Opel Omega opinions

mike65

As my quest to find a well specced Merc e-class grinds on (mucho thanks esel) I'm wondering if I should just look in a different direction I spoted a 1999 2.0 16v Omega with the following stated spec

OPEL OMEGA 2.0 AUTO, '99, NCT 04/07, Tax 06/06, Beige Leather Interior, Burgundy Body Work, Climate Control, A/C, E/Windows, P/Steering, Alloys, New Tyres, RCL, Alarm, 1 Owner Since '99, Heated Electric Seats, €4,250

I've been visiting the usual sites such as CarSurvey, Parkers, Honest Johns, What Car etc and while there are a few issues (such as idle control) it seems to be mainly case of careful vetting and a decent road test to find a good un.

Anyone had expirences of this no-image German Barge?

Mike.

Litcagral

mike65 wrote:

As my quest to find a well specced Merc e-class grinds on (mucho thanks esel) I'm wondering if I should just look in a different direction I spoted a 1999 2.0 16v Omega with the following stated spec



I've been visiting the usual sites such as CarSurvey, Parkers, Honest Johns, What Car etc and while there are a few issues (such as idle control) it seems to be mainly case of careful vetting and a decent road test to find a good un.

Anyone had expirences of this no-image German Barge?

Mike.

"Burgundy Body Work"!! - an unusual way of describing a car's colour. I have visions of lots of maroon Isopon filler and replaced panels.

mike65

I think he means wine red.

Mike.

Litcagral

mike65 wrote:

I think he means wine red.

Mike.

It was the term "body work" that I thought unusual not the colour. Sorry I can't answer your actual question. Good luck with it anyway.

franksm

Omegas are great ! Read here for some jottings on the subject:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054931011

Just check that the timing belt was done (every 40,000 miles) as they are guaranteed to break if left any longer than that.

phoenix_nights

mike65 wrote:

As my quest to find a well specced Merc e-class grinds on (mucho thanks esel) I'm wondering if I should just look in a different direction

Mike can't help thinking you are throwing the baby out with the bath water.:) The W124 series are the best merc that i have ever driven. And i owned a 190e and a W123 series coupe.

Its going to be hard to find a well-specced merc model in ireland but the basic model is enough. Air-Con is a little troublesome so on older w124s and sometimes its wiser to go with less speced models.

Remember Opel is GM rather than German.

maidhc

4k for a 99 Omega 2.0 Auto seems like an awful lof of money. At least if you invest that money into a clean 124 it won't really depreciate much more, but you will have to pay a scrapper to take away the Omega.

I don't see the sense in buying a hi-spec 7-8 year old car tbh. At that age I'm not sure if you want an auto box, climate control or anything more complicated than electric windows.

Kersh

A friend of mine has a light blue Omega, not sure of the year, and I know its for sale..
Lovely car, very big though.

peasant

I'd say go for it ...

The Omega is a barge, but not a bad barge. Drove several as rentals and as company cars on all sorts of roads and at all sorts of speed.
The two litre is no race car but offers adequate propulsion. Steering is good (rear wheel drive), seating postition is good and there is plenty of room.
Not really suitable for a lot of city driving, but fairly comfortable and confident as a mile muncher.
I have no experience with the auto box.

A fully specced Omega from the first owner could be a good buy ...depending on the usual checks for condition and history.

Spend four grand ...keep it for four years ...throw it away.

Comfortable motoring doesn't come any cheaper ...

phoenix_nights

peasant wrote:

Spend four grand ...keep it for four years ...throw it away.

Comfortable motoring doesn't come any cheaper ...

Saw this ad in buy and sell. Mercedes E200 95'mercedesto met blue 86k with full mercedes service history e/w e/m c/l alarm alloys s/r cd nct 04/07 Immaculate €4750 087-9128116 - might be worth a call as its got full mercedes service history.....rare!

Or buy a w124 coupe. Spend about 5,000 and in 4 years time sell it for about 7,000 !

peasant

phoenix_nights wrote:

Or buy a w124 coupe. Spend about 5,000 and in 4 years time sell it for about 7,000 !

As if you were going to get a W124 (and especially not a coupe) for 5 grand that will last another four years.

Good ones are a lot more expensive, and the cheaper ones are rotten.

Contrary to common belief even a W124 does rust and/or fall apart.

Especially so for the facelifted ones after 92, where Mercedes changed the way they painted them.

I've looked at more rotten W124's than I ever wanted to see.

(Had the fancy idea of getting myself a nice W124 estate at some stage ...have now given up ...if i want a lemon, i go to the supermarket:D )

phoenix_nights

peasant wrote:

As if you were going to get a W124 (and especially not a coupe) for 5 grand that will last another four years.

Many would disagree with your comments on the coupe.

peasant wrote:

Contrary to common belief even a W124 does rust and/or fall apart.

They do rust but only around the front fenders where the bumper meets the wing at the back. But that is common belief but is no problem.

peasant wrote:

Especially so for the facelifted ones after 92, where Mercedes changed the way they painted them.

The facelift was in '94 and the paint was not changed. That happened to the w210 model (less lead i believe).

peasant wrote:

(Had the fancy idea of getting myself a nice W124 estate at some stage ...have now given up ...if i want a lemon, i go to the supermarket:D )

I got one and so far i am getting no bitter taste.:)

peasant

phoenix_nights wrote:

I got one and so far i am getting no bitter taste.:)

ahh ..you lucky soandso ...

