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[albitz]

Cambelt and tensioners must be changed every 40,000 miles or 4 years, whichever comes first.If there isnt proof that this has been followe, either walk away or reduce your offer by at least£300.
Check for oil in the coolant expansion tank. If its present, probably best to walk away. Its fixeable, but if the car has been driven like that for a while the resultant overheating could have cooked the engine.
Pull as many plugleads as you can get at - 5 out of 6 hopefully and check for oil in there - if present, reduce your offer by at least £150.
Check all the buttons/switches/aircon etc. work as they should.
Check the autobox functions as it should.
Check the front tyres for scrubbing,particularily on the edges.If they are worn unevenly knock off the price off new tyres (say£100 each) plus the cost of wheel alignment - £75.
If you post your approximate location, there may be an OOFer nearby who could help you when viewing cars etc.
If you buy one which has been maintained properly it will probably be very reliable and a joy to own and drive.If you get one which has been neglected it could be a moneypit and give you many headaches.

[cem_devecioglu]

check

the wheel arches for rust.. and check down the car and exhaust system for rust.. these will show the expenses involved quickly..

gaps between parts to be similiar and parallel..

engine idle for both hot and cold.. irregular idles sometimes easy to solve, sometimes not

bottom of engine for oil and coolant leaks..

listen the engine noise for irregular noises

ac function, sunroof, window switches, lights etc..

if sweet coolant smell when heater is on, there is another problem..

and test drive the car , also check steering and brakes..

there are many well looked , good examples around .. so dont hurry..

[TheBoy]

Hi Emma_W, welcome to OOF

Petrol aside, my 1998 3.0l MV6 that I bought nearly 8yrs ago with 88k on the clock, has probably been the cheapest car to run I've ever owned.

BUT, and its a big but, if you have to rely on dealers/garages, you may find it expensive.  Many jobs, esp on the V6, seem to scare garages away, so they overquote, or just charge the earth.

If you are able to do most of the jobs yourself (or without meaning to sound in any way sexist, husband/dad/son etc do it for you), then with the help of this site, you should be able to keep it running quite cheaply. Sadly, there isn't much we can do about the price of petrol though

[Shackeng]

Hi Emma, I have had a TD Estate for 12 years, and the only problem I've had is having to change the wishbones. I like the car so much I've recently bought a 3.2 Elite saloon. Of course both mine are autos, as they should be.

Best wishes with your purchase, and there is an excellent 2.5 Estate for sale on the OOF site at present.

[Missy_MV6]

Hi Emma I hope you do decide to go ahead with buying an Omega we have had 3 manual MV6 models 2 pre-facelift and our latest one is a facelift and we love them.  If you go for a higher spec level eg Elite it will come with enough toys to rival much newer cars.As the guys have mentioned check for rust especially on the rear arches and doors.We have had our latest one for approx 18months and it hadn't let us down or cost us any money until a couple of weeks ago but with the help from the members on here and having a trade card for our local Vauxhall dealers my husband fit the parts and we must have saved at least a £1000 in garage costs I dont think you would go far wrong if you purchased one from a member  If you go to a decent garage for one you should get a least 3 months warranty so you will have some sort of comeback if anything major happened..Anyway I will stop babbling now keep us posted on if/when you buy one they are fabulous cars and very underrated 
Angie x

[Elite Pete]

Hi Emma.

If you want a good mini facelift Omega this has got to be one of the best out there. Its had all the right upgrades, all the Omega niggles have been sorted and its well looked after.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1310508738