Wow, this is different...

[Hogweed]

So I drove a 2004 Rover 75 diesel, manual, for 12½ years till last week. I loved the old money pit, but she finally became uneconomic to keep, and I was looking around for a replacement. I’m nearly 70, so my requirements have changed a little since I used to drive a BMW M3 back in the Noughties (and in the 90s, an Astra GTE 16v, then GSI 16V – scary machines…

I decided I wanted my first ever automatic, and looked at a few cars, with a budget of £10k. The Insignia seemed to offer a lot for my money, so I did two things – (1) asked a mechanic I know very well what he thought of them (he’s been in business maybe 30 years, so has a fair bit of experience); (2) stopped owners in car parks as they got in or out of theirs, and asked them about their experiences.

I got two very different answers… John the mechanic said to buy any other car in the universe except an Insignia – “One of the worst cars ever made, it’ll break your heart”; but I asked at least 6 owners (including my next door neighbour), and all were very positive.

Amazingly, there was an Elite Nav available locally with only 7000 miles on the clock, for a grand more than I wanted to pay, and it was very pleasant to drive – so here we are

Had it for a few days now, and I must admit I love it so far. I’ve never had things like auto transmission and cruise control etc.

I was a pretty active member of various Rover forums, so will probably be seen around here a bit

Roger

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

Hi Roger......welcome to the Club

I used to own a fair few Rovers as well and I have to say they were amongst the best cars I ever owned (even owned an MG Rover garage so I would say they were the best I guess).

The Astras and the M3 were all cars of an era and they very rarely went wrong, although they probably did rust badly. 
As with any car, Insignia included there are good ones and bad ones (we used to call them Friday - Monday cars) and as a mechanic I have seen cars come into my garage that hadn't had a spanner put to them for years and they don't go wrong. Others have been super maintained and they do go wrong constantly.

Let us know how you get on with the Insignia on a regular basis so other members can see if they truly are reliable or otherwise.

Good to have you onboard

[Hogweed]

Thanks yes, we'll see, won't we... in my defence, Your Honour, I would also say that I only do 5 or 6000 miles a year now, and drive in a pretty relaxed fashion, so mine may have a better than average chance.

[Hogweed]

Well, 9 months on... as I mentioned, I only do a small mileage now, so only 5-6000 more than when I bought it. A few niggles, but nothing really concerning:

1. I HATE the infotainment system - it seems to have a mind of its own, changing default settings from time to time, and all sort of other little weirdnesses with it. Particularly loathe the loud, blaring "service messages" every time you do something, eg bluetooth device connected, rain sensing wipers activated etc. And don't get me started on the "touchpad". But... the Rover only had a basic stereo, so this is handy.

2. Passenger side power fold mirror sometimes sticks, or otherwise misbehaves. I'm pretty sure it has the same guts as the Rover ones, and they were shite.

3. Love the way water pours into the boot if it's been raining heavily, and you lift the boot lid - somebody has put a lot of thought into designing it to do that.

I could go on about things like that but as I say, they're niggles. I really like the car actually - MUCH more powerful than the Rover (which was theoretically mapped to the same bhp), while only losing 3 or 4 mpg to the auto box (the 75 was manual). Comfortable and relaxed; handles more than well enough for an oul man like me.

PS another niggle is the button you press on the gear selector - it's kind of sticky. I did post on another Insignia forum, asking if I could squirt some lube into it, but just got a series of teenage style comments about knobs and lube

So not sure whether to try squirting some silcone spray into it, or maybe getting a new knob assembly from eBay

Anyway, no reliability issues yet...

Cheers

PS I suppose I should say that my poor next door neighbour needs a new engine for his something about the oil pump failing, from what he said. It's been off the road for a good two months now, while he argues with the dealership, Vauxhall etc about who pays for it.

His is the newer shape model from mine, maybe 2019 reg (hard to tell with our NI system!)

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Hogweed