- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.2i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
104kW, 200Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 6.9L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Manual
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
1999 Holden Vectra Gl Review
This car has been through hail, snow/black ice, attempted theft, long country travel, and metropolitan mayhem. Through all of this it has not given me any drama.
- 2.2L Engine's Power/Economy, 60L fuel tank, ABS Breaks and Traction Control, Acceleration!, The smile it puts on my face
- Ride height (lowered car).. The kind of low you squeeze your butt cheeks when going over them, Hail Damage (saved me money however so can't complain too much), People thinking its an ASTRA!
I bought this car in 2008 for a mere $6000 second hand from a gentleman in Sydney. At this point in time I wanted it to last me the 5 years of University so I could then save up for a nicer new car. Only 3 months after buying the car it was battered and bruised in a huge hail storm which the insurance company wrote it off, bought it off me for the $6000 I paid and I bought it back for $3000.
While at University someone must have known the car was amazing value and broke in to take it. To get in they bent the door frame back, then attempted to hot wire the car. Much to their dismay my little beast held strong and their attempts failed.
Something amazing to note is all my stuff to live at uni fitted into the boot! Everything to live for an entire year at a time. And when on placement I only required the one trip to move between locations in Bathurst, Wagga Wagga and Newcastle. Incredible!
People usually dread services in fear of finding out what is wrong with the car and having to fork over an arm and a leg to get it fixed... kind of like going to the dentist. For me services was my opportunity to show how amazing my car is and that it never has anything wrong with it even with the thrashing I give it.
To give you an idea on reliability and durability let me describe how I drive... Foot to floor from 0-speed limit. Love to hear the engine rev and optimize my gear changes for speed not fuel. The car has done over 100,000 km's with me and It has never stopped working, never caused any drama. The worst thing that has ever happened to me in that car was the air con ran out of gas! That was one hot trip.
The features I thank the lord for include my ABS breaks, Traction control and the 2.2L 4 cylinder engine with added sports exhaust. The ABS and Traction control have saved me numerous times from speeding tickets from speed cameras and from creating hot hatches out of cars in front when they slam on their breaks when driving around Sydney.
Foot to the floor the engine sounds very impressive with the duel sports exhaust, even at 200,000kms it still takes off like a little rocket! With my fantastic racetrack driving on road the fuel economy on my little beast is awesome! During the prime of my traveling I at most had to fill up once a week. This was about 580km of travelling on a full tank and still had about 10L's remaining when filling up. A normal tank of fuel costs me around $50-$60 and if you ask me to do nearly 600km's for $60... that's awesome!
In future what I would look to improve with this model of car would be a flux capacitor to go thank the makers of this car. They not only have saved me tons of money but also have given me an enjoyable ride.
In all seriousness however there is nothing I would change with this car. It still looks sporty for being nearly 17 years old, It still runs as good as when I bought it 8 years ago. Hats off to Holden for this amazing machine!