I wish you lived a bit closer as I have an 08 1.9 CDTI SRI on my drive at the moment, its a hire car which I picked up as my last job of the day. The company has 100,s of these, the one I like is the Elite with leather, etc. TBH I would not like to be the 2nd or 3rd owner of one of these, the one outside has 11000( eleven thousand ) miles on, airbag and safeguard warning lights are on, front tyres have already been replaced, trim and upholstery looks dated already, nice to drive, powerful, 6 speed economy but as others have said, a little bland. I am in the lucky position of driving various new cars all day, all shapes and sizes, I'll list my favourites and the horrible ones.
Top dogs;
Volvo V50 and V70 diesel estates, fabulous, well built.
Passat TDi.
Focus and Focus S-Max.
Land Rover Freelander 2. 2.2 TD Auto - impressive if you like that sort of thing.
Saab 93 210 bhp.
Astra 1.9 CDTI - flying machine - 50 mpg in 6 speed format.
Merc CLS 320 CDI ( lottery winner territory )
Hounds;
Zafira - most troublesome car on the fleet, awful to drive, rattles everywhere, crap gearchange.
Mondeo - nice to drive but bodywork chips turn to rust instantly.
Fiat Bravo.
Most uncomfortable - Porsche Carrera S or Chevrolet Matiz - both hurt.
I would put the Vectra in the middle, nice engine and transmission, but poor quality and STUPID indicators spoil the car, we have also had a few with the front screen cracking in the same place.
I think that many manufacturers build their cars to last the warranty period, they have no interest in the 2nd and 3rd owners or when out of warranty. These are of course only my personal opinions and others will have different experiences and views of the cars listed. I drive about 1500 miles a week delivering these cars. Hope this adds some fuel to the fire.