Vauxhall Insignia Country 4x4 tourer

flatcoat
flatcoat Forum Participant Posts: 1,571
1000 Comments
edited March 2016 in Towcars & Towing #1

A bit of a left field option however does anyone in this parish drive one of these? Seem to be an alternative to a Passat Alltrack but with more bells and whistles. Have seen the PC review which is ok if not exactly glowing however as a used car they seem cheap (as are all Insignias) which makes them good value. I know some members have a downer on Vauxhall too so I am already mindful of potential dealer service issues.

Moderator Edit

Can I remind you that upper case text is considered shouting and against our T&Cs.  Your title has therefore been amended.

Comments

  • Briang
    Briang Club Member Posts: 670 ✭✭✭
    500 Comments
    edited March 2016 #2

    I personally would not buy any Vauxhall, just listen to them when they start up.

  • flatcoat
    flatcoat Forum Participant Posts: 1,571
    1000 Comments
    edited March 2016 #3

    Maybe, however that isn't what I am asking. My comment is aimed at towing ability/experience. I have had a Carlton diesel estate, 2 Astra 888 CDTi's and a Saab convertible with the GM CDTi engine in the past and didn't find them particularly worse than Ford
    and a few others at the time. 

  • ghostie
    ghostie Forum Participant Posts: 8
    edited March 2016 #4

    My last 3 cars have been vauxhalls, a 2 litre petrol cavalier,a 2 litre petrol vectra, present tug is a 1.9 cdti sri 150 & the best tow car I have ever owned, it's exceedingly powerful, exceedingly fast and exceedingly comfortable towing 1200kg bailey pageant,does
    exactly what it says on the tin.

  • flatcoat
    flatcoat Forum Participant Posts: 1,571
    1000 Comments
    edited March 2016 #5

    SurprisedSadSealedSad

  • asda160
    asda160 Forum Participant Posts: 87
    edited March 2016 #6

    Flatcoat, I drive a very left field choice of car, a Suzuki Kizashi AWD, most have never heard of it, the reviews from the press were not flattering and I could not find anyone except Practical Caravan having towed with one, however I took a gamble and it
    works for me.

    I drive Vauxhalls at work in a very harsh enviroment. They cope admirably considering some of my colleagues have no mechanical sympathy whatsover. The chassis and handling are excellent, surefooted with very little understeer and load carrying handled very
    well. If the Insignia has similar traits I'm sure this will make for a good towcar. Some of the earlier interior trims where flimsy but the 2014 on cars have moved away from the awful plastic Vauxhall insisted on using.

    The diesel Astra estates most commonly driven at work do suffer with poor low rev torque, whether that is transfered to the Insignia range I'm not sure. The 192bhp - 295 torques auto sounds like the dogs danglys to me.

    It's good not to be a Marque sheep you know, and you may end up with more dollar in your pocket, more bells and whistles and quite often or not a product as well screwed together as the dearer competition.

    I reckon a test drive is in order.

    Lettuce snow how you get on.

     

  • AutoAddict
    AutoAddict Forum Participant Posts: 114
    edited March 2016 #7

    Nowt wrong with Vauxhalls - go for it.

    Better buy in my opinion than Audi's etc.

  • Kennine
    Kennine Forum Participant Posts: 3,472
    1000 Comments
    edited March 2016 #8

    I am still unsure of Vauxhall's warranty strategy. They say that their warranty "Could be for life" -- What life - The life of the car? if so how many years do they mean. Is it the life of the owner ?. Apparently the warranty cannot be transferred to a new
    owner.

    Is anybody clear about the Vauxhall warranty. 

  • PrestonDave
    PrestonDave Forum Participant Posts: 67
    edited March 2016 #9

    Practical Caravan had one of these as one of their towcars for about 12 months, go on threir website and see their views.

  • flatcoat
    flatcoat Forum Participant Posts: 1,571
    1000 Comments
    edited March 2016 #10

    I looked at that before posting on here, it is mixed and to be fair the Passat Alltrack is undoubtedly a better car. Problem is finding an Alltrack with the spec I want in my budget. They sell before they hit the forecourt.

  • GeordieBiker
    GeordieBiker Forum Participant Posts: 45
    edited March 2016 #11

    I am still unsure of Vauxhall's warranty strategy. They say that their warranty "Could be for life" -- What life - The life of the car? if so how many years do they mean. Is it the life of the owner ?. Apparently the warranty cannot be transferred to a new
    owner.

    Is anybody clear about the Vauxhall warranty. 

    Vauxhall were offering a 10 year or 100,000 mile (whichever comes first) warranty on their new cars from 2011 to 2015. I'm not sure of the exact dates but I have a 62 reg Insignia and my wife a 64 reg Meriva both with this extended warranty. As you state
    it's only available to the original purchaser and once sold on it converts to the standard 3 year warranty if that hasn't expired.

    Obviously a carrot to get people to buy new Vauxhall cars and with the hope that they will be sold on long before the 10 year mark. Still, possibly good deal for someone who intends to keep it longer. Having said that, I've owned lots of Vauxhalls and never
    needed to make a warranty claim on any of them.

  • DS3
    DS3 Forum Participant Posts: 108
    edited March 2016 #12

    Ah Vauxhall, where their 'lifetime warranty' isn't worth the paper it's written on (No matter what the fault, it will be your fault!) Even an electrical connector falling off an injector was my fault and they're cheap for a very good reason...THEY'RE RUBBISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Did you know that four different dealers, in four different counties of England all had the exact same excuses word for word, and not just one excuse either, about three, but fear not, each one was word for word the same as the rest of them, as if they had
    learnt it from a booklet.

    Those *********** cost me a fortune and good riddance to them! Vauxhall were so bad even our local dealer got shot of them for another manufacturer.

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited March 2016 #13

    Ah Vauxhall, where their 'lifetime warranty' isn't worth the paper it's written on (No matter what the fault, it will be your fault!) Even an electrical connector falling off an injector was my fault and they're cheap for a very good reason...THEY'RE RUBBISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Did you know that four different dealers, in four different counties of England all had the exact same excuses word for word, and not just one excuse either, about three, but fear not, each one was word for word the same as the rest of them, as if they had
    learnt it from a booklet.

    Those *********** cost me a fortune and good riddance to them! Vauxhall were so bad even our local dealer got shot of them for another manufacturer.

    other than a failed crank sensor on my Omega and service parts, I never had a problem with my Vauxhalls and had them for 20+ years (Senators, Carltons & a couple of runabout Astras). Only reason I don't still have one is that they don't do RWD anymore