RS Grant

Ok, the time has come for me to change my commuting/rubbish to the tip/dog to the beach.. car.

I've been looking at getting an Omega 3.0(Auto) Elite Estate as a change from my Rover... I like the fact that the Omega comes stacked with a LOAD of toys as standard and that I expect it to waft along with the big 6 taking a large mileage without giving any worries, specially expensive ones.

Has anyone got any experience with these cars, in particular the Auto gearboxes and the 3.0 engine??

My old man had a 2.5CDX manual from new that was still going well despite the 190k miles it had on it when he sold it on... What I need to know is:

- Whether or not the 3.0 will be sub-20's to the gallon on average 50mph/30mile daily drive to work??
- Whether it'll be as reliable as the 2.5 engine was with my dad??
- Whether the auto gearbox can do high miles without worries??
- Are there any points that I should be looking out for when I go to look at one??




Cheers,
Grant

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

I had a 2l 16 v a while ago, main thing to check is the gearbox. Selector switch needed replacing on mine (£200) new,luckily I got one from the scrappies. Make sure its not slipping as tourqe converter equals big££ to sort out.
Everone I know also seems to have had the wishbones done as well at one point.

Should be getting around 20mpg as long as you do not hammer it.

mg driver

i had a 3.0 elite ,brought it 2nd hand and was 4 years old iirc .I only had 3 months ,it came with a 3 month warranty and after 2 months i was driving down the m1 and the cam belt tensioner (at least i think thats what it was called )went and did £3000 worth of damage ,it was fixed well enough but i lost all faith in it as it was constantly plagued by electrical gremlins ,like the speedo would pack up then the rev counter ,then the heated seats ,and multiple bulbs in the console kept blowing.
I sent it back once to have the brakes checked over as they were utterly rubbish ,dangerously so imo but the garage said that it was all fine

as for the mpg ,i used to glance down at the computer read out and just
could have been a great car but wasnt

John57

I used to drive the 3.0 as police cars and they were pretty reliable given the fact they were being used 24/7 365. At high miles the gearbox tended to suffer but some were as smooth as silk.

The engines vary quite a bit in terms of power - try one and if it goes well and changes smoothly it is a good one.

I found the earlier ones had less electrical gripes than the later revised dash model (which came out just before the 3.2)

I found the 3.0 preferable to the 3.2 as it has a 'second wind' / dual ram effect at about 4,000 rpm and pulls strongly to the red line.

Miles seem not to affect the engine badly at all - in fact the best one we had was on 65K when other tighter ones were much slower on 30K.

The 3.0 auto is, though, positively sluggish compared to the manual version which flies! I have never driven a car with an auto box which seems to sap so much power. The manual gearbox and clutch are both awful though - which is a shame. The auto is sluggish off the mark and drinks petrol .... but then again all engines this size tend to like a bit of petrol.

I think as 3.0 engines go they are worse on petrol than most but probably not that much. Be warned - they all drink alot though!

As a cheap second hand buy one in good condition would be an excellent 'do it all' car ...... but I would have thought there are better alternatives out there depending of course on your budget, etc

mg driver

are you saying they did a manual version omega elite with the 3.0 litre engine in ,i though they were all auto's
i must admit i reckon it would have been fairly quick with a good manual box.

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Glovebox button will/is already broken as well

kin quick

iTrader: (2)

My Dad has a CDX 2.5 V6 auto with all the options (ex-company director car), had it since it was 2 years old on a P - plate and has towed a caravan since he got it.

He doesn't drive it hard but with my Mum's suitcase and a caravan on the back it must have to lug at least 15tonnes about it seems fine from Essex to Devon twice a year!!

It's done approx 95K miles, the only problem he has had is the oil cooler which is located between the "V" of the engine , can't remember how much Vauxhall charged him to change it, but was a horrible job to do so he let them do it.

Inside is fantastic, leather, heated, sat nav, electric everything and a really cool electric blind on the back window which pops up from the parcel shelf

Mum drives it on short journeys during the week and it has no problems with that.

Pretty heavy though, the brakes seem pretty good until you have to use them hard, they fade a bit.

Not as pokey as you would expect when I drive it, but then the auto box is apparently really power sapping!

G00ner

Yeah there was a manual option, a friend had a manual 3.0 Elite Estate.

I had a 2.5 v6 a few years back, but mine suffered lots of ECU gremlins, it was forever flashing the CEL, loads of different errors and basically a bit of a pain.

gingerboy

Wasn't the manual 3.0 version as used by the police an "MV6" version which are readily available secondhand.

As most have said if you go for an auto be sure the car has been looked after and had gear box oil and filter changed at the specified intervals if not more often. From memory the auto gear box oil change was either 60,000 or 90,000 miles.

Other things to look out for are oil leaks from the rocker covers which were modified in later models, obvious cam belt and tensioners done on a regular basis (belt, idlers, tensioners are available aftermarket as a kit from companies such as SKF - price approx £150 + vat). EGR valves can play up also if car has only ever pootled round town.

Generally if you fancy one make sure you buy one that has had a comprehensive service history and comes with all receipts.

Generally good cars and certainly eat the miles on long journeys.

GB

John57

The auto as I recall was the 'standard' option - you could request a manual as a 'no cost' option.

The Police Omega's I drove were all auto with the exception of two unmarked Hendon driving school cars ..... I don't believe the manual was a police only spec.