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[Devious]

Hello folks.
I'm looking to buy my first Omega and I would appreciate your advice. I'd just like to know what to look out for when viewing (other than the obvious ... lol )
Are there any blatent problems/issues that I should be looking out for?
What defines a "Good" from a "Bad"?
What's a reasonable price to expect to pay for a mid to top spec car?
Etc, etc.

Any advice would be excellent.
Sorry if this is a re thread... :-?

[I_want_an_Omega]

Apart from the obvious stuff to look at I'd invite more experienced members on the specifics - which do vary model by model. Try and verify when the cambelt was last changed, if it needs doing (every 40k) then budget £300 for a new one as soon possible after you get it.

Omega ownership seems to "involve" you in getting little problems sorted every now and then  - but there is plenty of friendly advice and experience here to help.

The only advice that I'd give is to check that he current owner has serviced the car and that the passcodes are available for the radio/CD and immobiliser etc. Its not essential but a dealer will charge to provide this info and will only do so when you get the V5 back from DVLA.

A crafty seller can hide all manor of faults - so just be careful.

As far as price is conncerned, thats a tough one. You can buy a car for £300 and then spend much more than that again on getting things done - or be lucky and not have to do much for some time to come. You should be able to get something respectable for between £500 & £1000 - with late models costing more and estates and diesels being at a premium. Also, at the bottom end of the price band a new set of decent tyres can cost as much again as the car so bear that in mind too.

Hope this helps.

[Devious]

This is EXACTLY the sort of info I was looking for. 

I was a bit of a 306 buff and trust me they had their fair share of "involvement" issues. Swimmingpools in the footwells where one of my favorites...not sure they were in the original designs. lol.

I've had a little look about online (egay, gumtree. autotrader etc), and they seem to vary in price from £500 to £k's.

Are there any particular models that were shocking and as reliable as our arms in Iraq? (Phase 2 306's where...)

[tunnie]

In March 1998 there was a 'mini' facelift, which had much better trim, and toys. Elites got Bose/Climate/HIDs and loads of other toys.

1999 there was a major facelift, all black plastic was removed, its more squared off, large changes in interior trim and design.

Two models you want to aim for are:

MV6 - Low on goodies, but stiffer suspension, great in the corners.

Elite - All the toys you could want, suspension can be a bit wollo-0matic, but you can stiffen it up with MV6 stuff if you so chose.

2.2 petrol underpowered, but fine on the motorway, 2.5 V6 manual most economical of petrols, 3.0/3.2 for pace.

2.5TD is a BMW lump, upgrade autobox or get a manual, chip it, its back to BMW spec.

[Entwood]

One thing I would advise .... read up on both the paperclip test and the pedal test ... and as long as you don't buy a 2.2 you now have a way of checking for any hidden problems.

The most common way of hiding the problem is to take the bulb out of the EML light .. if you know how to do the quick checks above you do 2 things ....

1) It checks the bulb is there and working


2) You read any codes present

If the bulb is not working walk away .. 99.9% someone is trying to hide something !!

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1189022687