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- Vauxhall Frontera LTD 2.2DTi
- mikeandbella's review
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Picture courtesy of Panos Tsaknis.
| Performance | 6.9/10   |
|---|---|
| Practicality | 8.2/10 |
| Reliability | 6.8/10 |
| Value for Money | 7.4/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 7.4/10 |
| Overall Rating | 7.4/10 |
By mikeandbella
on 30th Oct 2006
| Year Manufactured | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Length of ownership | 3 months |
| Doors | 5 |
| Performance | 8/10 |
| Practicality | 8/10 |
| Reliability | 6/10 |
| Value for money | 9/10 |
| Overall value | 9/10 |
 mikeandbella's recommendation | |
Loads of boot space, sturdy off roader doesn't tip over as easy as other 4x4,s, smooth automatic gear box, mechanically reliable (even high milers), comfy seats and drive position, loads of leg room for rear adult passengers, good caravan tower, affordable to people on lower income, good aircon, good factory fitted radio and CD player. Stays in selected 2x drive for economy road usage without mysteriously popping into 4x4 like other older 4x4s, good car to buy privately.
Bad electrics, guzzles diesel greedily when towing, typical Vauxhall plastic mountain interior in front of steering wheel. Small front door pockets and no rear door storage pockets, small glove box due to massive air bag compartment above it, waste of space rear cup holder clip that brakes easily. Don't personally recommend buying from trade. It's like berthing the Ark Royal parking it down Tescos compared to my previous car (Peugeout 206).
My father has the same Vauxhall Frontera LTD 2.2DTi 4x4 as me, which is a T reg Ltd 1998 like mine but his is manual without air con and has a radio and cassette player instead of CD. He's owned his from new for 8 years now and had it regularly maintained and serviced by a Vauxhall in Wales and now an Opel dealer in France throughout. I have had mine for 3 months. Both "Fronts" have done 100K each. My father having used his off road as a now retired farmer. The things he's had problems with was corroding ABS wiring, especially around the fuel tank area which was fixed under warranty, air flow meter failure for the turbo (£165), electric diesel pump failure circa £500 and that was before 80K. The other problems we have both had, together with each car, was complete instrument dial failure (would work only with lights on), which cost £365 total by Vauxhall to repair including part, air bag light coming on due to loose electrical connection to gas bottle seat belt retensioner. And computer problems (my dad's only).
We have found Goodrich A/T to be a good all season tyre with this car and delivers average mpg. My absolute personal view is that I wouldn't recommend buying one second hand from a dealer because they are usually mechanically sound buys which the warranty would cover but electrically they are a mine field waiting to blow a hole in your bank account with their niggly problems. I brought mine privately second hand for £3000 and spent £500 on it so far! The transmissions on them are hard wearing and can take some abuse without failing like some of the Jap rivals of its time.
So finally, if you're financially short of a few pennies for buying a new 4x4 with a family and don't know much about mechanics like me, buy one, they are great! If you're good at automotive electrician buy 2 Frontys, and finally if you're a good mechanic buy a Landrover cause parts are abundant everywhere and cheaper.
Thanks for reading this and letting me share a purely personal view and experience.
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