VX220, am I being silly?

Thomas. PLease.

Thomas. PLease.

Thomas. PLease.

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Basically, I'm in the market for a new car. Sorry for the wall of text from here!

Recently I've been making do with my nail of a Punto, which is now sadly near the end of its life. :)

So the budget is around 8k. I commute to work on my bike, and also cycle to the gym so don't need a car much during the week. Only really for occasional trips at the weekend and for driving pleasure.

This means it doesn't have to be terribly sensible really, not too bothered on fuel, but i'm not after something which is going to financially cripple me, so no e39 M5's or the like please. I'm willing and able do my own spanner work and have replaced engines etc in the past. But spending this much cash I'd most likely leave it to the professionals to keep up a service history.

Despite my car history the sort of cars I like a very driver focused, I want good handling, and great steering feel and feedback. Having owned a few 106's and nothing newer than a 98 boggo spec punto, I'm not exactly used to luxury.

This means I'm considering an N/A vx220, and for just over 8k, it seems like I can get a fairly decent example. I'm aware there are plenty of cat d/c examples for a lot less than this but to be honest i'd rather steer clear.

Having done a bit of research the main points that come up are, damage to the clams is very expensive. The paint tends to bubble slightly on these. Leaks are reasonable common, but can be sorted with better seals, and the heater is close to useless. But as I don't use a car daily I don't think it'll be a problem, I also have a garage.

Just wanted to know whether people thought this was a reasonable idea, is there anything i haven't thought of here? Is there anyone with vx220 experience to share?

Thanks in advance :)
 
haha, I have considered the S2000 but, this will be the most expensive car I'll have bought so far, and I'm just not sure an S2000 will feel special enough. Especially compared to the feeling of getting into a vx.

My other thought was depreciation, have S2000's reached as low as they are realistically going to get, and do you think a vx would depreciate more or less?
 
Cheap S2000s get cheaper as owners let them degrade. I don't see them getting MUCH cheaper though. As more people write them off they become rarer.

Never driven a VX so cannot comment how special they feel, not my sort of thing though.
 
Hey, I owned a vx220 n/a for 2years, used it as a daily driver through wind rain and snow :D

Inmy 2years of ownership I had nothing go wrong, other then the common faults.. Paint bubbling on arches which occurrd over winter, dont have a garage so had to use a cover. The expansion tank leaked due to age (the sun melts te plastic over time as it sits in the engine mesh at the back, easiest way to protect in future is buy a cover for it), and the very common engine mount problem! (loud grind when under hard acceleration)

The lack of power steering is awesome for normal ground but is a pain when trying to park up!

The heater IS horrendous, in cold weather it's better just to put a coat and gloves on.

The fuel tank from full to empty always did me around 200miles and that's from the full 33l down to 5l.

Tyres cost me 125 a corner for the upgraded turbo 17"rims.
Services were around 250-400 depending on where you go, you can't just use any normal vauxhall dealer as they don't know this car.. There are a few "specialist" vauxhall dealers.

Insurance for me at 21 was 900 quid with 3years no claims.
 
Regarding your comment on depriciation I sold my vx for 8250 3years ago. 2002 with 47k. It does make you feel special as they are so few on the roads, I always got asked what it was at car parks and petrol stations and it does turn heads, kids always seem to be amazed by it lol
 
Thats great, thanks for the information JonnyGeee, they do seem to have held their value well then. How did you find it in the winter? I've heard it can take an age to defrost if left outside? How often did you have it serviced?

Thats another thing about the S2000, I've been quoted £580 to insure the vx (23, 5 years NCB) but I can't seem to get an S2000 for under £900!
 
S2000 is a car, Vx220 is a gokart.

Which you will prefer is down to you, sounds like you want a weekend special car though so might go for a VX220. The S2000 will be the quicker but not quite as raw as the VX220.

My cousin had one, seemed pretty decent but ultimately ended up being written off
 
Yes it does take a whole to defrost if left left outside, as the inside and outside of the front screens freeze up lol. The heater doesn't help at all, I bought a 12v heater which was better!

Driving in the winter was ace, no power steering really helps to feel what the cars doing and if you want to drift it's easy enough :)

If you are over 6th though I wouldn't advise buying it as you'll be very uncomfortable! If you also have a gf that's over a size 14 it will be a squeeze :)
 
Sin_Chase said:
I think the VX is not a bad choice for something you do not NEED to drive often.
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I disagree with this point. I use mine every day of the year and it is fine. I am lucky and the heater isn't too bad in mine and I get hot air coming into the cabin when I am parking up at work after 6 miles. :D Long journeys aren't too bad either and there is plenty of room to stretch your legs out in the cabin, I'm 6' and I sit with my legs completely flat and stretched out and there is still some room to stretch my feet behind the pedals.

Servicing is every year/10k miles and costs me £250 from a specialist (PSR) best to check who is good in your location but at the end of the day it is a Vectra engine in a stupid shell.

The windscreen takes a good 5 minutes to clear in the winter btw.

Any questions please ask, also have my email in trust. :)
 
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Is there any proven remedy to the bad heater, such as a better aftermarket one?

Luckily I'm fairly average at 5'10" so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Do you own an N/A or a turbo Trifid? Have you had any major problems since owning yours?
 
There was a popular mod that changed the intake pipe from the heater into the cabin, some people said it was ace, some said it did nothing..

I take it you have signed up to vx220.org!
 
Thomas. PLease. said:
Do you own an N/A or a turbo Trifid? Have you had any major problems since owning yours?
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An NA which I've owned for 16 months now. I've had a flat battery and 2 paint blisters on the rear clam.

For the heater you can replace the washing machine vent tube thing with house guttering and clean out the heater matrix (gets filled up with leaves, grass, stones, flies and wasps - which reminds me, these can also fly into the cabin through the heater). A after market one is being developed.


Also youtube "vx220 crash" and watch the latest video (swearies at the end so no link). That was what happens when too much throttle coming off a wet roundabout. There was gripy stuff usually found coming up to the roundabout but was also on the exit, when he went onto normal tarmac it was like driving on ice in comparison. They have to be driven with care.
 
Trifid said:
Also youtube "vx220 crash" and watch the latest video (swearies at the end so no link). That was what happens when too much throttle coming off a wet roundabout. There was gripy stuff usually found coming up to the roundabout but was also on the exit, when he went onto normal tarmac it was like driving on ice in comparison. They have to be driven with care.
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I bet the trucker got a grandstand view of that - glad he stopped for him....

Slow reaction from the driver seems to be the biggest issue there (bar him driving unsuitably for the conditions)
 
Saw that video last week. Other than writing mine off on a b-road, not too dissimilar chain of events. Easily done in damp conditions. So glad to have T/C on my new one.

There is a thread on SELOC about that video and the comments are far more conciliatory than anywhere else. Probably because people there actually have a clue what driving one of these cars is like in those conditions. Armchair experts should back off.
 
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R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
I bet the trucker got a grandstand view of that - glad he stopped for him....

Slow reaction from the driver seems to be the biggest issue there (bar him driving unsuitably for the conditions)
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Actually the biggest issue, as the guy revealed on SELOC, was that his front/rear tyres were not only mismatched but the rear tyres were down to 3mm tread and had already gone through 2 or 3 track days. They were shot!

The car wasn't badly damaged at all, still arrived at their meet, and he got some new tyres on there the next day.
 
I'd probably prefer a CAT C/D - you might be lucky and find one that's had the blistering issues sorted. Because of the clam shell design and the waiting list system for getting a new one, they are written off on a whim.
 
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