Insignia Estate

[s130]

I'm not entirely sure I'm posting this ......

Called into a local Vauxhal dealer to get a price for a Croma EGR valve. The GM price is £133 including VAT plus gaskets. Fiat want £168 + VAT ......

I think it may be worth checking GM prices for Croma engine & running parts before Fiat AND auto factors.

Anyway, whilst there I looked in the showroom and there was a Insigia Estate 2.0 Diesel 160BHP (2nd model spec up) at £18,500 (on the road).

Salemans was keen to get me to buy. Still running scrappage and "no better time to buy". He then started to say (after I didn't bite) that this month they are one very tight quotas and there was plenty of flexibility in the price.

Still not biting I said/implied I knew how the system worked, based on Fiat practices and that many of my Fiats have been bought at cost price to the dealer PLUS workshop PDI charges.

The guy was still standing and implying that "we can do that as well".

Well, I poked around the car for a while and it is very much a Croma replacement and uses the Fiat engine.

As I need a car like the Croma or bigger then in the Fiat range one is now limited to Doblo or Ducato

So, I'm not advocating GM but if the Croma is your cup of tea and you are looking for a replacement then the Insignia Estate is about as near as you will get.

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/vauxhall-range/cars/insignia-sports-tourer/index.html

I now expect to get banned from this Forum .........

 

[Radlet6]

Get thee behind me satan:devil:

 

[s130]

Get thee behind me satan:devil:

No problem Radlet6.

I once drove a Ford Cortina MkII (Coke Bottle) for a short while after my Fiat 600D and two cylinder heads later I binned the *ORD and adopted a Strada 75CL. I should have skipped the Ford episode altogether!

I guess the problem we Fiat lovers have, who have a need for a larger luxuary vehicle is that current Brava is just a little on the small side and the Doblo etc. is great but not what one would call a luxuary/executive model.

I would drive ANY Fiat, any day of the week, and thoroughly enjoy the experience. The trouble I guess we all have is matching/fulfilling the "ideal personal usage footprint". I want speed, power, load handling, towing ability, grace, handling, and a shed load of other items.

Croma ticked the box 4 years ago.

Struggling to think of an alternative, especially an Italian one.

F40 Mover!

 

[Doofer]

I've really liked the Insignia since I first saw one. It looks a class above the rest, way better than the Ford Mundano anyway.

All cars are mongrels these days anyway, so brand loyalty is a mug's game. The Fiat Qubo is a Peugeot/Citroen, the Ford Ka is a Fiat 500 etc, etc. I reckon my mum's Vauxhall Corsa is more of a Fiat than my Croma.

Buy one! And before you part-ex the Croma, tell us whether the Insignia windscreen washer jets will fit a Croma. Everyone on VectraC is fitting them to their Vectras as they spray a nice mist instead of a squirty jet.

 

[s130]

Buy one! And before you part-ex the Croma, tell us whether the Insignia windscreen washer jets will fit a Croma. Everyone on VectraC is fitting them to their Vectras as they spray a nice mist instead of a squirty jet.

Unless there is some misshap on the horizon I don't know about then my beloved Croma is here to stay for a long time yet.

Buy the time I'm looking to buy again Fiat may have sold Alfa Romeo to the Yanks and Crysler will have replaced many of the Fiat range models.

As you/others have said in more recent times these is no such beast as genuine Fiat, Mercedes, etc. etc. Just about all manufacturers have done colaboration deals, buy outs, etc that the base DNA has been so diluted that you will have to design and build your own car to get anything original or 99.99% related to and original brand.

 

[Hellcat]

Alfa 159 estate not big enough for you?

Oh and it's Bravo, not Brava

 

[johnson550]

159 Sportwagon would do for me diesel of course havent got time to save up for one (too old) have to be lottery win Im afraid lol

 

[Doofer]

Well if you're going to buy a generic car then it's probably a good idea to get one with Vauxhall badges on. They are now doing a LIFETIME 100,000 mile warranty (with some conditions and exclusions).