Any Insignia owners about?

Smudger14

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I'm currently getting ideas in my head of what car to get next, as at some point in the future, i will be changing car. Now what I'm looking for in my next car is for it to have plenty of room, last me a good numbers of years and something that may need to take a push chair (if the missus and I have kids) plus many other things.

I've been looking at the Insignia recently, and the more I see of them, the more I like. And I know Vauxhall have been making some really good cars recently, and I'm wanting to know if the Insignia is one of them.

So I have some questions for any Insignia owners that maybe on these boards;

1) What are the running costs like?
2) Fuel economy. Is it a gas guzzler, or will it sip the fuel nicely?
3) What's the comfort and ride like? I'm looking for a car that has comfort, as I suffer from bad kness, and the missus gets bad back pain from time-to-time. Throw in the fact that I do long distance travelling (work, family, etc), I need to arrive at my destination feeling relaxed, and not feeling like I've aged 100 years from point a to point b.

Any help with these question will be greatly appreciated.

:smashin:
 
and I'm wanting to know if the Insignia is one of them.

Any test I've read, the Mondeo and Mazda-6 comprehensively trash the Insignia.
You'd have to have a very good reason get an Insignia over either of those two alternatives, IMO.
 
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The new Mondeo does look very nice. But it may be too big. However, if space is what I'm after and need, than the new Mondeo looks to have that by the bucket load.
 
My dads had 2 on loan for a couple months before and he didnt really like them. It had nothing on his Octavia and he said the diesel lacked power.

I'd look at the new Octavia or Superb personally.
 
Had a couple of Insignias through companies i have worked with, first one was a 1.8 petrol which was pretty sluggish, the following was a 2.0 TDI which was much better. Loads of space, the boot was enough for a family to live in! Ride was comfortable and the interior layout is really nice. My gripe with it though was that the vision out the rear was very poor, a high back end and a heavy sloping gradient ont he rear window left you with very little to see look back and did make parking a bit annoying at first.

Since then I have been given a mondeo and its a much better car, overall I can see why it keeps getting raved about as one of the best saloon cars around, given the choice of the two the mondeo wins every time for me. The insigna actually felt like the bigger car too
 
Had a couple of Insignias through companies i have worked with, first one was a 1.8 petrol which was pretty sluggish, the following was a 2.0 TDI which was much better. Loads of space, the boot was enough for a family to live in! Ride was comfortable and the interior layout is really nice. My gripe with it though was that the vision out the rear was very poor, a high back end and a heavy sloping gradient ont he rear window left you with very little to see look back and did make parking a bit annoying at first.

Since then I have been given a mondeo and its a much better car, overall I can see why it keeps getting raved about as one of the best saloon cars around, given the choice of the two the mondeo wins every time for me. The insigna actually felt like the bigger car too

Interesting post. The Mondeo does look, and sound, fantastic.

Think I'll have to go for a few test drives next year to see what they are all like for myself.
 
well worth it, i'll have my car list to choose from this week and i'll be keeping an eye out for the Mondeo.
 
Are you thinking about an estate version or saloon?

All of the cars mentioned get very good reviews, the Mondeo seems to be the highest rated though.

The Insignia running costs will depend on which engine you go for. The Ecoflex engines, as the name suggests, are the most fuel efficient.

You can see opinions for each of the engines here - Insignia reviews

It will probably we worth you going down to a car supermarket with your pushchair to test the space out. A big supermarket should have all the models mentioned so far to test.
 
VX are good these days, had my Vectra C for 2 years & only changed brakes/tyres ect.
 
Early Insignias are terribly unreliable it has just went through a minor facelift I'm not sure if this has made it more reliable. There are always other cars mentioned above this in reviews, this is why rhe insignia is cheap.
 
Don't know if it's just me, but the Insignia is one of those cars whose looks seem to get worse the more you see of them. I rather liked it at first, but I really don't now, especially the rear-end treatment.
 
Think I'll have to go for a few test drives next year to see what they are all like for myself.

if you can hire the cars for a few days as you will get a much better feel than a short test drive

If you decide on the Mondeo do not get the 1.8TDCi as it is underpowered
 
If you decide on the Mondeo do not get the 1.8TDCi as it is underpowered

It's also an old archaic 8v diesel that is loud and intrusive, derived from the Transit vans (though refined over the years since the 90's).

I have the 1.8 TDCi 115bhp in my Focus MKII and it's economical (69.5 mpg measured correctly on a 100 mile journey in the summer) but otherwise is a horrid engine.

Look out for the new 2.0/2.2TDCi (165 bhp/~200bhp?) and the 2.2 TDCi in the old shape Mondeo too (155bhp). 16v and far, far better.
 
Do you get the 1.8tdci in the latest Mondeo?
Can only see the 2.0tdci on the Ford configurator.

Should be phased out with the facelift recently, but was available until then, though it has 125bhp rather than 115bhp in the Focus.
 
Was it the 1.8 TDCi you had in the loaner then? I do recall that thread (of course) but don't recall if you mentioned what engine it had.

The Mondeo has put on too much weight for the 1.8 TDCi to feel adequate.
It was the 1.8, I'm sure.
 
It was the 1.8, I'm sure.

No wonder it felt pants! I can almost guarantee you would have felt totally different in the 2.0 16v ... it's a night and day difference (don't let anyone tell you otherwise - it's usually 2.0 envy!).

I even drove a 307CC with the same diesel engine and it was positively excellent through the gears and you wouldn't have guessed it was a porky hard top.

Back to the topic though and it's worth noting that the 2.0 CDTi in the Insignia is a cracking engine too, albeit in a horrid car by all accounts. The Vectra (1.9 150bhp diesel) had the same problem - great engine poor car to be placed in.

I had the pleasure of being a passenger in the 2.0 diesel Insignia and the driver was "keen". Managed to get all four wheels off the road and the engine cut out. Not ideal! Couldn't say the interior was that great either, but that's personal preference I suppose.
 
My father has a 58 plate Insignia 2.0 turbo petrol and I have to say it's very nice - a world away from the dreadful abomination that was the Vectra (and he had four of those!). It feels well screwed together, drives nicely and the interior plastics are of good quality. My father reckons it's on a par with my wife's C-Class Merc - it really isn't but it's not all that far off!

My only real complaints are that it's a bit gloomy inside with its black interior and headroom could be a bit better (I am 6'3"). All I can say is, what with this and the new Astra, Vauxhall at last seem to be getting their act back together once again.
 
All I can say is, what with this and the new Astra, Vauxhall at last seem to be getting their act back together once again.

I'm struggling to think of any time period where Vauxhall ever had an act that was together! Granted, they are seemingly better than in the past now (you should hope so - it's 2010!), but with a new Focus due imminently, a new A3 in 2011 and a handful of others too, VX are going to be playing catch-up again quite soon I reckon.

As for the comparisons to the Merc, come back in three years and see if the comparison is still valid on both used cars ... I should think it might change a little!
 
I have to admit, the new Astra is a nice looking car.
And we followed one up to Inverness the other week, with the wife commenting she really liked the look of it for herself.
It'll never happen though, I'll always steer her away from any Vauxhall.:nono:
 

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