New Astra! code name: GCV

[Jez]

I'd wager more people would have the Insignia over what you're driving. Hence Orange Peels point.

You are probably right, due to it having non fixed astronomical running costs and the average buyer being clueless as to how to budget for a car like an s-class. There is also the fixation a lot of people have with new plates of course from people who have no appreciation of cars.

Besides you just said its the best in its "class", so why wouldnt people buy it over its rivals? lol makes no sense at all.

That is not what i said at all, i said that i predict that it will sell, which is the exact opposite of what you have just said that i said. It will sell to people who have no interest in cars and have not done their sums, or have company car rules to adhere to. Very few clued up people will buy one.

 

[Minxy]

I'm really starting to lose faith in this forum due to the amount of people who go into threads with closed minds. Vauxhall may have made some crap cars in the past, they have also made some good ones but then you'll find that with most mainstream manufacturers. It amazes me that some people are branding it as crap and the things is not even out for release yet. You never know, you may just get behind the wheel or see a car in the flesh and change your mind. I've found myself doing just that with a recent release allbeit upon appearance alone.

I wonder whether some of the opinions would differ had the car been badgeless? I'm bored of reading the same dull posts because certain individuals seem to suffer with BMW/Ford tunnel vision.

 

[Jez]

Minxy; there is a reason that a lot of people have a negative opinion of a lot of these fleet type cars as a private ownership proposition. They depreciate very heavily, they are not THAT cheap, and you get next to nothing in return.

I realise that a lot of premium brand new cars depreciate just as, if not more heavily, but that is a known entity when you enter into buying it, and in return you drive a brand new, proper car.

I predict that it will sell very well, its covered in gadgets and will appeal to fleets. This is the only market for which it makes sense. Anyone who is outside of a very limited company car scheme is, IMO, mad to buy anything like this as they are simply not very good.

I have no tunnel vision regarding any brands, i take every car as it comes, i never make statements without having real life knowledge of what i am discussing. It has its place, but that place is either in a forced ownership scenario, or for people who frankly dont know what they are doing.

Edit: I will add however, that this obviously does not apply to them when they hit ex fleet status. At which time the costs involved are vastly different, and thus the quality expectations are different and irrelevant.

 

[Minxy]

I'm all too happy to read posts which describe issues that you have mentioned, I do however wish that people would not post things such as "It's Vxl so it will be crap" or words to that effect because it isn't constructive, it isn't funny and it's just a waste of my time.

Every car should be taken on its merits, not judged purely by a badge.

 

[Lord-Jaffa]

I'm all too happy to read posts which describe issues that you have mentioned, I do however wish that people would not post things such as "It's Vxl so it will be crap" or words to that effect because it isn't constructive, it isn't funny and it's just a waste of my time.

Every car should be taken on its merits, not judged purely by a badge.

Exactly

I owned a Mk4 Astra GSI for 2 years and it was a fairly decent car, comfortable, nice performance and bullt proof reliability.

The fact that the chassis isnt as good as that of a Focus, hence i should have got the Focus instead and the Vauxhall is crap because its a vauxhall rofllolsaurus (what people here would say) didnt even enter my mind. I wasnt keen on a focus at all, why on earth would i have bought one? People just quote the same old tired comments over and over again, funny thing is, I very much doubt anyone here could tell the difference in the chassis of an Astra compared to a Focus if they drove it.

Yes some people dislike certain cars, I don't really like most fords, however i can appreciate that a Mondeo ST220, while very bland, its probably a great car to own. Each to their own.

Constructive comments based on experiance are great to read, LOLZ ITS A VAUXHALL IT SUX, when they are driving around in a 1995 Punto and would probably die to own one, are just retarded however.

 

[Peerzy]

I predict that it will sell very well, its covered in gadgets and will appeal to fleets. This is the only market for which it makes sense. Anyone who is outside of a very limited company car scheme is, IMO, mad to buy anything like this as they are simply not very good.

Is it not in the exact same market as a Mondeo? I see hundreds of them every day and if it's as good as it's suppose to be why can it not be as popular?

Are people mad to buy Mondeo's? Accord's?

 

[Jez]

Is it not in the exact same market as a Mondeo? I see hundreds of them every day and if it's as good as it's suppose to be why can it not be as popular?

Are people mad to buy Mondeo's? Accord's?

Why are you questioning this, of course it can be as popular, ive said i think it will sell well

And yes, IMO people are silly to privately purchase brand new or nearly new Mondeo's or Accords.

 

[Peerzy]

Why are you questioning this, of course it can be as popular, ive said i think it will sell well

And yes, IMO people are silly to privately purchase brand new or nearly new Mondeo's or Accords.

I predict that it will sell very well, its covered in gadgets and will appeal to fleets. This is the only market for which it makes sense. Anyone who is outside of a very limited company car scheme is, IMO, mad to buy anything like this as they are simply not very good.

Am I not right in saying Ford are not offering fleet discounts on the Mondeo? Yet you see quite a few MK4 Mondeo's around so quite a few people must be in the market for a budget large family saloon. Think, if you rule out buying something in the same catagory as the Mondeo you are left with the small family hatch market (Focus, Astra etc) or expensive family saloon (BMW, Audi etc).

