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[Brikhead]

1. Cost of purchase.
2. Comfort.
3. Safety due to size.
4. R.W.D.
5. Looks.

Aside from usual Vauxhall attributes of reliability, easy to work on if they do go wrong, ability to withstand high miles and availability of spares and parts...

[dbug]

Where else would you get the load carrying capacity of the Estate - modern Estates seem to be getting smaller in terms of utilisable space and have lower roof lines.  Transit van?

[Entwood]

Many years ago I had a Granada's as tow cars ... when the last one got past its sell by date and started to cost me money I wanted

1700 Kgs (van weighs 1600Kgs)
RWD (FWD towing out of wet fields just does not work)
Saloon (hate 4X4 and estates)
Comfort

I ended up with the 2.5 Elite - the blue one that some folks might remember. I was exceedingly impressed and grew to love the car, then started to worry about what would replace it when it died.

We decided to buy the newest 3.2 we could find, LPG it, and keep for for as long as possible.

We went looking for a 2003 3.2, not many were around and we seemed to keep missing them. Rodger Budden then advertised one so we went to see it. Lovely car, absolutely nowt wrong with it whatsoever ... but it was characterless and did not say "buy me" for some reason.

He also had the 2001, gold, irmscher sitting there .... and it just said "buy me" in spades.. to both me and SWTSMBO .. we test drove it and bought it.

Within 2 weeks it had a tow bar and LPG, and it is easily the best towcar I have ever used. OK ... it suffers in a muddy field, directional road tyres don't help there... but on the road it is fantastic...

It's a keeper for sure ..

[TheBoy]

My MV6 was bought when we had to hand the last in a line of lease cars back. Wanted something big and comfy for and upcoming France trip in 2004, so toss up between Rover 800 Sterling or Omega Elite (I like toys). Ended up with neither

Intention was to sell it when we got back from France in 2004........

[omega3000]

Why an omega .

Comfort/power/style

And cant afford a vxr 8  ...yet 

[pscocoa]

After Cavalier and Carltons in the 1970s and 1980s and then a couple of SD Rovers, I switched to Ford Scorpio in 1985 because of the hatchback practicality. I had 4 of them taking me to 2002 when Scorpio range was well finished and Ford had nothing on the market - did think about Volvo briefly.

Had always liked Omega and it was the only car with size and spec that fitted the bill - no need now for hatchback for kids and dogs so went for the 3.2 Elite to treat myself. 10 years on now and it still looks good eventhough I do not clean it as I used to in the early days. It is now just the "station car" and collects a few minor scratches as a result which T cut out when I feel inclined.

[I_want_an_Omega]

I worked for GM for 10 years & had VX cars as employee lease cars which got changed every 8,000 miles/8 months whichever came 1st  .

It was a very structured scheme which meant that only Directors could have Carlton CDs or Senators for example. My limit was a 2.0 Carlton GL. I had a total of 7 of them - all estates when the offspring were small. When the Omega B was launched I was allowed to have a CD V6, an L reg one in Rioja. If you ever see a L reg in Rioja the chances it was one of these early production run cars which were used to let the Russelsheim plant bed in and get the quality up.

I then left GM and joined BT and could have pretty much anything I fancied by paying the extra lease cost. I took an Elite 3.0 estate, followed by a CDX TD, another Elite and then a MV6. I really didn't fancy the facelift model, so bought the MV6 and ran that for a few years - selling it in 2003. BT took the massive hit on the depreciation, but I drove the car from new upto 91k.

I suspect I was the first person to do Bose & Carin retrofits after finding a low miles MFL Elite in a breakers.

Due to significantly increasing mileage at work, I then opted back into the company car scheme for quite a few years - but missed Omegas I must admit.

When I became redundant in 2009 I needed a project to keep me busy - so bought a 2.5 CD estate as a fixer up project. I joked with SWMBO that the Omega had cost me less than 1% of the price of the BMW that I'd just handed back. I've now changed the estate for an Elite saloon which I've owned for over 2 years. It's now my daily driver as I'm between jobs @ the moment. Thing is that I dont miss the new cars one bit. Ok, the Omega uses a bit of fuel, but I did a 320 mile round trip to central London last week and averaged 33 mpg.

I've been thinking about "why" and will summarise it as because I ENJOY driving them.

Now, this is really going to tempt fate - BUT, I reckon that the reliablity has settled down - after running a number of them from new and facing many many problems. I had a climate panel fail on my '96 Elite. The car was off the road for 6 weeks whilst a replacement was sourced  .

[2woody]

cheap as chips
easy to fix
looks like a taxi
really good handling
rear-drive
relatively few toys if you pick the right spec

they tick all my boxes

[Jukeboxnut]

I bought my first Omega estate 12 years ago as the biggest and cheapest estate I could lay my hands on to replace my old Sierra estate.  When I wrote that one off after 6 years I just had to have another and this was the newest one I could find at the right (cheap) price.  It is so reliable, comfortable to drive and can carry virtually anything in the back, I intend to drive it until it busts.  Plus this forum is the best for every type of help you can think of, nothing out there that I can see to beat it for any other make of car.

[SMD]

I stumbled across the omega by accident. Had a FWD Civic VTi which I crashed and a gold 2.5 CD with 3l cams, which looked pretty tidy, was on sale on a forum I used to visit. Kept it a year and a half and I think I made a tenner profit when I sold it. Toyed with the idea of getting a E39 5 series but for my budget I could either have a low mileage mint top of the range Omega or a high miler, tatty, potential money pit 5 series.

