Hi there,
I'm looking to buy my second Omega. I had a 3.0 Elite Saloon 8 years ago and regretted selling it, but my job situation changed and I ended crawling up the M4 everyday costing a bomb in fuel.
At the moment I have a 1999 V6 Vectra CDX Estate. Nice car but it's hit 171,000 and although has a few miles left in it, it's getting tired and I want a change.
I want to stay with an estate and want to find an Elite 2000 onwards. Either 3.0 or 3.2 is fine.
I want something with all the toys and leather. I'm also a tightwad, so I want it for as little as possible! I'm hoping to spend up to £1400.
My plan is then to convert the car to LPG and keep it for a few years. I'm never going to be able to afford a newer 'posh' motor, so I'm aiming to buy what I consider the best I CAN afford and hang on to it for a while. I'm a competent amateur mechanic, with a brother as a professional mechanic so I'll be able to keep whatever I buy in good nick.
So, although I've been looking more at 3.2s which are slightly newer, a 2000 3.0 has come up which I went to see. It's a bit older than I envisaged at 12 years (only 1 year newer than my Veccy) but it's got a lower mileage than many of the newer cars I've seen advertised.
So, I'm hoping you can help me out. I checked it out last week and its a nice car, but needs some work to get it back up to standard. It had one lady owner and has 90k on the clock. It sat in an underground garage after she died (not in it
) before going to the current owner. It has all the right service stamps including a 'toothed belt change' at 80k.
When I looked at this car, I was ultra critical. I don't want to buy a dog. Bodywork was sound. Paint good except NSR door which was rusty at the bottom and has had a poor respray in the past. My dad however didn't notice that. Arches all good, tailgate good. Few dinks and scrapes, but to be honest it's a 12 year old car.
What concerned me more was leaking valve covers both sides, cracked screen, yellowed headlights, oily sump, rattle from exhaust on tickover (cat? although seemed to come from in front of rear axle. Straps clunking on both front doors, climate controls worn to white on the buttons, aircon not blowing cold, driver's heated seat not working, plastic on interior trim looked like there was a bit of wear, like the top layer was rubbing away (could have been dirt)
What I did like was the seats were all good, carpets ok, quite a clean car. It also has the cassette slot too, which suits me as I use an adapter for my ipod. It's also cheaper on tax then a post 2001 model.
It doesn't have satnav, rain sensor or reverse parking sensors like a newer model, but I can fit sensors. I have a tomtom and I've been driving for 20 years with intermittent wipe! Do I really need these?
The owner told me what he wanted for the car, which was 1k. I thought that fair, but after I checked it out it felt a bit much. Especially as there was a few bits to fix.
He called me today and said he would consider less. I have a figure of £800 in my head. I'm tempted. I can do all the work myself.
So, do I go for the older model, less toys but no major rust and a low mileage, or wait for a more newer expensive model with 110,000 on the clock, considering I want to do the LPG?
Whatever I get I'll probably need to budget for a new Cambelt and tensioner as I don't trust a stamp in a service book.Who knows if they did the tensioner too!
Apologies for the long post, I welcome your thoughts an comments.
Tim