Sadly the time has come to sell my beloved Omega.
I don't like buying cars, so I tend to buy a good'n every ten years or so, and then look after it well - which is exactly what I did with this one.
Anyhow, I bought the Omega from CD Bramall at Middlesbrough in August 2000 with just a few thousand miles on the clock. The General Manager there had used this car for his own personal transport, and also as a demonstrator, but the [then] new VX220 had just been delivered, and it was summertime ......
The car was built in 1999, and was first registered in October of that year, although it is the 2000 (facelift) model. Being a factory car it came with a few extras, including a genuine Irmshcer front spoiler, and the lip on the boot lid (which is slightly bigger than that fitted on the Elite model).
Current mileage is a shade under 103,000 miles, so it is just nicely run in. The cam belt was last done about 20,000 miles ago, (I need to check), and I have used Mobil 1 synthetic oil since the first service. I work from home, so I don’t use the car for commuting, but when I do use it I tend to cover long distances at motorway speeds. We also use it for family holidays.
I had a new set of Pirelli P6000 tyres (225/55 VR16) fitted two summers ago, which proabaly have another 5,000 miles of wear in them. (I usually expect 40,000 miles from a set, which may give some idea of how I drive the car). I had some problems with balancing, which led to a new alloy wheel being fitted unnecessarily, before Pirelli’s Technical manager diagnosed a faulty tyre, which was replaced FOC after about 5,000 miles. So, there is a spare alloy wheel with the car!
The so called 'space saver', (205/55 R16), is bigger than most cars road wheels, and has never been used.
Being a CDX the car comes with the usual refinements, including electronic climate control, ABS, Stability Control, Xenon headlights, headlamp washers, sunroof, CD Changer, heated seats, trip computer and lots of other goodies.
The car has always been well maintained, initially by the main dealer, and more recently at a very good local independent garage (after CD Bramall became Evans Halshaw).
As far as I know, everything works, expect for the electric height adjuster on the front passenger seat, which clunks, but doesn’t adjust. The electric windows on the rear doors sometimes need to be inched up too, but I suspect this is because they are not used very often.
There has been no major work, but the oil seals were replaced on the differential under warranty, and the aircon condenser was replaced about two years ago. The rear offside door was also replaced under warranty owing to internal corrosion.
I can honestly say that the bodywork is unmarked, with no dings or scratches, and all of the doors close and lock properly. There is of course some stone chipping, as would be expected after 100,000 miles, but nothing out of the ordinary. The front and rear bumpers have some marks from the original users golf trolley, and minor indiscretions by others in car parks. The front spoiler does have some paint scuffing (my fault – I can explain) and stress marks, but these are all easily rectified.
The interior is virtually unmarked, and nobody has ever been allowed to smok in the car. The Vauxhall mats are well worn, and could do with being replaced, but they have protected the carpets well.
There was a slight issue with coolant loss, which remains a mystery. This had been going on for the past few years, and was initially diagnosed as a failing head gasket, but this proved not to be the case. Flushing the system with a flush aid and filling with fresh red antifreeze and some leak sealer seems to have solved the problem, as I have not needed to top it up for about six months now.
Realistically it will proably need a new head gasket in the next year or so, but it would be well worth it on a car in this condition. The exhaust manifold gasket is also blowing slightly when the car is cold, but this would be easily rectified when the head gasket is replaced.
The front disks were replaced about 3,000 miles ago. My wife uses the car for work every day, so they are clean and shiny.
The road fund licence runs out at the end of October, and I think the MOT is either October or November, but I will gladly get the MOT done.
Now, to get down to business. My wife has decided she wants a new Astra. I could get the old girl cubed, but that seems a shame and a waste of a good car.
The Astra is ex demo, so they are not offering Scrappage at present, but have offered me £650 Part Exchange to close the deal.
Time of course is limited, but if anyone would like to offer £650 I would far rather sell the old girl to a OOF member than have her sent to auction.
NN
Edit: I should add that as this car was first registered in 2000, (not 2001), it qualifies for the lower (standard) Road Fund Tax rating.
And finally, the business end of things.
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Topic: 2000 (Facelift) Oemga CDX 2.5 V6 Auto For Sale (Read 7821 times)