[kcl]

Three main reasons why I'm driving the Omega:
1. Largest estate I know (I do not count American built things as any option  )
2. Available for silly money compared to Volvo V70/Audi A6/Merc E-series/Citroen C5 (which all are smaller from inside)
3. RWD with reasonably powerful engine

Comfy, kind of a classy feeling inside compared to e.g. Vectra C, spare prices are reasonable, easy enough to service your self. And, I have dreamed of owning one since Omega B was released.

[bob.dent]

I've just got myself a diesel Mondeo, because I've got a new job which involves a commute every day, so my Omega estate is currently sitting on the dock of the eBay.

Trouble is, I miss it already    the ride is nowhere near as smooth and comfortable as the Omega and nothing feels as solid and well put together. I've still got a few gadgets in my new car, being a Ghia X, but there's definitely something about these Omegas that's missing in other cars.

Plus, I haven't got a clue where to get help from when it goes wrong.....for all its perceived 'faults', this forum is an absolute Godsend

I bought a Mondeo 2.0 TDCI Ghia X estate for the sake of economy around 6 months ago, sacrificing my beloved 3.2 MV6 estate. However, be aware that they are prone to dual mass flywheel failures as mine has just done, taking out the clutch and starter motor with it. Looking at around £1000 to get it sorted. ......and yes you're right, it's nowhere near as smooth or comfortable as an Omega!
I also joined the Ford Mondeo Owners Club forum hoping to pick up useful tips and info plus a bit of banter but it's bloody rubbish - nobody seems to chat, most posts go unanswered and not a particularly friendly place.

[jonnycool]

I've just got myself a diesel Mondeo, because I've got a new job which involves a commute every day, so my Omega estate is currently sitting on the dock of the eBay.

Trouble is, I miss it already    the ride is nowhere near as smooth and comfortable as the Omega and nothing feels as solid and well put together. I've still got a few gadgets in my new car, being a Ghia X, but there's definitely something about these Omegas that's missing in other cars.

Plus, I haven't got a clue where to get help from when it goes wrong.....for all its perceived 'faults', this forum is an absolute Godsend

I bought a Mondeo 2.0 TDCI Ghia X estate for the sake of economy around 6 months ago, sacrificing my beloved 3.2 MV6 estate. However, be aware that they are prone to dual mass flywheel failures as mine has just done, taking out the clutch and starter motor with it. Looking at around £1000 to get it sorted. ......and yes you're right, it's nowhere near as smooth or comfortable as an Omega!
I also joined the Ford Mondeo Owners Club forum hoping to pick up useful tips and info plus a bit of banter but it's bloody rubbish - nobody seems to chat, most posts go unanswered and not a particularly friendly place.

Hmmm, I haven't tried that forum yet, but you make a good point about the dual mass flywheel, I read up on the subject on here, because I wanted either a diesel Vectra or Mondeo, and I know that both suffer from these. In fact, I walked away from an immaculate Vectra estate because it had a noisy 'thrust bearing'. When I asked the seller to demonstrate the noise, it was unmistakenly the DMF, it was knocking like you wouldn't believe 

The Mondeo I eventually bought had had the DMF and clutch done last year, for which I saw all the receipts, as well as a lot more, so I felt reassured about that. I've still got my Omega, I'm just waiting to see what it'll fetch on the Bay (not much) but it's a different class, no doubt about it. I really didn't appreciate the difference before, I'm even more gutted now 

[Omegatoy]

afer umpteen years hooning around in 24v senators and carltons,
semed like the logical thing to get,
Swmbo didnt fancy me towing a caravan aorund spain for 6 months in the carlton,so bought the first td estate for 600quid off ebay,with 80k on the clock, drove it back from chichester  and thought what have i done its awfully slow, even compared to Ze,s L200 which we went down in to get it!(mind you i had tweaked the pump on that a lot) :-Xthen chipped it wahaay much better, but the clutch let go 200 miles later, :'(3.0litre clutch fitted and we are off) a fortnight using it for work and still had fuel in the tank(29miles each way)
anway first long  trip in it was down to cornwall after servicing it thoroughly,left at 9am got there damned quick and though the fuel guage must be sticking, Ze liked the comfort and the quietness, and we got back at 4pm still with loads of fuel left in the tank!!so it did the trip round spain clocking up 6k miles in 6months towing a twin axle caravan, and dooing 29mpg,
due to move to spain and the l200 which we were going to take with us got stolen and burnt out by some kind bastard, so we brought the omega, loaded up the trailer and the car with 3 dogs cages and suitcases, 1600 miles and 27 hours later )(didnt bother stopping except to let the dios have a pee,
we arrived and stepped out with no aches or pains and just a little tired, kept it a further 4years out here, then sold it for more than i paid for it!
bought mick ap,s black estate and loved it, did 3 trips to uk in it, each time non stop,to the ferry at calais, each time around 1600miles one way depending where i was going, could get over 600 miles to a tank, didnt need to stop because of tiredness or fatigue, never had a moments trouble with any of them really,(serviced every 3k) so for me

comfort ,poke,reliability, trust,economy, easy to work on,and just loved loping along in the big car !

would buy another manual td 2moro!! in fact seriously thinking of buying one to keep in uk, for trips while we are there!! its only finding somewhere to park it safely thats stopping us!!

[2woody]

could probably leave it with us - we've no shortage of space