Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Hi everybody.

I just joined up! Next May I will be looking for a bigger car, and so far my favourite candidates are cav's and carlton's. I'm a vauxhall chap (although have defected towards citroens recently...) and currently have a mk2 Astra that will be coming off the road for recommissioning next year (hence want bigger, quicker car) cos it's getting very tired now, poor little thing has served 80000 miles in the last three years i've had it (just over 100,000 now).

I've previously had a 12NZ Corsa B (1st car) then 2.2 16v frontera MK1, and although I like the ecotec engine - it did give me lots of electrical problems! So can you guys give me an overview of the mk3 cavalier in reliability, comfort and what to avoid etc?

So far my favourites are pre-facelift 20NE's (CD would be perfect but any trim really), and post facelift high spec models in 2.0 form (CDX/GLS/Diplomat, NE or XEV). I'm not a fan of automatics either. I will have a budget of around a grand next year to play with so will be looking for low miles, good condition etc for a reliable daily driver.

Here are some cheeky pics of my cars!

My little Astra that I love beyond reason.


My Citroen (BX19 GT, one of 12 left, undergoing restoration)


Previous Frontera


Thanks chaps

Welcome to the forum. Tidy looking Astra and I'm quite partial to older Citroens, BX's, XM's, CX's, and I had 2 ZX's.

Stick around. C20NE's are fairly common still, can pick one up at anything around £400. GLS are the most common ones I Think.

Andrei.

Thanks Andrei, it looks good from a few feet away but get any closer and you can see the myriad of dents, scratches and imperfections - but it does polish up lovely and there is no rust! Mt favourites are BX's and XM's.

Ideally i'd like a V6 mk3 CDX, but there's no way i'm gonna be able to afford the insurance! I pay £500 just for my astra, and that's the cheapest I could find. Insurers quite like young drivers for all the money we pay them...

Is the NE a good engine to go for then? I have heard they are reliable and fairly frugal for a 2.0, I know they're cambelt-snapping safe and they seem to be used in many vx's so parts shouldn't be a problem. The 1.8's 90bhp in a car the size of a cav sounds a bit tame and probably won't be so good on fuel given the weight it has to haul around and the XEV I think will be less reliable but quicker and perhaps more economical?

Kind of have to agree with Andrei as I own a 1994 2.0i Gls Cavalier with the Cat version C20NE engine, it aint that bad on fuel even with your foot down but driven nicely it gives great returns for a large car, never had one but been told the 1.7 TD cavs with the Isuzu engines are pretty indestructible and go well with a few simple DIY mods.

There is a few lads on here with TD Cavaliers too..

Love the Mk2 Astra too, my first car was a 1.3L Astra mk2 that I adored until it died in an accident. Do yourself a favour and get away from the french cars I used to work at Citroen and know just how bad some of them are.

The c20ne's are surprisingly torquey at the lower end, my mate and local fellow owner has one. EDIT: Who just posted before I did Very good on fuel on a run.

The C18NZ is in my opinion a good balance of power/economy. Although mine's an auto, it still returns good economy if I treat it right. And I can still have some fun with it on a country lane if the mood is right...

Your best bet would be the 2 liter one. Won't be too high on insurance.

Regarding Citroens though, I'd be favouring the older models still. Stepdad used to have a BX19, was a brilliant car. Blew out a rear tyre once on a French motorway, easily 70mph+, stayed straight and true all the way.... I'd love an XM estate myself, just purely because of their size and bulk. Quite possibly the largest cars on the road, excluding the long wheelbase Audi's A8's etc.

Cavalier342 wrote:Audi's

as they see the rear of a Cav passing, when you can past the unofficial outside lane hogs...

Swear filter should remove all suggestions of the word Audi unless its an old school one!

Thanks for all your advice! I thought I might end up looking for an NE. Are the rust spots similar on cav's as mk2 astra's? That is all arches, inner wings and floor area (mostly under footwells and by fuel/brake lines).

Love the BX, great styling and body lines! Very different to the much more curvy 80/90's vx. The 1.9 petrol engine in my GT is also found in 405's etc, only got 105 bhp but is very torquey for it's size. Sounds really nice at the moment - but the exhaust manifold is blowing... Should be suitably citroeny-sewing machine style when it's got a new gasket in there. Love the XM too, I hanker after a series 1 (pre 1993) 2.0 TCT (LP turbo, 150bhp) with the lovely auto gearbox citroen put on these cars.

Insurance for a 1.8 and 2.0 gls (non 16v) was quoted about a tenners difference, so as far as power and economy goes i'm thinking 2.0, possdibly with a mind to whack a closed loop MPI LPG kit on there.

Oh and boo to up-your-arse-audi types! They seem to be far too common on roads with more than 2 lanes.

I am considering getting a 2 liter cav. 20NE would be my choice as I'm familiar enough with the 8 valvers. I'd like the extra torque so I don't have to push it as much to get around. If the insurance isn't that much different then I'll look around at some point.

As for audi drivers, most of them can shove off as far as I'm concerned.

Cavalier342 wrote:I am considering getting a 2 liter cav. 20NE would be my choice as I'm familiar enough with the 8 valvers. I'd like the extra torque so I don't have to push it as much to get around. If the insurance isn't that much different then I'll look around at some point.

As for audi drivers, most of them can shove off as far as I'm concerned.

2.0ne are good my 1 did 40 ish mpg average on motorway.between 60 and 80ish .my dads gotit now doing arches and tucking it away .happy hunting

Would say the 2 litre cav is quite a beast, my previous car was a 1.4spi Astra though which was slow as fuk..

The best thing to do though as I have started to realise is get good tyres and suspension on these as they tend to slide around in the wet when pushed, for a cheap ish project come daily driver though I adore my Cav and the attention it gets as I have found loads of older guys had them as company cars etc and my boss had a V6 so has a soft spot for mine too..

As for rust the arches, sills and rear chasis are the main points to be looking at and of course with some of the quicker models make sure they haven't been crashed and badly repaired.

At times you will hate owning a Cav but with sites like this and the amount of spares still around they are a brilliant car, one of Vauxhalls finest moments!

Cavalier342 wrote: Stepdad used to have a BX19, was a brilliant car. Blew out a rear tyre once on a French motorway, easily 70mph+, stayed straight and true all the way.....

If it had been a British motorway he would have hit a pothole and rolled it!

planetc wrote:

Cavalier342 wrote: Stepdad used to have a BX19, was a brilliant car. Blew out a rear tyre once on a French motorway, easily 70mph+, stayed straight and true all the way.....

If it had been a British motorway he would have hit a pothole and rolled it!

They're brilliant for changing tyres, because of the self levelling suspension you can put it on high, put stands underneath, set the suspension to low and hey presto, your tyres are off the ground! Also you can drive around (carefully!) with only 3 wheels on, I haven't tried... Honest.

Ye I did hear about that. Always wanted to see it in action