I hadn't sold that one! I was always impressed with the build quality and reliability (once I had replaced the pinholed fuel tank and fuel lines) and it's only real vice was nipping the skin from my fingers with the telescopic seat height adjustment lever if I was too casual operating it.
Many years later and many largish and mostly LPG'd cars later (among them BMW 5 and 6 series, unreliable horror story that was a SAAB 9-5) I became self employed and downsized cars for business purposes. We are now a two Hyundai i10 family! While they are amazing little cars I do find myself yearning for a larger car so I don't need to move my seat forward every time my kids sit in the back seats (I'm 6ft 2 and mostly legs). It would also be nice to have an estate car so that I could make trips to the tip with the endless bags of animal waste that my wife's hobby generates. As well as all that its nice to have something that can actually tow a trailer.
So I looked at a few options, Volvos mostly and a few possibilities on the BMW side of things but I started thinking about how much I loved my old Carlton and naturally, because Carlton GSi's are as rare as unobtainium and about as expensive I gravitated to the Omega.
I loathe turbos and I hate cam belts. Ideally I wanted a car with a cam chain and no turbo but I see that if I want a cam chain I have to have a turbo. Rats! I guess I can't have everything.
So I got to thinking that a high spec diesel late model estate would probably be my best compromise and here I am, seeking out information on them, such as reliability (I believe they are BMW powered and do they suck in the swirl flaps like some BMW diesels?), common issues and tedious things that interest a 50 year old, like MPG and tax and insurance costs etc.
I'm in no great hurry to buy one right this minute as I do want to feel comfortable and get to know the kind of car I am seeking, good points and bad. It may be that after research, I could be put off and continue my search through other marques. It may be that my harpie of a wife will find out and stop me from buying anything at all.
But for the moment I am here to learn and absorb as much info on these rather handsome (I think) cars.
Lucky...
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I'm looking tentatively at purchasing an Omega but its been a long time since I have owned a large Vauxhall so I thought research was in order. My last was a very nice 12V Carlton GSi way back in 1996. Digi dash and an ex-fire chief's woks car apparently. How I wish I hadn't sold that one! I was always impressed with the build quality and reliability (once I had replaced the pinholed fuel tank and fuel lines) and it's only real vice was nipping the skin from my fingers with the telescopic seat height adjustment lever if I was too casual operating it.
Many years later and many largish and mostly LPG'd cars later (among them BMW 5 and 6 series, unreliable horror story that was a SAAB 9-5) I became self employed and downsized cars for business purposes. We are now a two Hyundai i10 family! While they are amazing little cars I do find myself yearning for a larger car so I don't need to move my seat forward every time my kids sit in the back seats (I'm 6ft 2 and mostly legs). It would also be nice to have an estate car so that I could make trips to the tip with the endless bags of animal waste that my wife's hobby generates. As well as all that its nice to have something that can actually tow a trailer.
So I looked at a few options, Volvos mostly and a few possibilities on the BMW side of things but I started thinking about how much I loved my old Carlton and naturally, because Carlton GSi's are as rare as unobtainium and about as expensive I gravitated to the Omega.
I loathe turbos and I hate cam belts. Ideally I wanted a car with a cam chain and no turbo but I see that if I want a cam chain I have to have a turbo. Rats! I guess I can't have everything.
So I got to thinking that a high spec diesel late model estate would probably be my best compromise and here I am, seeking out information on them, such as reliability (I believe they are BMW powered and do they suck in the swirl flaps like some BMW diesels?), common issues and tedious things that interest a 50 year old, like MPG and tax and insurance costs etc.
I'm in no great hurry to buy one right this minute as I do want to feel comfortable and get to know the kind of car I am seeking, good points and bad. It may be that after research, I could be put off and continue my search through other marques. It may be that my harpie of a wife will find out and stop me from buying anything at all.
But for the moment I am here to learn and absorb as much info on these rather handsome (I think) cars.
Lucky...
The 2.5 earlier diesel was a BMW unit, available in auto. The later 2.2 was a GM engine available in manual only IIRC. :y
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Hello Mr Lucky and a warm welcome to you! :y
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Thanks for the welcome. So it looks like the search is narrowing down to an estate, with leather and a diesel with an auto box. This could take a while! Ah well, I'm in no rush...
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Hello and welcome to the forum :y. Plenty of advice and great helpers on here :y :y.
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Hello and welcome :y
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Thanks for the welcome. So it looks like the search is narrowing down to an estate, with leather and a diesel with an auto box. This could take a while! Ah well, I'm in no rush...
That means the 2.5TD. I had one for 19 years, and only sold it last year. I still miss it. It was a superb car, I had the engine ECU chipped, and it was very sprightly. :y
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Hola! Welcome to the forum :y
A rhd 2.5 dti auto would be nice but dont think there are many if any around.
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Hola! Welcome to the forum :y
A rhd 2.5 dti auto would be nice but dont think there are many if any around.
IIRC the Dti was only released in mainland Europe, thus LHD only. So the 2.5TD is the only auto diesel option in LHD. :y
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Good luck with your search,and welcome to OOF :y
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Thank you all for the warm welcome. I did see one on eBay a few days back that was an estate diesel 2.2 (so not auto). It looked clean and pretty sharp but i really do want an auto so I missed out on it.
It seems to be a real hive of information here so I will be combing through and doing my research and getting to know the marque better. Are there any things I should be looking out for specifically? Any definite no-no's and things to look out for when I am searching the market?
Apologies if the questions are in the wrong forum...
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good luck with your search and welcome