Vauxhall Insignia S 1.8i 16v VVT

1.8 engine rubbish perfomance body too heavy for the engine diesel model better

I rented a Vauxhall Insignia - I wanted a comfortable four seater intermediate to take my family on holiday and booked class IDMN - Intermediate Four-door, Manual, no aircon. Europcar, without offering a choice gave me the insignia - automatic box, hi performance turbo diesel engine, some kind of traction/four wheel drive, sat nav and aircon. The car seems to be designed to appeal to middle aged men who are insecure about their masculinity with its low racing car lines and swept back appearance. It's massively over-specified with gadgets, bells and whistles - and very very badly designed from the point of view of practicality and ease of use. You need to read the manual extensively to even begin to to figure out how to work the demister and climate control alone, and even then we couldn't get it to behave logically even after 2 days' solid use. You could either have the windscreen demisted or a comfortable climate in the care but not both. The seat and wing mirror adjustment are all electronic and a nightmare to use, with no manual override. The roof is low overhead and the windows are tiny and the feel for all occupants of the car is cramped. All round visibility for the driver is terrible - a safety deathtrap. Everything is electronic, the driver's cockpit is all boxed in with plastic mouldings on every side and there's no flat surfaces for puting down anything like a chocoltae bar or a mobile phone. The "infotainment" system is so complex it requires a separate manual. the halogen headlight beam is set "automatically" cannot be adjusted in height from within the car, so you end up blinding all oncoming traffic at night. The doors are so thick and wide and curved outwards that it's near-impossible to get out of the car in a multistorey car park, and the central moulded piece of rubbish spearating the driver from the front seat passenger makes it impossible for either of you to get out of the car on the opposite side. You'll see from the brochure that the car has a wonderful bells-andwhistles spec. But take it from me that the way the designers have implemented that spec is appalling. It's the absolute triumph of form over function. This is the most impractical car I have ever driven in the 40 years since i passed my test.

I purchased a brand new Vauxhall Insignia from a main dealer as my old Mercedes E class P reg had only just failed its MOT emmissions by 1% over what would have been a simple lambda sensor and cat converter replacement, the cost would have been £120 in parts, but thought I might benefit from the current Government scrappage scheme. The main Vauxhall dealers are very smart and savvy and will try to sell you their display model at a 'discount rate' WITH P/X. So, after I purchased this model 2 days later, I thought I'd phone around to see if I could have got the same car or better at the same price WITHOUT P/X only to find out I could have got the Alloys, metallic, fogs, bluetooth for the same price (£13851) without trashing my cherished Merc, from another main Vauxhall dealer, so my advice is to shop around at several dealers by phone and internet and get their rock bottom price, (don't fall for the post sales guy who will try to flog an annual super duper car wash for £200 or their AA cover which might be cheaper through AA direct.

Now the seriously bad point. When I bought the vehicle I noticed a strange smell, the sales rep said this was nornal as it was a new car and said it was something to do with the clutch. So, after a week and during a very busy Christmas Shopping Saturday, I was on a steep hill trying to get a parking space, the car park was like 99% full, I began to notice that odd smell again while trying to keep the car static using the clutch control but the smell got worse and really pungent and possibly toxic, I had to tell my passengers to evacuate. Later when it was on a level flat surface the smell seemed to have dissipated, but I decided that while this was not a simple fault like tyres or broken ignition key, it was quite possibly a design fault. I never had a problem in any other manual car after 17 years of driving! I think my old Merc was more than up to the job. Right now I have a replacemet while they investigate, but I think I will be sticking it back in the classifieds...