59 replies to this topic

[coldel]

Have to say I prefer the turbo having had both. The handling is still sharp enough for my average driving skills plus when you get the chance to put the hammer down the sheer ferocity of that turbo kicking in is addictive


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[smiley]

The footrest is missing, with the fixings still in place.

Could be done for large passengers, then not put back at resale. These are still available.

The light switches bracket that should be clicked into the chassis, seems completely dislocated. Not sure what is going on there.
The front seems to have had a repaint, for which i am not sure of quality. There seem to be smutches on the lights, and the grill looks grey instead of black.

 

The rest looks nice with age appropriatie wear and tear., with nothing out of place.

Edited by smiley, 08 May 2020 - 02:26 PM.

[scottjamesm]

Have reserved it.

[scottjamesm]

Thanks Smiley !!! I'll run these points by them.

Is it worth 12£k do you think?

[smiley]

I am not into UK prices, so cannot judge.

Any chance you could take an owner here for a look, to rule out poor damage repair, versus a (poorly executed?) front blowover, which is common on these cars.

 

Here is a brand new footrest, should you continue with this.

https://www.regelin-...ellbar-rhd.html

 

Here you can see how the lightswitches are fixed in. (Silver facade removed)
They shove into a plastic bracket, and the bracket fixes into the steel chassis.

Again, not sure how that could go wrong. Maybe the plastic bracket is broken/gone, and it fixed in some other way.

If a previous owner tinkered with it, you could probably simply remove the silver bracket to take a look yourself, as it is popular to just velcro it back in, like on the picture of mine.
(oem the facade uses plastic christmass plugs, and is difficult to remove first time)

 

Edited by smiley, 08 May 2020 - 02:28 PM.

[coldel]

Thanks Smiley !!! I'll run these points by them.


Is it worth 12£k do you think?

I paid pretty much that for my 65k mile turbo last year


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[martinroger]

These are mostly cosmetic. You need to tour the forum to figure out the essentials that need to be done on an NA. With no particular order :

 

- Cabin heater rotten away

- Brake servo pipe recall

- Hub Carrier Bolts

- Melting fog (chav) lights

- Uprated toe links

- Timing chains and oil squirter upgrade

- Rotten sill brake lines ?

- Radiator housing leaky ?

- Front left pipe bleed screw leaky ?

-...

 

I wouldn't take the low mileage too much in consideration, as these are fairly solid engines. But there is a myriad of small upgrades that can make life better and make it worth what is imho a high price for what seems to be advertised as a stock N.A. :/

[martinroger]

Also just noticed it's been debadged in the back. Be aware that finding badges is a bit tricky nowadays !

 

[smiley]

There is a piece missing from the right side mirror.

 

[scottjamesm]

Thanks everyone. Appreciate the help.

The only other vx 220 I can find is a 2.0 turbo but it was cat d once ...Rear clamshell damage which had been fixed apparently.

Rather risky buying a cat d right ? Especially for resale if I were to ...

[martinroger]

I have a Cat D NA. It doesn't affect the value it has to me, it is because an insurer decided some day that cosmetic repairs on my clams were too expensive so slapped a Cat D on it. For all you know that grey one might have had the same damage but was repaired without going through an insurer.

If you are looking at buying a VX as an investment, honestly it is not going to be a good one if your goal is to flip it. They don't run on £5, though not as bad as other two seaters.

All in all, I wouldn't change my Cat D for a non-cat car that hasn't had the base upgrades I mentioned previously

[Arno]

Looks like a fairly un-molested one. The coolant tank seems to have been replaced fairly recent. Likely because of the normal UV degradation that they suffer over time. Looks like it still has the EGR fitted in a functional way.  Front brake discs seem like they need to be changed, but those are cheap.

 

It is running the Turbo wheels though and not the original N/A ones. Front tyres still the original Bridgestone RE040's so likely well past their best by now. Rears look like some Yokohama type.

 

Looking at the dirt/algae buildup on the edge around the engine bay it seems like it may have had a time of inactivity outdoors.

 

Front clam definitely has had paintwork done. Perhaps to blow in/over stonechips.

 

Important bits on these cars are on the underside though and in the wheel wells.

 

Look for any indication that suspension pickup points on the alu chassis on the front have been damaged/repaired. That's a big red flag as those, while technically possible to fix, are not 'approved' repairs by either Vauxhall or Lotus. Any dents/bulges and creases in the visible alu chassis beams parts are also very bad news.

 

The cars are getting on in years, so do expect some extra maintenance and need to swap out or treat parts like the suspension wishbones and the like as the corrosion protection on all the steel parts of the car (except the rear subframe) is not great. Electricals can also be 'interesting' sometimes, esp. with some of the connectors being pretty exposed to the elements like the two major ones behind/under the coolant tank.