I think the Mondeo/Insignia market is no different to any other and makes a perfectly good purchase for someone who needs the size without the expense.

 

[Jez]

I think the Mondeo/Insignia market is no different to any other and makes a perfectly good purchase for someone who needs the size without the expense.

As i say mate, people who know no better and do not understand that perhaps they could own something a lot better for the same outlay if they had gone used

 

[Peerzy]

As i say mate, people who know no better and do not understand that perhaps they could own something a lot better for the same outlay if they had gone used

The chap that brought a 07 plate 2.5ltr Mondeo with hardly no mileage on it for about £12k the other day? Would it have been better for him to buy a 3 series that cost £5k less (so he had £5k for tyres, repairs and the extra running costs etc)?

 

[Jez]

Perhaps not £5000 or even any less really, but yeah that kind of example is what i believe makes the most sense as a private purchaser.

 

[jongeeone]

*edit*

I actually can't be arsed.

 

[Peerzy]

*edit*

I actually can't be arsed.

That small sporty looking one, not sure of the name but might be VX220 or something like that? Is that not suppose to be good?

EDIT: Original said something along the lines of:

Name a good car ever made by Vauxhall.

 

[Begbie]

Can't wait to see the VXR version of this. As Vauxhall have always been known to like to better everything in terms of power, should be good to see how/if they try and compare it to the Focus RS.

 

[schumi84]

Can't wait to see the VXR version of this. As Vauxhall have always been known to like to better everything in terms of power, should be good to see how/if they try and compare it to the Focus RS.

That is very true but they need to make sure they dont overdo it like they did with the Vectra VXR which power understeer if you looked at it funny.

Fantasticly quick car in a straight line though.

 

[[TW]Fox]

If Vauxhall launched a class winning car there will always be those OcUK'ers who can't wait to slate it. Yeah, some of them can string together a post that sounds justifiable and sometimes they're right. However, with the bias they display I find it far better to ignore the majority and listen to people who know what they're talking about.

I don't think this is neccesarily true. I'm usually prepared to give Vauxhall the benefit of the doubt. You'll notice I've not really made many judgements on the Insignia yet. I'm not slating it, infact I actually think its a very promising car. If I was a rabid, deluded anti Vauxhall person surely I'd be slating it?

I bet many form their opinions because a) they have a 'better' car and Vauxhall's are beneath them and

This is probably not true.

b) becuase they've been given a base model as a courtesy car, which of course gives them a good impression of the whole range and makes them an expert.

This probably is - but if you get the fundamentals right on a car even the base models feel right. Extra buttons, switches and low quality leather of a range topper won't fix the fundamentals if they are lacking.

It would be very interesting to see what car's people own when they slate a Vauxhall. I'm guessing quite a few own sheds and just want to make themselves feel better.

I think you are very wrong there. It's common knowledge what most of the anti Vauxhall crowd drive and none of them are exactly sheds.

Yeah, I'm just waiting for the comments to flood in about the Insignia

Don't hold your breath. If it's decent you wont hear me slagging it off. If its crap, you will.

 

[Kappa]

not really.

hes just challenging why the badge is constantly being put down around here, when clearly the cars are half decent. look at sales figures too, the MK5 astra is the best selling car in europe over the past 2 years, bit strange if these cars are so utterly awful?

Lies, in 2007 in Europe, Peugeot 207, VW Golf and Ford Focus and Vx/Opel Corsa sold more than the Vx/Opel Astra.

I dont think full 2008 figures for all manufacturers have been released and collated yet.

HOWEVER, to their credit, Opel have held a position above Ford for European market share for quite a while, last month turned the tables however. Dont even ask about VW :0

 

[[TW]Fox]

You can't use sales figures to judge product competence. There are too many other factors involved in purchasing decisions. People buy things for all sorts of reasons and often not because the product is any good. I mean loads of people buy The Sun yet it's a terrible newspaper. There are lots of Astras around because Vauxhall sell the majority of their cars to the fleet market, and the fleet buyers are usually not the drivers only the decision makers, where the bottom line is king and the driving experience is bottom.

 

[Kappa]

Can't wait to see the VXR version of this. As Vauxhall have always been known to like to better everything in terms of power, should be good to see how/if they try and compare it to the Focus RS.

I doubt they will make an 'extreme' version, it may have a lot of power, but no doubt the next Focus ST will be a match for it, not the RS. It will probably be around 2011 when a performance Astra arrives.

However Opel are wanting 1bn EUR off of the German Govn'. The first things to go in these cases are high performance/motorsport related programs.

 

[Kappa]

You can't use sales figures to judge product competence. There are too many other factors involved in purchasing decisions. People buy things for all sorts of reasons and often not because the product is any good. I mean loads of people buy The Sun yet it's a terrible newspaper. There are lots of Astras around because Vauxhall sell the majority of their cars to the fleet market, and the fleet buyers are usually not the drivers only the decision makers, where the bottom line is king and the driving experience is bottom.

In fairness, the Germans certainly find something appealing of Opel vehicles and have a slightly higher opinion of them to Ford vehicles. HOWEVER, I have noticed on their large family car reviews in German publications, Passat pretty much comes up top each time, above even the new Insignia and Mondeo. So theres a picture of their opinion, take of that what you will.

I just wanted to say 'Lies, Damn Lies!' to that chap's claim.