Gutmann pug

Went to have a look at one today. Very nice car and at a good price even though its from a main vauxhall dealer. Going back again tomorrow to test drive it.

Whats your thoughts on them as a road and a track day car?

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

My immediate thought is "yes please" Haven't driven one myself, but seems a very appealing prospect as a road/track car. I've yet to hear a bad word said against it. The thought of Elise like handling with the turbo muscle that us Scooby owners like makes it very appealing!!!

Careful on the test drive though, I seem to remember reading about numerous examples being damaged/written off by over enthusiastic journalists at the car's launch. Mid engined and RWD is not going to be as forgiving as a scooby I'd imagine.

Enjoy, and do let me know what you think! :-)

Best wishes,

UKType

If you want more info or a good forum http://www.vx220.org.uk/

chris singleton

I'd certainly have one, super car performace at a fraction of the cost.

The only downside I could see is badge snobbery but I couldn't give a flying F**K what others thought. More than likely they'd only see the rear of the car from a distance so they'd probably think it was an elise anyway

Chris

warrenm2

"drove round" the 'ring with one on my ****, they're very quick.....

Old_Fart

Love the car, hate the local dealers. Spent months agonising over it before I got the 911 instead. My only gripe with the VX was finding a dealer nearby who could fix the multitude of annoying little things that go wrong on them.
Hard to sell on though, make sure price is good, and be prepared to either sell v cheap or take time to fnd a buyer.
As a fast road car it's plus points over the Elise are safety, ABS and airbag.
Those 2 puppies are also potentially handy at the 'ring
Saying that, the VX ABS isn't the finest system in the world........
Cman

Senior_AP

Gutmann - YES!!

For you, perfect.

tmo

Very very nice car. Driven in anger a couple of times at Palmer sport

Rumplestiltskin!

I hear the heaters are next to useless - & its a cold winter we are gonna have !

Gutmann pug

Old fart ...what sort of problems are you talking about?

The car has another 18 months of warranty left so I assume the little gripes got fixed? and yes the VX dealer is close to me.

To the person talking about residual values, I own a scooby so im used to having my pants pulled down on re-sale

jcullen

there was one at bedford (seloc track day) last time I was there, faster than pretty much every elise on the day! looked v.good on track. I would guess only downside would be badge snobbery.

Gutmann pug

Not worried about the badge nor snobbery. I buy a car to drive it not to park it outside the front door of my local pub twirling the keys in my hand.

only good reports then thats good.

thanks guys

CraigH

probably the best overall USEABLE road/track car for reasonable money. Nearly as quick on track as a Noble but for half the price.

Just check on vx220 bbs for any potential problems/recalls etc.

Gutmann pug

Bloody hell Craig we agree for once ..lol

I have been reading the VX buyers guide etc and im just gonna register and have a chat to the guys.

It seems the cross drilled brakes are a must have option as is an exhaust else it sounds like a hair dryer.

Oh well tomorrow we will see if the salesman sharpens his pencil or not .

MooseRacer

Glad to see you're listening

wakeboardar

i fancy a test drive in one of these let me know if the sales guy lets you take it out on your own or sits with you for a spoiler

Gutmann pug

It dont matter if he does sit in with me mate it will be given a large portion of stick. I never buy without trying properly.

Mooseracer, still dont really wanna get shot of the scoob i have to say.

jfrf

saw a cheap one on pistonheads today for 18.5k. have been a few selling atthis price privately recently
since they are all still under warranty there seems no real point from buying from a dealer??
dont think cross drilled discs are that essentail. preferable, but i woudlnt worry too much about it

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/d...?i=33186&s=222

Gutmann pug

The one at the dealer is less than 18.5K mate

jfrf

any catches
that sounds ridiculously cheap
best not mention in on the vx board, as they wil only get upset.
residuals is a touchy subject there

Gutmann pug

19,ooo miles same as on piston heads car, no hard top but it has full leather.

If all goes well tomorrow it wont be for sale for long mate.

RR

Go to amd chip and exhaust it for about £1800 and have 240bhp. Things i have heard are stnd cooling is very poor, gearboxs are weak. But i would have one there pretty quick.

CraigH

Gary,

Bet the salesman thinks they're the fastest cars on the planet doesn't he?

Think it's a good choice for your criteria tbh - good stepping stone for something more hardcore?

lordlucan

Had one on 72hr test from Vauxhall, did 800 miles !!! Including the A303.

When it was collected I asked the guy what people thought, he said he hasnt yet collected one from an unhappy customer, I want one.

Not amazing until 4g, then a totally different car, very very strong from 60mph to 130mph.

More understeer than oversteer, although a very neutral car, you have to work to get the back out. Tried to donut and it wouldnt let me !!

ABS is a pain, cut in too soon but very strong brakes.

Only managed to have a couple of plays on the m-way. One with a Crossfire, it totally blew him away. The other with a 54 plate 911 C4S, again no problem which surprised us both, respect to the Porsche as he drew along side with the thumbs up.

The guy who collected the car did warn me that alot of the Network Q cars are ex Vauxhall test cars as they go back to dealers so be warned. After my test drive I really wanted one and still do, just not the one I had just spent 72hrs in.

The finish wasnt good, paint was a let down, I would have wanted better for 25k....

DO IT......LUCKY BARSTEWARD, Can I get a pax lap in Easter please......

J

Gutmann pug

Craig,

The salesman hasn't really spoken about speed and stuff yet. Im thinking he might have white knuckles by the end of our test drive today though

The worst thing was getting the scoob out this morning and knowing I maybe taking it in for a part ex today. I know you shouldnt get attatched but god I love that car. Still onwards and upwards.

Gary

Old_Fart

Regarding problems have a look at the BBS, it's small things like windows not closing properly, electrics failing, paint bubblin over the exhaust..nothing enormous, but some dealers are quite proactive, and reactive to problems...others suck bigtime...the ones in South Essex suck from all accounts...I think the best dealer is up near MK..can't remember the name now.
Cman

CraigH

I think any cars like that don't have a great finish - at 19ish k you can accept it as it's not an overly important part of the package - a bit like trim quality etc on a scoob.

To be fair, I don't think the quality is any worse than any small volume car from noble/tvr et al

Brendan Hughes

Have you done a search? Type "VX220" into title search for other marques.

Old_Fart

I agree Craig, Lotus, Noble, TVR , VX all have a certain 'home made' rather than hand buillt finish..but, for example, a window that doesn't close could mean not being able to drive the car(rain, security, whatever)...that's when dealer support is important. So I didn't get the VX because I couldn't face the 2 or 3 hour round trip to a decent dealer on a regular basis...and I can't be arsed to fix it myself...I just don't have the time or inclination. As I said in my first post, I wanted one, but couldn't get around the practical considerations...if I am only going to drive it twice a month I need to know it's going to work every time.
Cman

Gutmann pug

Oh right I thought you had actually owned one Old Fart?

Luckily I live about 20 mins from the dealer.