The 1st facelift on the W124 (clear indicators, wider "planking") was in 92 afaik (but I won't start a war over it)

Paint was definetely changed then towards water based paint which caused a lot of rust problems in different places. On the estate the rear window frames are particularly bad ...the nasty bit is, you don't really see it from outside, but closer inspection reveals rust inside the rear quarter panels all the way down to the c-pillar (also inside!) ...the end result is a car that literally breaks apart where the c-pillar meets the chassis.

Thw W210 is worse though ..that's correct. But even the youngest of W124's has by now had over 10 years to develop a nice bit of rot.

The OP's Omega is minimum three years younger ...and cheaper ...and better equipped ...

ambro25

Look for a Lotus version, now that's a load of car

Esel

Mike,

These two quotes from Honest John would worry me!

"8th from Bottom of 100 models for reliability in Auto Express 2002 survey."

"1995-2000 petrol and diesel models had highest number of breakdowns, problems and faults in 2003 Which survey."


If you are thinking non-Merc, and want an auto, consider a Toyota? Carinas are legendary for reliability. You should have your pick, as most people buying Carinas are ignorant of the benefits of an auto box, and tend to shy away from them.

phoenix_nights

peasant wrote:

The 1st facelift on the W124 (clear indicators, wider "planking") was in 92 afaik (but I won't start a war over it)

Not wanting to start a war either but you may want to check out this http://www.w124.co.uk/modelrange.html
BTW if ever you wanted to buy that elusive non-lemon w124 estate, this guy gets the best examples in the UK.

peasant wrote:

Paint was definetely changed then towards water based paint which caused a lot of rust problems in different places. On the estate the rear window frames are particularly bad ...the nasty bit is, you don't really see it from outside, but closer inspection reveals rust inside the rear quarter panels all the way down to the c-pillar (also inside!) ...the end result is a car that literally breaks apart where the c-pillar meets the chassis.

Have not come across this myself in all my years of mercs.

peasant wrote:

Thw W210 is worse though ..that's correct. But even the youngest of W124's has by now had over 10 years to develop a nice bit of rot.

Mine must be the exception then:)


And regarding the Omega. There is a reason why taxis in dublin drive around in w124s and not omegas. Dont really think there is a comparison in my opinion. Nice car and all but if you want no hassles then the w124 is your car.

robo1

Saw this on buyandsell.ie

Opel Omega Petrol 2.0L ’99,
Kildare
€3500.00
Alloys, a/c, all elec, r/c/l, 6 cd changer, p/s, silver, nct 06/07,

Esel

robo1 wrote:

Saw this on buyandsell.ie

Opel Omega Petrol 2.0L ’99,
Kildare
€3500.00
Alloys, a/c, all elec, r/c/l, 6 cd changer, p/s, silver, nct 06/07,

Doesn't say AUTO though, does it?

mike65

He he! Barge wars!

The facelift model year was 1993 in the Summer, when the nailed on grill became integrated into the bonnet and the interiors were sharpened up a little with nicer switchgear etc. They did change the paint from planet killer to water based which caused trouble but mainly on w210 models ditto rear arch rust, though the later w124 models can suffer light arch corrosion alright
not to mention biogradable wiring on the 6 pots.

Anyway I will admit the Omega is not something that makes my heart go "zing" but it could do for a few years. btw Pheonix that 124 coupe does'nt have its VRT paid if its the Waterford example on carzone. It looks like it.

Mike.

dubtom

I used to own an Omega, drove it as a taxi. lovely car, comfortable, spacious inside and well speced, mine was a CD model. I had very few problems except the idle valve, they have a tendency to foul with the result the car starts to rev. I found out after a costly visit to macnamara's that a simple remove and clean every so often will fix it. The only other problem I had was running into the back of an escort at about 25 mph, 3 grand damage to the escort, the omega crumpled at the front, drove the drive shaft into the box and the insurance company wrote it off.

Crosshair

My GF drives an omega have it 4years now and had one before this,
havent had any major probs with either but definitely better to buy base
model ie front e/w, the CD models are known for climate probs in control unit,
rear blind sticking and the fuel computer lost pixels( all same only more expensive to repair), also the thing with a lot of those cars is that the cheaper ones are real bad cond. 2.0 Engines are
ok usual story of t-belt tensioner/ idle control valve/exhaust manifold stud
Stay away from V6 tho can be usually bought cheap but have lots additional probs.

unkel

That's not what you want, Mike

Spend a few days on the web / magazines / phone preparing a short list. Then get your lazy ass out of Waterford and into Dublin for a day or two to view / drive the ones on your list. I see at least 10 non-taxi W124s every day and I don't drive much

BrianD3

I see at least 10 non-taxi W124s every day and I don't drive much

Was just thinking about this myself too. There seem to be loads of W124s and 190s still in regular use in Dublin. I wouldn't see nearly as many "down the country". In contrast I see Mk2 Jettas and Corolla AE90s every time I drive in rural areas but rarely in urban areas.....

Might actually start a thread on what older cars I see the most of and what ones seem to have almost disappeared.

mike65

Wexford has loads of 190s. I've only seen one geuine Merc Cossy though and thats in Croom (yes I've spotted you!).

Mike.