 

May also need some new (un-corroded) mounting shims between the subframe and the alu chassis on the back at some point.

 

Bye, Arno.

[kpf1grandprix]

It is running the Turbo wheels though and not the original N/A ones. Front tyres still the original Bridgestone RE040's so likely well past their best by now. Rears look like some Yokohama type.


Would this put someone off then? As I prefer the turbo wheels to the na ones.

[PaulCP]

It’s the only one with PAS so probably a premium built in for that 🤔

[martinroger]

Lol yeah the Power Assisted Steering one... Not sure, maybe it comes with a gym membership to get some arm power

[Arno]

Would this put someone off then? As I prefer the turbo wheels to the na ones.

Not really. Purely personal preference.

Could be a point to haggle on with a seller though if people go for originality.

Same for items that need looking after soon(ish). Just something to possibly bring up and integrate it in the final price..

Bye, Arno.

[ginek]

With the sidenote that the oem sidescoops with the oem grills are extremely rare nowadays.

Aftermarket with mesh readily avaialble.

 

Yes. I vote for aftermarket. Disadvantage of fitting OEM sidescoops is chopping the NA sides.

[mbes2]

Has anyone gone turbo to NA look
... think not...

[gaffer1986]

My opinion:

 

Turbo is definitely better looking. NA is fast enough for fun road driving and will allow you to enjoy driving it hard with very cheap maintenance. Supercharged is better for track days as you have the power to get past people who hold you up in the corners. Not driven a turbo VX220 but driven plenty of turbo cars and I'm not a fan of the power delivery for a sports car, good in a Golf but for a precision car I like a precision throttle.

 

The NA VX220 will not make you look like a hero on track, it will not allow you to out accelerate much and it doesn't generate more g through the corners than most cars.

 

I love the VX220 because of how it makes me feel when I drive, the fact my bum is a similar height to the middle of the wheels means that although I'm going no faster, I feel like an athlete. It's like wearing magic weightless trainers that make me feel better than I am, everyone is getting older but I don't feel older when I drive it. Standard suspension is comfortable, no need to have a firm ride for good driving dynamics because weigh distribution means physics is on your side.

 

To really enjoy the car me and my other half need our creature comforts:

 

Rebuild the heater and seal the gaps in the heater box - this will keep you warm in the winter. You will be very cold if you don't do this.

 

Get Ross Hogg-Robinson to retrim the seats in part leather with extra padding. The lack of padding on the standard seat would leave me with small drops of blood on my back and bruises. I'm slim so my spine would rub against the hard surface if I didn't have a coat on. The cloth inners keep me warm in the winter and allows my skin to breath in the summer so my back doesn't stick to the seat from sweat, YUK!

 

Bluetooth and DAB stereo so I can drive it far and wide and actually use the car on some great roads.

 

Refurbish the headlights, most are useless by now due to age but a refurb or replacing the lenses, readjusting and fitting good bulbs goes a very long way, literally.

 

If the roof is leaky, not the end of the world, replace the rubbers, can be a expensive though.

 

Replace the hub carrier bolts and toe links regularly.. very cheap and easy but may save your life.

 

For the NA replace the cam chains, even Vauxhall recommended the chains on the 2.2 should be replaced every 8 years. They can fail without warning. Other than that, the engine is very good, only 136KG for a 2.2 was very good for the time and still good now.

 

Budget around £1500 a year to keep the car in good condition, it will cost you less but with the money you can keep the car like new.

 

If you want to track it there are some other things you need to do.

 

Changing these few things made me want to use the car more and stopped me falling in and out of love with it. Driving 2 hours in the cold and not being able to feel my feet or having a painful back every time I sat down or opening the door to a puddle of water and wet seat made me hate the car very quickly and my passengers did too understandably. Going somewhere and worrying about rain is not something I need in my life, rain happens a lot.

 

I've sold the car once but missed the driving and had to go back, I wanted a newer car for reliability and longer road trips recently so put it up for sale but when someone tried to buy it I couldn't let it go so I decided to use the money to make the old car a new car and am currently in the process of replacing all the suspension and various other bits.

 

My other half is happy to go on road trips in this car now and loves the targa top as it allows roof off driving without the cold draft in the back of the neck of from other convertibles. As long as it's above about 10 degrees Celsius on a sunny day, it's warm in the car, even with the roof off. It extends the summer.

 

To be honest, when I put it up for sale I never actually faced the fact I would be without the car, I just wanted the money for another car

[coldel]

 

Replace the hub carrier bolts and toe links regularly.. very cheap and easy but may save your life.

 

 

 

What have you been using? OEM toe links? Elise Parts? Spitfire?