1996 P Reg VAUXHALL Omega 2.5i V6 Tourer

Yes, a better newer vehicle. An omega v6 auto will cost a fortune to run, both in juice and repairs, steer clear.

Mrcheerful

Rust. Knackered headgasket.

Rust on the doors at the top near the windows and on the back edge that goes around the wheel arch on the rear doors is quite common. Check the oil condition with the dipstick, it shouldn't be milky or have any traces of mayonnaise although at this time of year it's pretty normal to find some in the oil filler pipe. It doesn't get hot enough to dry it out properly on short runs and even with long runs you can still get it. Head gasket failure is pretty rare on the V6 engines but not totally unknown especially if coolant changes have been neglected.

Check the coolant, it shouldn't be dirty, if it's like treacle the oil cooler has failed. It can be repaired but it's a long job cleaning it out of the cooling system and if it's been like it long it weakens the rubber hoses. If it's got air con it will have a heater bypass valve and these do sometimes leak. It's behind the engine under the scuttle so you can't see it but if it's dripping coolant in that area (drivers side, just) it could have failed.

Make sure the heater works properly, if it's had an oil cooler failure it could be blocked.

It must have had the timing belt AND rollers (including tensioner) changed within the last 40k miles or 4 years. There are still dealers around who insist it's 80k for some models but it was dropped back to

The gearbox should be nice and smooth. Vauxhall say they are sealed for life but the Dexron III does break down and then the gearbox fails. There isn't any easy way of checking the fluid condition since there is no dipstick.

IF maintained properly they last well but it doesn't take much to be neglected for them to be a money sink so look for good service history.

There's a good forum at

BMW 5-series Touring.