Bad things about the VXR?

[04TypeR]

How honest can you all be? I'm listening .......

[Insignia VXR]

Re: Bad things about the VXR?

How honest can you all be? I'm listening .......

The only thing I am disappointed with is the way the Astra VXR seems to force most Type R drivers to try and prove their car is faster .... :wink:

[04TypeR]

Ah, I was being serious. Ok I'll start,
How much will you lose on your car after 3 years?
Brand Watering Down? Mothercare will be doing VXR Prams next.
I'm a bitter ex vauxhall owner, who's fully loaded SRI lost £6k in 5 months, I seriously think the VXR will go the same way.
Just waiting for the Chavs to buy their 1.4 Astras then buy the VXR kits!

[Insignia VXR]

Ah, I was being serious. Ok I'll start,
How much will you lose on your car after 3 years?
Brand Watering Down? Mothercare will be doing VXR Prams next.
I'm a bitter ex vauxhall owner, who's fully loaded SRI lost £6k in 5 months, I seriously think the VXR will go the same way.
Just waiting for the Chavs to buy their 1.4 Astras then buy the VXR kits!

Serious? Ah so was I .....It is a fantastic car....looks, build quality and performance.
Every time you get in the thing it brings a smile to your face. The rear view mirror full of CTR doesn't tbh.
Most brand new cars lose 000's as soon as you drive off the forecourt?
Any brand new car suffers depreciation, most popular residuals lie in the range 43-52% after 3 years - motoring magazines back pages will give you the exact figures.
I am sure a Golf TDi is a much better investment. I am sure I would never want to own one though :wink:
'Watering down of brand' - The astra VXR was extensively engineered as a performance car, the rest of the range perhaps not.
Not bothered by badges - If you are concerned about exclusivity maybe buy a Merc or a BMW. Although it is quite funny to see somebody avoiding eye contact after their £35k of shiny new german tin has been bested by an astra.
I am sure people without 20k to spend on a new car will be purchasing the 'VXR styling packages' for their 1.4s (so would I if I was 17 with 2k insurance for a 1.4) but then again I have seen plenty of GTI/M-Power/RS etc badging and spoilers on lesser VW/BMW and Audis?
But you are right....there is a 'VXR' car baby seat!

[Catherine]

Agree with you on the depreciation. I bought a Mercedes C220 CDI Sport last year on the basis it would be almost bullet proof on depreciaition. The damn thing lost £10K in 2 months. The Porsche Boxster that we had lost £8K in 5 months.

[caspy]

Astra's will depreciate less than any of the other VXR's. No car is an investment, but if in the market for a 'super hatch' you couldnt do better than put you money into one. There is no over supply and the pricing is fairly firm.
Supply and demand! And the press are just starting to write about proper uk cars and living with them. All better than pre launch cars. Public perception will get even better. As for the watering of the brand by kitting up everything, I too was very concerned that this would happen. A few people have a kit to the cars and i am sure that aftermarket ones will come and go, but nothing looks like a proper VXR and i truly believe it will not affect the brand.
Tigra is now a brand, and has the best residuals of ANY vauxhall and better than alot of premiuim cabs also.
Just my two pen'th.

[04TypeR]

When I moved from the Astra SRi to the MR2 Roadster (just wanted a change) the bloke at Toyota had a grin on his face when he told me he was only giving me £11k for my car, despite it costing £16.5k just 6 months earlier, we had strong words but he said "Sorry Mr Astra Owner (replace my surname) but it's an Astra"
Made my blood boil and have never been near a Vauxhall garage since.
Another "issue" I have with the VXR is why does it have 240bhp but still slower 0-60 in comparrison to the CTR and is only marginally faster top end (3 mph I think isn't it?)

[DaveDempsey]

Did you try any other dealer to see if you could have got a better price for your car or did you just try the one.
The majority of cars are going to loose money, its an unfortunate fact of life, but as Caspy has already said, the supply and demand factor plays a big part. Personally I think the residuals on the Astra VXR etc. will be pretty good, the VXR brand has created a strong image and I think the car should do well.

[Insignia VXR]

Another "issue" I have with the VXR is why does it have 240bhp but still slower 0-60 in comparrison to the CTR and is only marginally faster top end (3 mph I think isn't it?)

You haven't been on a decent test drive in VXR have you? :wink:
Wouldn't rely on magazine reviews and numbers - give it a try and see what you think then

[Catherine]

Am I missing something here. I understood that the last Civic Type R's had a claimed 0-62 time of 6.6 secs. The Astra is 6.2

[04TypeR]

The latest Civic is 0-60 in 6.2.
I haven't test driven it yet, but I will once the new CTR is out - I suffer from spangley kit syndrome when it comes to cars and I don't want that to affect judement by signing up if I really like it The Type R is truely the best car I have ever had, and I'm keen to see if Honda can pull something out of the bag early 2007 with the new Civic Type R.
Why does Clarkson hate the VXR so much?

[caspy]

The measure of a cars imherent abilty is to how quick it can get from a to b. Max speed is rarely achieved and 0-60 is about gearing. Chassis, brakes steering etc should also be considered.
I think the Astra has proved its ground covering skills beyond question, just read the review in this weeks, usually Vauxhall negative, AUTOCAR.

[ChinsVXR]

Ah, I was being serious. Ok I'll start,
How much will you lose on your car after 3 years?
Brand Watering Down? Mothercare will be doing VXR Prams next.
I'm a bitter ex vauxhall owner, who's fully loaded SRI lost £6k in 5 months, I seriously think the VXR will go the same way.
Just waiting for the Chavs to buy their 1.4 Astras then buy the VXR kits!

The VXR should be worth a minimum of £10k at three years according to some of the latest residual. Based on the fact that most people will get £1500 off the car, then with a couple of extra's the loss is less than £9k, which is good - it might even be less.
As other have said a lot of so called good marks can lose loads in a short space of time. My MKV GTI lost £4k in 7 months. An Astra SRi was always going to lose loads, its a reps car and unless you got a mega discount upfront, then you really should not of been suprised.
As for for watering, then with only 2500 Astra in a year you wont see the sort of supply you will of GTI's and ST's. The other VXR are in much smaller numbers as well.
There is a concern with the Chav factor, the scooby has it and now the Type R is a mega chav car, so I understand why you want to get out of it, but it will take a little while for the VXR to get to the levels of availability of a Type R or Scooby.
Looking at some of the recent Type R spyshots, I think a few people will be disapointed. The Type R I guess is moving down a class to compete with the Corsa and Clio. Bit like F1, Honda like to think they can compete, but in the end the understeer and engines are not upto competing with the class leader Who at Honda wanted to leave the Type R so underpowered needs firing.
Jonathan

[SiFire]

The measure of a cars imherent abilty is to how quick it can get from a to b. Max speed is rarely achieved and 0-60 is about gearing. Chassis, brakes steering etc should also be considered.
I think the Astra has proved its ground covering skills beyond question, just read the review in this weeks, usually Vauxhall negative, AUTOCAR.

You got a link for the new review?

[Catherine]

The latest Civic is 0-60 in 6.2.
I haven't test driven it yet, but I will once the new CTR is out - I suffer from spangley kit syndrome when it comes to cars and I don't want that to affect judement by signing up if I really like it The Type R is truely the best car I have ever had, and I'm keen to see if Honda can pull something out of the bag early 2007 with the new Civic Type R.
Why does Clarkson hate the VXR so much?

You had better call Honda when they open tomorow and tell them that their website is spouting rubbish. They state a time of 6.6